By Don Owen
NKyTribune sports editor
Freshmen have made gigantic impacts for Northern Kentucky on the basketball court this season. But none bigger than Saturday night inside BB&T Arena.
The latest rookie heroics were produced by Marques Warrick, whose basket with 2.4 seconds remaining snapped a 68-all tie and lifted NKU to a 70-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
The previous night, after Warrick poured in 22 points to lead NKU to a 75-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Norse head coach Darrin Horn had said “the bigger the moment, the better he is” to describe the Henry Clay High School graduate. Warrick made Horn look like a hoops clairvoyant less than 24 hours later.
“Definitely want to go to Marques,” Horn said of the final play. “We feel like he is a guy that is our best at creating in terms of getting a shot off. We had Trevon (Faulkner) involved in it as well, so if they doubled (Marques) he’d be throwing back to Trevon. I’m just of the belief you put the ball in players’ hands and let them make plays at the end of the game.”
With 14.3 seconds left on the clock, NKU called timeout and designed the play. Warrick drove into the lane, spun and lofted a shot with his right hand to the basket. It bounced softly on the rim and dropped through the net, giving NKU a 70-68 lead with 2.4 seconds left.
“Coach told me to come off a screen from the free-throw line, get up top and wait until about eight seconds left,” Warrick said, noting Faulkner was also an option on the play. “If I can go downhill, that was the goal.”
Said Horn: “Marques made a great play.”
Purdue Fort Wayne’s ensuing desperation attempt, a 50-foot heave by Jarred Godfrey, fell short at the buzzer, giving NKU a sweep of the two-game Horizon League weekend series.
Warrick scored 22 points for the second straight evening as NKU improved to 5-4 overall, 3-1 in the Horizon League. Freshman Trey Robinson also provided a clutch performance, netting a career-high 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a huge blocked shot late in the second half that energized the Norse.
Purdue Fort Wayne (2-5 overall, 1-5 Horizon League) owned a 42-31 lead with 16:09 remaining in the game, but NKU responded with seven straight points to cut the deficit to 42-38. Warrick netted five points during that spurt.
NKU still trailed by a 60-56 score with 5:20 left on the clock, but Robinson scored eight consecutive points — including a triple at the 3:40 mark — as the Norse took a 64-60 lead.
After knotting the score at 68-all, Purdue Fort Wayne had an opportunity to take the lead with less than a minute remaining. Godfrey’s 3-point attempt was off target, and Robinson grabbed the rebound. NKU called timeout, setting the stage for Warrick’s winning basket.
“This team is going to be a work in progress,” Horn said of his youthful squad. “I have to make sure we find the best way for these young guys to be successful. I think we saw what they’re capable of tonight, especially guys like Trey Robinson and Marques Warrick.”
Faulkner added 11 points and eight rebounds for NKU, while Adrian Nelson finished with eight rebounds and four points. The Norse shot 45.9 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 34-33 count.
Jalon Pipkins scored 16 points to lead Purdue Fort Wayne, which has now lost 16 straight games against NKU. The Norse hold a 26-12 lead in the all-time series with the Mastodons, who are in their first season as a Horizon League member.
Purdue Fort Wayne has not defeated NKU since Jan. 12, 1995, when the Mastodons pulled out an 84-75 victory over the Norse at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne.
NKU continues Horizon League play next weekend with a two-game series at Cleveland State, beginning with a 7 p.m. Friday contest in the Wolstein Center.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 70, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 68
PURDUE FORT WAYNE (68)
Godfrey 4-11 2-4 13, Planutis 4-8 2-2 13, Horton 3-8 2-2 10, Pipkins 7-12 2-2 16, Carl 3-4 1-4 7, Black 0-2 0-2 0, Billups 1-2 4-5 6, Kpedi 1-1 0-0 2, Walker 2-2 0-1 4, Benford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 13-22 68.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (70)
Faulkner 5-13 0-0 11, Langdon 2-8 2-2 6, Nelson 2-5 0-0 4, Warrick 10-17 0-0 22, Robinson 5-7 5-5 17, Böhm 3-8 0-0 8, Harding 0-2 0-0 0, Harge 1-1 0-0 2, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Hupmann 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 7-7 70.
HALFTIME: PFW 29-27. 3-POINTERS: (NKU 7-26, PFW 5-18). REBOUNDS: NKU 34 (Faulkner, Nelson 8), PFW 33 (Godfrey, Carl 6).
RECORDS: NKU 5-4, 3-1 Horizon League; Purdue Fort Wayne 2-5, 1-5 Horizon League.
Don Owen is sports editor of the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Contact him at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport.