By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
Sooner or later, Texas Southern was destined to win a game. The Tigers arrived at BB&T Arena on Saturday night sporting an 0-4 record, having lost to teams that were a combined 17-0. And all on the road.
That, in itself, provided Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn with some cautionary motivation for his players before they took the court against the road-weary Tigers.
“We told them that this team is better than you think,” Horn said. “They’re well-coached. [Texas Southern head coach] Johnny Jones has been around a long time. They fought Wichita State to [the end] and a six-point game in a tough environment against a very physical team.”
Tyrik Armstrong scored the winning basket on a driving layup with six seconds remaining. NKU rushed the ball up the court, but Bryson Langdon’s 3-pointer was off target at the buzzer, and the visitors departed Highland Heights with their first win of the season.
The battle-tested Tigers won the rebounding battle by a 53-37 margin, including 16 offensive boards.
“We have to figure out as a coaching staff how to get us to play with a little bit more grit on the glass,” Horn said. “Our roster is not changing. It’s not a size issue. It’s not like these guys (Texas Southern) are 6-9 across the board. We just have to go grab the basketball, and then we have to take care of the basketball.”
Dantez Walton poured in a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead NKU (4-2). The 6-foot-6 senior also drained six shots from 3-point range before fouling out.
“We knew this would be a hard-fought game,” Walton said. “[Texas Southern] is a team that was hungry. They didn’t have a win.”
And after Walton’s four-point play — draining a trey while being fouled and then converting the free throw — gave NKU a 72-64 lead with 2:54 remaining, it appeared Texas Southern would remain winless.
The Tigers, however, buried a trio of 3-pointers in the final 51 seconds — the final trey from Bryson Etienne with 7.5 seconds left to even the score at 77-77. An NKU turnover with 1.2 seconds showing gave Texas Southern the ball, and Armstrong banked in a shot from half court — but long after the buzzer sounded.
“We had plenty of opportunities to grab the basketball on the defensive end after we had stopped them and finish this thing, and we didn’t do it,” Horn said. “That, and 22 turnovers — many of which were just completely unforced and bad turnovers.”
Armstrong scored 25 points to lead Texas Southern, and Etienne finished with 19. Yahuza Rasas added 18 points and muscled his way to 14 rebounds, while Chris Baldwin netted 10 points and grabbed eight boards.
On Wednesday night, NKU picked up a huge road win at Ball State. The momentum from that victory did not carry over into practice, according to Horn.
“We had a bad practice yesterday, and there’s no excuse for that,” Horn said. “I told them after the game, ‘What came out today is how we practiced yesterday.’ We had been practicing really well up to that point.”
Tyler Sharpe finished with 14 points for NKU, which was 15-for-40 from 3-point range. Faulkner drained a trio of shots from beyond the arc en route to his 24 points and has emerged as a big-time offensive threat this season.
“Over the summer, I put in the work that was needed because I knew it was a big step for the team,” said Faulkner, the 2018 Kentucky Mr. Basketball at Mercer County. “Offense really hasn’t been my focus. We lost tonight, so I’m not really happy about that.”
Horn said he was pleased with Faulkner’s aggressiveness on offense against Texas Southern. “We need that from him,” Horn said. “Without Trevon and (Walton), it’s a really long night. Those guys really stepped up for us.
“The thing that was good about Trevon was he was really efficient in how he did it, in terms of shot selection and his aggressiveness.”
NKU plays host to Midway (Ky.) at 7 p.m. Monday. Midway competes at the NAIA level and is currently 3-5 this season.
TEXAS SOUTHERN 98, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 96 (2 OT)
TEXAS SOUTHERN (98)
Rasas 8-10 2-6 18, Walker 1-2 1-2 3, Hopkins 3-6 4-6 11, Armstrong 9-18 4-4 25, Lumpkin 2-8 0-0 4, Etienne 6-17 4-6 19, Baldwin 3-8 4-4 10, Ewing 3-4 2-2 8, Andrews 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 35-75 21-30 98.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (96)
Sharpe 3-14 6-7 14, Adheke 2-5 0-0 4, Walton 11-21 5-7 33, Faulkner 9-16 3-3 24, Langdon 3-10 2-4 9, Eleeda 1-3 0-0 3, Harris 1-6 1-2 3, Djoko 0-0 0-1 0, Mocaby 2-3 0-0 6, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-78 17-24 96.
HALFTIME: TSU 32-31. 3-POINTERS: (NKU 15-40, TSU 7-21). REBOUNDS: NKU 37 (Adheke 12), TSU 53 (Rasas 14).
RECORDS: Texas Southern 1-4, NKU 4-2.
