By Don Owen
NKyTribune sports editor
Northern Kentucky hits the road for Milwaukee this weekend for a two-game Horizon League series, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
NKU is 9-8 overall after pulling out a 69-67 win over Illinois-Chicago last Saturday. The Norse extended their winning streak to four and moved to 7-5 in the Horizon League.
Milwaukee is 7-6 overall, 6-5 in the Horizon League.
Trevon Faulkner has averaged 19.0 points and just under five boards per contest to key NKU’s current four-game winning streak. Faulkner also recorded his first career double-double last week in a win against UIC with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Faulkner averages 17.3 points per game, which is sixth in the Horizon League. The Mercer County High School graduate enters this weekend with 842 career points, which is 46th in Norse history. Faulkner leads NKU in steals (28), attempted free throws (101) and free throws made (79).
Marques Warrick is No. 2 on the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Warrick is 31-for-91 from 3-point range this season and has converted 79.4 percent of his free throws.
Bryson Langdon averages 9.0 points per game and continued his clutch performances in late-game situations last week during the win over UIC. With the score tied at 67-all, Langdon dribbled into the lane, gave a slight hesitation fake and floated a short jumper over Maurice Commander for a basket while being fouled.
Langdon leads NKU with 58 assists and is No. 2 on the team with 20 steals.
Adrian Nelson is shooting 65.6 percent from the field and averages a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game. Nelson also has 18 steals and averages 7.6 points per game.
Milwaukee features guard Te’Jon Lucas, who averages 15.3 points and 5.5 assists per game. DeAndre Gholston is No. 2 on the team at 14.2 points per game. Josh Thomas is scoring 8.4 points per contest for the Panthers, who average 72.9 points per game.
NKU is 9-3 all-time against Milwaukee. The Norse have won the past eight meetings with the Panthers, including a pair of victories last season.
NKU posted a 65-56 win at Milwaukee last season as Tyler Sharpe scored 18 points and Jalen Tate added 16 points. The Norse held Milwaukee to just 17 points in the first half and cruised to their eight consecutive win over the Panthers.
This is the first of two straight trips to Wisconsin for NKU. The Norse will travel to Green Bay for a two-game series Feb. 12-13. NKU concludes regular-season play Feb. 19-20 with home games against Wright State.
The opening round of the Horizon League Tournament will feature teams placing fifth through 12th competing on the campus at the highest-available seeds on Feb. 25. The top four teams in the regular season earn byes to the quarterfinals and a home game on March 2.
The winners of the March 2 games will advance to the semifinals on March 8 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The championship game is set for March 9.
Don Owen is sports editor of the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Contact him at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport.