NKU’s first half couldn’t have gone better, holding Youngstown State to just 3-21 from deep, and 7-31 from the field in the first half. NKU took a 50-24 lead into the break, however, Youngstown State is a team that, as Coach Horn mentioned postgame, plays with a lot of poise and never gives up. The Penguins came back from the deficit to close the gap to a 73-66 deficit with just 4:47 remaining. NKU responded by calling a timeout and pulling LJ Wells out of the game after his 3rd straight turnover. NKU then came down the court and Dan Gherezgher hit a 3 from the wing to extend the lead back to 10. NKU the forced a tough jumper and Ethan Elliot took the ball coast to coast, putting the Norse up by 12. NKU never let the deficit get to less than 10 again and finally pulled away to win this one with a final score of 94-79. 

Postgame, Coach Horn was asked by a member of the media to compare where this team’s athleticism and highlight plays stood in the ranks of the his Norse teams he’s coached. While he didn’t comment on actually ranking them, he did say the below: 

“I’m not a fan of ranking teams, I’m a fan of hanging banners.” He did go on to comment that it has been extremely fun to watch this team play this year and competing in practice has been a joy to watch. 

I thought that was an extremely telling comment of the culture Coach Horn has built here. While the media, the fans, some coaches, and many others in sports love to rank teams and compare across different years, Coach is consistently just focused on winning the Horizon League and hanging banners at Truist Arena. 

NKY’s Takeaways:

• Yet again, NKU found a way to win. This time, it was by holding on to a massive lead the built in the first half and just not letting go. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention just how electric Cris Carroll is to watch play basketball. The wing finished with 26 points today on an insane 7-14 from deep, including some extremely tough buckets over bigger defenders. NKU put their best defenders on him and tried to make his life as difficult as possible, however, he still got his when it was all said and done.
  • Despite allowing 26 to Collins, NKU did a great job at defending YSU’s role players, especially in the first half. YSU had just two other guys get to double figures (Rolf and Dawkins, both with 10 points). YSU actually scored 3 points more than their usual totals, however, their (usually really solid) defense was just not good enough.
• This was the highest point total YSU surrendered on the year, and they’ve played teams like Toledo (92), Grand Canyon (90), and Pittsburgh (74). Despite the offensive struggles the Norse have had this year, they were able to shoot 9-20 from deep on the night, and 30-58 from the field overall. NKU did an extremely good job at getting to the FT line and capitalizing when they got there, going 25-32 from the stripe.
• NKU’s “Core Four” combined for 82 of the 94 points tonight. The player breakdown is below, but this is significant, because while it was Dan Gherezgher hitting the clutch three to push NKU’s lead back to double digits, Donovan Oday was able to help close the game out. LJ and Kael combined for a double headed monster down low and helped guide NKU to a 40-32 lead in the paint, and a rebounding advantage of 45-33.
  • YSU came into the game as a solid offensive rebounding team, pulling down 31% of their missed shots on offense. NKU held them to 12 offensive boards. NKU held them to a 29% offensive rebounding %. While this number isn’t great per se, it is an improvement on their season rates, where NKU averages a 32% offensive rebounding % on defense. 

Key Performances: 

• Dan Gherezgher with 26/5/5, but he did have 4 turnovers. 
• Donovan Oday poured in 22/4/3 and 2 steals. He had a highlight dunk that may very well show up on SportCenter tomorrow! 
• LJ Wells had 18/11/1. He had SIX turnovers, included the 3 possession stretch where he committed a turnover per possession. 
• Kael Robinson bounced back tonight, adding in 16/5/4 and 2 turnovers. He did have 2 steals as well. 
• Donovan Rakotonanahary continues to impress, he defended Cris Carroll most of the night, and while he did foul out, things would be much different if the Norse didn’t have him out there.

Up Next:

NKU will get a nice break before traveling to Wisconsin for matchups with Milwaukee and Green Bay next weekend. I’ll have more coverage in the middle of this week of the Norse and what to watch for over this next stretch! 

Tonight’s Pictures: