NKyTribune staff
Marques Warrick made it a magnificent seven on Monday as he earned Horizon League Freshman of the Week accolades for the seventh time this season.
Warrick averaged 22.0 points per game as Northern Kentucky split a weekend series with Wright State at BB&T Arena. The Henry Clay High School graduate poured in 23 points — including a pair of clutch 3-pointers late in the game — to ignite NKU’s 81-75 victory on Friday night. He buried five 3-pointers in that win and also grabbed four rebounds.
He capped the week by scoring 21 points during a 77-71 loss to Wright State on Saturday night. Warrick drained a trio of 3-pointers in that contest.
Warrick averages 15.9 points per game for the season and leads NKU in 3-pointers made with 48. He is also shooting 82.1 percent from the free-throw line and has scored at least 20 points nine times.
NKU is the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Tournament and will play host to a quarterfinal game on March 2 at 7 p.m. The Norse will likely face No. 5 seed Detroit Mercy — which meets 12th-seeded Robert Morris in a first-round game this Thursday — in that quarterfinal contest.
NKU and Detroit Mercy did not meet this season. A year ago, the Norse and Titans split two games with the home team winning each time.
Cleveland State is the No. 1 seed for the Horizon League Tournament, while Wright State is the No. 2 seed. The Vikings and Raiders shared the regular-season title with 16-4 records. Oakland is the No. 3 seed, followed by NKU and Detroit Mercy.
Due to the unbalanced Horizon League schedule because of the pandemic, the tournament was seeded utilizing a formula that considered four factors — league winning percentage, strength of schedule, weighting road wins vs. home wins and number of league games played.
The first-round action in the Horizon League Tournament will consists of four games as No. 5 Detroit Mercy will host No. 12 Robert Morris, No. 6 Youngstown State plays host to No. 11 Illinois-Chicago, No. 7 seed Green Bay will face No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne and No. 9 IUPUI will travel to No. 8 seed Milwaukee.
The tournament will be reseeded after the first round. NKU will face the highest-remaining seed, which would be Detroit Mercy if the Titans knock off Robert Morris.
(Information compiled from NKU Athletics Communications and staff reports)