By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Cleveland State, after all, hadn’t won a road game the entire season, and there was no reason to suspect the Vikings could leave BB&T Arena with a victory over Northern Kentucky University on Saturday night.
But guess what? Cleveland State — 0-12 on the road prior to Saturday — stunned a BB&T crowd of 5,047 with an 83-77 victory over NKU. The Vikings (9-21 overall, 4-13 Horizon League) also ended the Norse’s home winning streak at 20 games and severely damaged NKU’s hopes of repeating as Horizon League regular-season champions.
Jaalam Hill, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound package of power and energy in the paint, poured in 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to ignite the Cleveland State upset. Hill finished 12-for-16 from the field and was unstoppable in the second half, when he scored 18 points.
Cleveland State shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half, built a 12-point lead with 3:20 remaining in the game, then fought off a late NKU rally to pull off the shocker.
“Their big guys kicked our big guys’ butts,” NKU head coach John Brannen said of Cleveland State’s second-half shooting from the field. “Drew (McDonald) is hurt. He probably shouldn’t have played in the second half. He had severe back spasms, and I was unaware of that until halftime. I probably should have made more adjustments in that area.
“That falls on me. Their big guys kicked our tails.”
Hill, a graduate of Louisville Waggener High School, entered Saturday averaging 10.2 points per game. “Jaalam Hill was unbelievable,” Brannen said. “Rashad Williams (15 points) did exactly what we said he would do and shoot (3-pointers). They didn’t even get (Tyree) Appleby’s best game tonight and still put us in positions we didn’t handle well.”
Appleby finished with 15 points and eight assists, but he was just 4-for-12 from the field. The Vikings were 9-for-24 from 3-point range and avenged a 91-76 home loss to NKU on Jan. 17.
McDonald scored 22 points to lead NKU, which was unbeaten (16-0) at BB&T Arena this season going into Saturday’s game. The Norse hadn’t lost at home since suffering an 83-70 setback against Oakland on Jan. 26, 2018.
Cleveland State, though, ended NKU’s quest for a perfect home mark in the regular season.
“We didn’t play with enough energy on defense and put enough emphasis on it,” said McDonald, who moved into second place on the NKU all-time scoring list with 1,998 career points. “In both games this year, they’ve shot the ball really well against us. I think that’s just self-inflicted. We weren’t making the right rotations, and we weren’t locked in as well as we needed to be.
“Give them credit, they hit some shots and made big plays down the stretch to win the game.”
Jalen Tate added 19 points for NKU, which shot 43.3 percent from the field. Dantez Walton finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Adrian Nelson came off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds to go along with four points.
“Adrian was awesome, and he has so much energy,” Brannen said of Nelson, who played 11 minutes. “He needs to do a better job of understanding of what we do offensively. If he does that, his minutes will extend. He should be playing more based on his productivity.”
Pairings for the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament will be announced next week following the conclusion of the regular season. The first round will be played at campus sites, with the semifinals and championship in Detroit.
Despite the loss, NKU is likely to host a first-round home game at 7 p.m. on March 6 at BB&T Arena. The Norse are in second place and a virtual lock to finish in the top four of the Horizon League standings.
NKU hits the road for its final two regular-season games, beginning Thursday night at Milwaukee. The Norse conclude the trip Saturday with a contest at Green Bay.
Having watched his team lose four times in the past seven games, Brannen said “everything is on the table” when asked about potential lineup changes.
“Minutes, rotations, we have to take a look at everything right now,” he said. “We did a poor job of preparation, and I’ve never said that since I’ve been here. That falls on me. We have to do a better job in all facets.”
