By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
For the second straight game on their season-opening road trip in South Dakota, Northern Kentucky’s Norse had their multiple-player offensive attack going strong. But then they really had no choice.
Although in Wednesday’s 102-94 win at the University of South Dakota’s 6,000-seat Sanford Coyote Center, unlike the first game when it took three big scorers to upset UTEP, the Norse needed five players in double figures to get the job done in only the second 100-point Division I game in NKU’s entire D-1 history and first since 2017.
But much like on Monday, NKU’s big three – 6-foot-8 senior center Noah Pagotto, along with the guard duo of freshman Willie Foster and senior Eric Acker – came up big. Pagotto contributed a career-high 30 points while Foster and Acker fired in 22 points apiece.
Supporting that trio were sophomore BJ Davis-Ray with 15 points and 6-7 junior Donovan Rakotonanahary with a career-high 10 in a fast-paced game with 50 fouls called that saw NKU leading for all but four of the 40 minutes.
“I thought our guys were in better shape,” NKU coach Darrin Horn said on the 1360 Sports postgame broadcast of his Norse’s ability to hold off the home team’s pressure when the game closed to within four points – 98-94 with 22 seconds left – before NKU scored the final four points.
“I think we got better tonight,” Horn said. “This game was an example of how tough our guys are,” with a nod to the way Rakotonanahary, the lone Division I basketball player from Madagascar, stepped up.
Much as he did against UTEP, it was the 6-3 Acker, a New York City guy by way of LaSalle, who kept things together for NKU. Then there was the speedy Foster, who scored 13 points in one 13-4 two-minute second-half streak that had NKU ahead, 75-62, with 12 minutes left.
“With their quickness, we literally spread the floor and et them make plays,” Horn said of his two guards.
As for Davis-Ray, a 6-6 guard transfer from St. Louis, “he brought a presence out there, a toughness as he made plays,” Horn said.
NKU pretty much won all the statistical battles, outshooting USD from the field, (64 percent on 35 of 56) to 34 of 64, (63 percent), from the free throw line (23 of 32 to 17 of 21) and from three-point range (9 of 14 to 9 of 25), outrebounding the Coyotes 29 to 26, with fewer turnovers (14 to 15), more points off turnovers (21 to 16), more steals (nine to seven) and more assists (18 t0 12).
NKU will fly to Houston Thursday and bus to College Station for Friday’s 8 p.m. game at 1-0 Texas A&M.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 50 52—102
SOUTH DAKOTA 47 47–94
Northern Kentucky (2-0) 102
Foster 7-14 3-5 5-5 22, Acker 7-13 2-3 6-9 22, Shortt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0, Davis-Ray 5-8 2-3 3-3 15, Pagotto 11-15 1-2 7-11 30, Rakotonanahary 4-4 0-0 2-4 10, Jokubauskas 1 1 1 1 0-0 3, Tolliver 0 1 0 0 0 0 0, Apathjang 0 0 0 0 0 0 0, TOTALS: 35-56 9-14 23-32 102
South Dakota (1-1) 94
Kelderman 3-8 1-5 0-0 7, Buzelis 8-12 1-2 3-4 20, Dotzler 2-11 1-5 2-3 7, Van Bussel 6-9 0-0 1-2 13, Summers 7-12 4-9 6-6 24, Kublickas 5-7 0-1 5-6 15, Kizer 2-3 2-3 0-0 6, Townley-Thomas 1 1 0 0 0 0 2, Brack 0 1 0 0 0 0 0, TOTALS: 34-64 9-25 17-21 94.