Northern Kentucky University Athletics

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University men's basketball team plays host to UC-Clermont at 7 p.m. Wednesday in The Bank of Kentucky Center.

NKU is 6-4 and has won two straight games. This will be the final non-Great Lakes Valley Conference game of the season for the Norse.

NKU owns a 6-0 all-time record against UC-Clermont. Earlier this season at Batavia, Ohio, NKU rolled to a 90-65 win against UC-Clermont.

DOMINATING THE INSIDE: David Palmer and Chris Knight combined for 35 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead NKU to a 78-56 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene on Dec. 12.

Palmer finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots, while Knight added 14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and a block. The 6-foot-9 Palmer was 7-for-11 from the field, while Knight finished 7-for-14.

NKU shot 50.8 percent from the field and improved to 6-4 with the non-conference victory. The Norse won easily despite committing 18 turnovers and shooting 60 percent from the free-throw line.

CAREER GAME: Corey Sorrell scored a career-high 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists for NKU, which held Mount Vernon Nazarene to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half to build a 37-19 lead at the break. Sorrell came off the bench and sparked NKU with 10 points in the first half.

ASSIST TO BIBBINS: Scott Bibbins dished out nine assists and committed just one turnover for the Norse. It marked the second straight game that Bibbins finished with nine assists.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST UC-CLERMONT: Earlier this season on Nov. 23, David Palmer scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead NKU to a 90-65 win at UC-Clermont.

Palmer made 10 of 12 shots from the field, and he scored 17 points during the second half as the Norse pulled away. With NKU holding a 44-36 lead early in the second half, Palmer keyed a 12-3 run by scoring eight points. Palmer capped the spurt with a dunk off an assist from Scott Bibbins at the 14:28 mark to give NKU a 56-39 advantage.

The Norse shot 59.7 percent from the field and held UC-Clermont to just 37.9 percent shooting. NKU won the rebounding battle by a 38-29 margin and finished with 23 assists as a team.

UC-Clermont, which is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, owned a 22-20 lead midway through the first half. NKU, however, used a 16-5 spurt to build a 36-27 advantage on a Bibbins basket with 3:29 remaining in the first half.

The Norse shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half and were never threatened by the smaller Cougars. Palmer was 7-for-8 from the field in the second half and completely dominated the inside for NKU.

Bibbins added 15 points and seven assists for NKU, while Dustin Maguire scored 14 points. Corey Sorrell scored 12 points for the Norse, and Ethan Faulkner dished out nine assists.