Northern Kentucky University Athletics

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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – With leading scorer Cardell McFarland sidelined with a foot injury Thursday night, Kentucky Wesleyan turned to another big-time offensive performer during its showdown at Northern Kentucky University.

And, as he did each time last season against NKU, Anthony Young delivered.

Young poured in 20 of his 29 points in the second half as No. 7 Kentucky Wesleyan walked out of The Bank of Kentucky Center with a 74-57 victory over No. 9 NKU. The Panthers shot 57.8 percent from the field, clamped down defensively on the Norse in the second half and won for the first time in NKU's 9,400-seat arena.

McFarland, a senior guard who averages 20.6 points per game, is expected to miss a month with the injured foot. The Panthers, however, received big contributions from the backcourt duo of Kreig Oxley (15 points) and Brandon Johnson (13 points, eight assists) to complement the offensive skills of Young.

A 6-foot-7 scoring machine who entered Thursday averaging 20 points per contest, Young was 10-for-13 from the field and made all seven of his free-throw attempts. Last season, Young averaged 24.8 points per contest against NKU in four games.

Kentucky Wesleyan improved to 16-2 overall, 8-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Panthers – who upped their lead in the all-time series with NKU to 46-33 - had lost in each of their previous three visits to The Bank of Kentucky Center, which opened in 2008.

NKU (15-3 overall, 7-3 GLVC) trailed by just a point at the half, but Kentucky Wesleyan used a 16-7 run to open up a 52-42 lead on Young's layup with 14:09 remaining. The Panthers held NKU to just 27.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half, including a 1-for-12 effort from 3-point range.

Jon Van Hoose, who scored all 14 of his points in the first half, was 0-for-6 from 3-point range after the break. The Norse entered the game as the nation's top 3-point shooting team (.439), but Kentucky Wesleyan's defense limited NKU to 5-for-24 (.208) from long range.

Ethan Faulkner and Stretch Watson each finished with 14 points for NKU, which was 11-0 at home this season going into Thursday's game. The Norse are now 50-6 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center, with all six losses coming against GLVC teams.

NKU is 53-128 all-time against nationally ranked opponents, including 0-2 this season. The Norse dropped a 64-60 decision at then-No. 3 Bellarmine earlier this month.

It gets no easier Saturday, as NKU faces No. 8 Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind. NKU has not won a regular-season game in the PAC Arena since Dec. 10, 1994, when the Norse rallied for a 96-90 victory over then-No. 1 Southern Indiana.

Since then, NKU has dropped 12 consecutive regular-season games in the PAC Arena to Southern Indiana.

NKU's last win against Southern Indiana in the PAC Arena came during the 1996 NCAA Division II Tournament, a 99-87 victory in the Great Lakes Region Tournament championship game.