Northern Kentucky 89 | Robert Morris 92

Donovan Oday’s career High & late game heroics not enough as The Norse’s 3 point and FT shooting stop them short of victory. Oday went off tonight for a total of 38 points, meaning that we now have another member of the 35+ point club for the Norse after LJ Wells did it on Thursday night.

NKU dug themselves an early hole tonight and was really never able to get stable footing with the lead, it felt like they were trying to catch a feisty RMU team the entire night. Towards the end of the first half, NKU trailed by 13 points, however, they were able to close it to a 41-34 deficit at the half.

The second half was honestly one of the more entertaining halves of ball I’ve seen this year. Both teams came in cold, however, after a Robert Morris 3, NKU closed the gap to 44-39. The deficit stayed 2 possessions from the 16:30 mark until the end of the game. NKU took the lead at the 12:31 mark, however, it was short lived. RMU took the lead back at the 11:04 mark and the teams then traded the lead for the next several minutes before the u8 TV timeout where RMU had a 62-58 lead. Out of the media break, RMU maintained the lead until the 6:09 mark where NKU tied it up off of a crazy dunk from Tae Dozier. RMU rattled off a 5-0 run, meaning they had the lead again. RMU maintained the lead until the 6 second mark after a massive 3 pointer from Donovan Oday tied the game up.

In overtime, the teams traded buckets, with no team leading by more than a possession. However, a Donovan Oday 3 had a little too much on it, hitting the back of the rim and falling off. An Ethan Elliott half court heave after a long rebound was well short and Robert Morris’s bench erupted after the buzzer while Donovan Oday crouched down, emotional near mid-court.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit to an incredibly coached and hard playing Robert Morris squad who came into tonight desperate for a win. Their effort and motor helped get them in the right positions all night long.

Keys to the Game:

NKU’s poor shooting doomed them from the start, NKU shot just 6-26 from deep tonight, and when combined with the previous game in Pittsburgh vs. RMU, NKU is a putrid 9-29 from deep against the Colonials. I asked Coach Horn postgame if there was anything specific about RMU that troubles the Norse, he added that he thought that NKU didn’t take advantage of their opportunities. He attributed that a bit to how aggressive RMU closed out on shooters and the overall physical nature of the game.

NKU left 10 points at the free throw line, going 27-37 from the stripe. I understand that it’s going to be easy to turn around and blame this outcome on officiating, however, the reality is that while, yes, the officials missed calls, they missed them on both sides. I’ve been in-person for 40 games this year, this was one of the most difficult and physical games I’ve seen this year, and the officials struggled to keep control of the game. That is evidenced by the sheer amount of free throws attempted. 37 for the Norse, and 31 from RMU. Both teams shot very poorly from the line as well. NKU could have closed this out much differently had they hit their FT’s in regulation.

The Norse were bullied on the glass tonight; RMU out rebounded NKU 47-37. This led to a 18-11 RMU advantage in second chance points for the Colonials. However, NKU was able to do well overall in the paint, taking a 44-38 advantage down low.

NKU’s defense let them down tonight, especially trying to defend Ryan Prather Jr., Prather poured in 23 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Kaleb Brown added in 14, including some incredibly clutch buckets towards the end of the game. Nikolaos Chitikoudis damaged the Norse throughout the night, pulling down 11 rebounds, adding 12 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. NKU had no answer for him on the night other than fouling him. He attempted 12 FT’s, making just 6. Finally, Ta’Zir Smith had 11 points on an efficient 3-6 from the field, he also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Allowing 5 guys to get into double figures is typically a recipe for a loss in conference play.

Kael Robinson and Ethan Elliott combined for 7 points 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 turnovers. In conference play, 2/5 starters putting up that kind of stat line is almost impossible to get over, even if you have the best 6th man in the country.

NKU’s Standouts:

As mentioned previously, Donovan Oday went off, 38/4/4, 1 block, 1 steal, however, he had 5 turnovers.

LJ Wells added in an inefficient 18 points off of 5-12 from the field, pulling down 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and a steal. HE did turn it over 4 times.

Dan Gherezgher added 15/7/3, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and he fouled out before regulation was over.

Final Thoughts:

NKU quite simply didn’t get enough from guys outside of the 3 mentioned above. NKU is the kind of team who desperately needs to have multiple contributors. When you limit production to just 3 guys, and one of those guys foul out, it makes it almost impossible to beat good teams. NKU unfortunately had every opportunity to close this out, but did not make the plays needed.

Up Next:

NKU is now off for a week before traveling up 75 to face off with league leaders Wright State at the Nutter Center! I’ll be there for all of the coverage you need!

Photo Gallery from today: