NKU begins rugged Horizon League road trip Friday night with 7 p.m. game at IUPUI

By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

A rugged Horizon League road trip awaits Northern Kentucky University this weekend, beginning with a Friday night game at IUPUI. The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

NKU concludes the two-game swing on Sunday with a 4:12 p.m. contest at Illinois-Chicago.

NKU is 18-4 overall, and the Norse — winners of six straight games — are atop the Horizon League standings with an 8-1 record. IUPUI is 13-9 overall, 5-4 in the Horizon League.

NKU has won 10 of its last 11 games and is off to its best start since 2011-12, when the Norse also started 18-4 in their final season of Division II competition. NKU catapulted into the two mid-major polls this week, moving to No. 20 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll and No. 21 in the Mid-Major Madness poll.

Drew McDonald averages 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game to lead NKU. His 11 double-doubles this season rank 14th nationally. In his last 29 games against Horizon League opponents, McDonald has posted a double-double 19 times.

McDonald netted 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds during NKU’s 73-60 win over Milwaukee on Saturday night. McDonald also shot 6-for-10 from 3-point range as NKU extended its home winning streak to 17 games. The six treys marked a career-best for the Cold Spring native, who also converted all eight of his free throws and added four assists.

McDonald is one of five active players in Division I basketball with at least 1,800 career points (1,853) and 900 career boards (984). He is also sixth in career double-doubles (45) among active players.

Jalen Tate averages 13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Tate recorded his first career double-double against Milwaukee on Saturday with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Sharpe is second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game. In the last four games, Sharpe is 12-for-23 from 3-point range.

Dantez Walton is averaging 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. In his first two seasons as a Norse (61 games), Walton posted nine combined double-figure scoring games. He has 14 double-digit scoring outputs this season.

NKU is 7-1 all-time against IUPUI and has won the last six in the series. Earlier this season, NKU posted a 92-77 victory over the Jaguars at BB&T Arena. McDonald led the Norse with 24 points and 12 rebounds in that victory.

IUPUI’s Camron Justice enters Friday as one of the Horizon League’s most-prolific scorers, ranking third at 19.5 points per game. Jalen Minnett is averaging 11.0 points per contest for the Jaguars, who defeated both Oakland and Detroit Mercy last week.

Illinois-Chicago is 10-12 overall, 4-5 in the Horizon League. The Flames play host to Wright State on Friday night before facing NKU on Sunday. In the first meeting this season at BB&T Arena, NKU cruised to a 73-58 win over Illinois-Chicago.

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport