By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
They’ve beaten teams in tight defensive battles, and they’ve sprinted past the opposition in high-scoring shootouts. The Norse of Northern Kentucky University are also capable of overcoming self-inflicted adversity and grinding out wins.
NKU did just that Saturday night during a 73-60 victory over visiting Milwaukee at BB&T Arena. The Norse used a 20-4 run to begin the second half that turned a 34-30 deficit at intermission into a 50-38 lead.
“I think for me personally, I got a bad technical right before the half and it’s something I shouldn’t be doing as the leader,” he said of the technical foul assessed late in the first half that allowed Milwaukee to score the final five points. “They went on a 5-0 run, and that’s all on me. I knew I had to step it up in the second half.
“We started playing Northern Kentucky basketball in the second half, and we definitely picked up the intensity.”
McDonald scored eight points during the decisive run, while teammate Jalen Tate added seven points — including back-to-back buckets to cap the spurt to give NKU a 50-38 edge. The Norse later extended that advantage to as many as 20 points.
The reason for the increased intensity by the NKU players?
“We actually challenged ourselves because we didn’t feel like ourselves at all, and it was a sluggish feeling going into halftime,” said Tate, who posted his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “It was still a close game. We knew if we could pick up the intensity, we’d be OK and hopefully come out with the win.”
The Norse improved to 18-4 overall and extended their home winning streak to 17 games. They also maintained a two-game lead in the Horizon League standings over second-place teams Oakland and Wright State by upping their mark to 8-1.
Dantez Walton added 12 points and six rebounds for NKU, which finished 12-for-24 from 3-point range. The Norse held Milwaukee to just 36.9 percent shooting from the field.
“We were as good defensively in the second half as we’ve been for several weeks,” NKU head coach John Brannen said. “We really guarded, started to rebound and got out in transition. We got open 3-pointers and were able to get into the lane for layups.”
Tyler Sharpe finished with 10 points for the Norse, who have won 10 of their past 11 games. NKU also upped its lead to 6-3 in the all-time series with Milwaukee. The Norse have defeated the Panthers five consecutive times.
Brannen’s message at halftime to his players?
“What Drew did with 30 points and 13 rebounds is amazing, because he did it while playing on one leg. You have to be a special talent. You have to have special mental toughness. You have to have a special buy-in to your teammates and the program. You can’t do that unless you’re all in.”
McDonald, whose status for the game was in question due to his injured ankle, responded by going 6-for-10 from 3-point range. The six treys marked a career-best for the Cold Spring native, who also converted all eight of his free throws and added four assists.
Jake Wright scored 16 points to lead Milwaukee, which dropped to 9-13 overall, 4-5 in the Horizon League. Vance Johnson added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Panthers.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is now 38-11 against Horizon League competition. The Norse are 36-4 at home during the past 40 games. A crowd of 4,225 attended Saturday night’s game.
“It’s like having a sixth man on the court with the fan support, and we want to continue winning for them,” said Tate, who also dished out five assists. “It was amazing tonight. The fan support is everything for us.”
NKU begins a two-game road trip Friday night with a 7 p.m. contest at IUPUI. The Jaguars, who knocked off Oakland on Thursday, also defeated Detroit Mercy on Saturday.
NKU concludes the road swing next Sunday with a 4 p.m. game at Illinois-Chicago.
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport