By Brendan Connelly
NKyTribune sports reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — Northern Kentucky University is one win away from claiming its fourth Horizon League men’s basketball championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I playoff bracket after defeating Purdue Fort Wayne, 57-43, in the semifinals of the league tournament on Monday at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The Norse (20-11) will play long-time rival Wright State (20-13) in the championship game at 7 p.m. Tuesday that will be televised on ESPN. The winning team will find out its seed and first-round opponent in the NCAA playoffs on Selection Sunday March 13.
NKU earned berths in the NCAA playoffs in 2017 and 2019 and lost in the opening round both times.
In the league semifinal game on Monday, the Norse held Fort Wayne (21-11) to its lowest point total of the season with a solid defensive effort. The Mastodons had won their 10 previous games and scored 70 points or more in each one.
“A grind-it-out game in March where you’ve just got to find a way to win.” NKU coach Darrin Horn said of his team’s effort. “We knew it was going to be a big challenge, and I’m really proud of our guys.”
Fort Wayne ended up shooting 28.8 percent (15 of 52) from the field compared to 39.3 percent (22 of 56) for NKU.
Sophomore guard Marques Warrick scored a game-high 19 points for the Norse, along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
NKU junior forward Chris Brandon snagged a game-high 14 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive glass that helped limit Fort Wayne to just four second-chance points. The Norse won the battle on the boards by a 46-29 margin with senior Adrian Nelson getting nine.
After finding early success from the outside, the Norse built a 25-19 halftime lead with high percentage shots. They scored 10 fast-break points during the first half, a testament to coach Horn’s desire to push the ball.
“To get stops and be able to get out in transition and get some easy ones was really important for us.” Horn said.
A four-minute scoring drought in the second half by the Norse could have swung the momentum to the Mastodons. But NKU’s defense stepped up, holding Fort Wayne to four points on 1-of-5 shooting during that span. Layups from Trey Robinson and Nelson got the Norse back in the scoring column, stretching the lead to 16.
Warrick capped off his scoring with his only 3-point goal of the game, much to the delight of the NKU fans in attendance. He got most of his field goals off assists by his teammates.
“Credit to the guards for looking up,” he said. “They got me a bunch of transition, easy buckets, so that’s what got us going on offense.”
Wright State defeated Cleveland State, 82-67, in the first league semifinal game on Monday. Junior forward Grant Basile finished with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Raiders, who lost both regular season games against NKU by scores of 73-63 and 75-71.
“It’s always a war when we play them, and we expect nothing less tomorrow.” Horn said.