By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Hall of Fame NFL coach Bill Parcells famously said: “You are what your record says you are.”
NKU basketball coach Darrin Horn begs to differ. About this Norse team, this year, after this game, a stinging 92-91 loss with 0.2 seconds left on the clock in the final game of the regular season Saturday to the Horizon League’s runaway No. 1 team, Wright State.
That’s after losing a 20-point lead – 53-33 – right before halftime. That’s after doing so many good things. After making so many plays.
And after doing so in a tournament atmosphere in front of a tremendously engaged Truist Arena crowd of 3,604 that did not budge out of their seats as the Raiders (20-11, 15-5) roared back from an 80-66 deficit with 7:33 left to down just four, 84-80, in less than four minutes.
By then, after having to sit senior LJ Wells for more than six minutes with four fouls, Horn got his 6-foot-8 four-year veteran back on the floor. But the damage was done.
“I won’t make this complicated,” Horn said. “We need LJ Wells . . . if not 40 minutes, at least 35 . . . We need him on the floor.” But all Wells got in this game was 26:19. And it wasn’t quite enough as NKU lost the rebound battle, 37-27.
For much of the game, Wright State’s talent – and balance — didn’t show what had made the Raiders a 20-win No. 1 seed. And then the Raiders did, getting steals, foul shots, not to mention several crucial calls while hitting 50 percent of their three-point attempts as their quick guards Michael Cooper (15 points), TJ Burch (14) and Solomon Callaghan (13) made life difficult at both ends of the court, as did big men Kellen Pickett (19 points) and Michael Imariagbe (15) with Wells’ absence.
“Our guys made a ton of plays,” Horn said, and he wasn’t blowing smoke. Grad student Donovan Oday did what he always does, making plays at the offensive end, matched by senior Dan Gherezgher, as both finished with 21 points and personal highlight reels from Senior Night. The pair were spectacular driving the ball through contact and pulling up to drill four-of-seven threes apiece on their way to 21 points each.
New Zealander Kael Robinson, back now from three weeks out injured, fired in 17 points with Wells adding 13.
It took a head-down scoring drive for an old-fashioned three-pointer by Oday as he was knocked to the floor to pull NKU back ahead, 91-90, with 8.7 seconds left after trailing 90-88.
And then came a defensive set that was almost perfect – until it wasn’t. “We played great defense, forcing a really tough two, a difficult shot, you can’t do a better job,’’ Horn said. Except for this. As the ball rolled off the front of the rim, Wright State’ 6-7, 225-pound Imariagbe got one hand under it for his 16th and final rebound and lofted it back up and over the rim, nestling softly through with 00.1 showing on the board (later changed to 00.2) as the Raiders celebrated.
“We’re one bad half at Youngstown and a rebound away from having won six in a row,” Horn said. But now after “three weeks without a full team,” Horn says, this seventh-seeded NKU bunch going into the playoffs on the road Wednesday against a No. 4 seed Oakland that has beaten the Norse twice in the regular season, is better than its record – or this game – says it is.
SCORING SUMMARY
WRIGHT STATE 35 57—92
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 53-38—91
WRIGHT STATE (20-11, 15-5): Pickett 7-10 1-4 4-6 19, Imariagbe 6-8 0-0 3-7 15, Pangonis 1-4 0-1 2-3 4, Callaghan 4-10 4-7 0-0 12, Burch 6-10 2-3 0-0 14, Etumnu 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Holden 3-7 0-0 3-4 9, Woods 0-2 0-1 0-0 0, Cooper 6-10 2-2 1-1 15, Alamulu 2-2 0-0 0-0 4, Bruskotter 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; Totals: 35-63 9-18 13-20—92
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (18-13, 10-10): Wells 5-13 1-3 2-3 13, Robinson 5-8 0-3 7-7 17, Elliott 3-8 0-3 1-37, Oday 7-12 4-7 3-3 21, Dozier 2-4 0-1 2-3 6, Gherezgher 8-13 4-7 1-1 21, Rakotonanahary 3-3 0-0 0-0 6, Darbyshire 0-1 0-1 0-0 0, Archer 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 33-62 9-25 16-20—91.
Attendance: 3,604
