The Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team cruised to a 101-87 victory over Detroit Mercy on Sunday afternoon behind Mason Faulkner’s career-high 29 points that included a 23-point second-half performance at BB&T Arena.
Northern Kentucky improves to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in the Horizon League while the Titans dip to 4-16 overall and 2-6 in League play.
The victory also gives NKU 13 wins this season to tie its Division-I era record set in the 2014-15 season as a member of the Atlantic Sun. The Norse also improve to 7-2 at home.
Faulkner led four players in double-figures as the freshman also added six rebounds and a pair of assists in his 29 minutes of action. He went 8-for-12 from the field and 11-for-14 from the line.
McDonald joined Faulkner above the 20-point plateau with 21 total points and five rebounds, all on the defensive end. McDonald went 9-for-11 from the line.
Carson Williams posted his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Eleven of his 13 points came in the first half alone.
Lavone Holland II came within two assists of his career-high with seven total as he also raked in 17 total points to round out NKU’s double-figure scorers.
With 10:45 left in the first half, NKU staked claim to a lead it did not relinquish.
Detroit Mercy stayed within single digits of the Norse until early in the second half. Faulkner exploded for 13 points in a 5:35 span to help NKU out to a 14-2 run that extended the lead to 58-44 with 14:08 remaining.
Northern Kentucky led by at least 11 throughout the remainder of the contest.
Both teams struggled from the floor to open the game with NKU connecting on four of its first 13 attempts while Detroit Mercy sank just five of its first 14 attempts.
Six different Norse contributed to a 15-6 run over a seven minute span that gave NKU a 22-18 edge with 7:59 left in the half. Six of NKU’s 15 points came from the charity stripe after Murray sparked the run with a triple at the 14:32 mark.
Meanwhile, the NKU defense forced four Titan turnovers hold UDM to one field goal in five minutes.
Northern Kentucky maintained the edge for the final 10:45 of the half but could not build a lead greater than four points until McDonald scored five-straight to push the advantage to 37-31 with 1:29 on the clock.
NKU out-rebounded the Titans, 22-13, in the first period and led 41-36 at halftime.
Five points in four minutes from McDonald helped NKU withstand six-straight points from Detroit Mercy that cut the Norse lead to two points at 44-42.
Faulkner then scored nine uninterrupted points starting with a layup at the 16:18 mark to help the Norse outscore the Titans, 14-2, over the next three minutes. The run handed NKU a 58-44 advantage with 14:08 to play.
NKU led by double digits throughout the remainder of the game and ultimately built up a game-high 19-point advantage at 91-72 with 4:51 left.
The Norse shot a season-high 77.3 percent (17-for-22) from the field in the second half.
GAME NOTES
— The last time NKU scored 100 points or more in a regular-season game was on Dec. 14, 2014 when it defeated UC Clermont, 107-53, at home.
— Northern Kentucky shot 35-for-42 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line.
— The Norse won the battle of the boards, 34-23.
— Williams has totaled 32 total points with 18 rebounds across the last two games while Faulkner has posted 38 points with nine rebounds this week.
— The last time NKU had two players score at least 20 points in a game was the last meeting with Detroit Mercy on Dec. 29, 2016 when Murray and Holland had 21 points apiece. The game was McDonald’s team-leading ninth 20-point performance of the season.
— NKU shot 58.8 percent (30-for-51) on Sunday with the help of the season-high 77.3 percent showing from the field in the second half. Meanwhile, Detroit Mercy shot 43.5 percent (30-for-69) from the field as NKU held the Titans to 7-for-25 (28.0 percent) from long range.
— NKU improves to 3-1 all-time against Detroit Mercy as the Norse defeated the Titans for the second time this season.
The Norse return to action on Friday, Jan. 27 when they travel to UIC for an 8 p.m. ET tip in Chicago.
Norse women outrun UIC behind Uetrecht
Northern Kentucky women’s basketball won its second-consecutive road game with a 58-37 defeat of Horizon League foe UIC on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Norse move to 7-13 on the season and 3-5 in League play, while UIC dips to 3-17 (0-9 HL).
Junior forward Kasey Uetrecht had her third 20-point game of the season, scoring a season-high 24 points, aided by four triples. Uetrecht also tied for the lead in rebounding, with eight.
Senior forward Rebecca Lyttle added 13 points to go with eight rebounds. Lyttle went 5-of-6 from the field and was perfect at the free throw line on three attempts.
Junior guard Mikayla Terry tied her career best in assists, dishing out eight. She also added seven points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Senior guard Kelley Wiegman added seven points and two steals to round out the team leaders.
NKU led at the half, 38-21. The Norse are now 6-0 when leading at the half.
The Norse matched their highest-scoring first quarter of the year, taking a 19-12 lead oer UIC sparked by a 10-0 run that held the Flames scoreless for more than four minutes.
NKU shot 6-of-7 in the first five minutes of the contest before cooling off towards the end of the quarter. The Norse still managed to shoot at a .545 clip in the opening stanza, also going 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Norse scored just 18 points in the second half, but retained a sizable lead as UIC was held to 14 points.
NKU shot 18.2 percent in the third quarter, but returned to strong shooting in the fourth at 50.0 percent.
Defensive effort upped on both ends in the final quarter, with NKU held to just six shots from the field while UIC took eight, landing just one.
Norse Notes
— NKU is now 3-0 all-time against the Flames.
— UIC forced more turnovers, 20-15, but the Norse converted more miscues into points, 15-13. The Norse also held the edge on second-chance points, 12-8, and out-rebounded the Flames, 37-33.
— The Norse shot 43.2 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
UIC was held to 29.8 percent from the field, which is the first time this season that NKU has held a team under 30.0 percent.
— The win marks the second time this season that NKU has bested an opponent by 20-or-more points.
The Norse return home to BB&T Arena next weekend, hosting Oakland and Detroit Mercy. NKU tips off against Oakland at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 27, followed by a 1 p.m. tilt against Detroit Mercy on Sunday, Jan. 29. Fans can watch both games live on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
From NKU Athletics