Game Notes (PDF)
Thurs., Dec. 20
Hampton, Va. – HU Convocation Center (7,200)
NKU (0-6) at Hampton (2-7), 7 p.m.
NKU Radio: WQRT 1160 AM
•Jim Kelch (play-by-play) & Steve Moeller (color)
Series Record: First meeting
NORTHERN KENTUCKY MEETS HAMPTON
Norse (0-6) seek first victory of season
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU dropped a 75-69 decision at Texas Tech on Dec. 4. The Norse have not played a game in 16 days.
2• NKU fell behind by 20 points early in the second half after Texas Tech hit the Norse with a 15-0 run.
3• Norse freshmen
Tyler White (14 points) and
Jack Flournoy (13 points) both scored in double figures for the first time as collegiate players.
4• NKU is meeting Hampton for the first time.
5• The Norse have lost 18 consecutive regular-season games against Division I opponents.
+1• NKU's last regular-season win against a Division I team came on Jan. 14, 1984, when the Norse upset Tennessee State, 66-64, in Highland Heights, Ky.
STATE OF SUCCESS: NKU has made just one trip to Virginia in its men's basketball history, and the Norse made it count in a big-time way. NKU won the 1996 Division II Tipoff Classic in Richmond, Va., knocking off South Dakota (95-87), Virginia Union (83-66) and Washburn (69-63 in overtime) to claim the season-opening tournament title.
That 1996-97 NKU team, which featured All-Americans LaRon Moore and Paul Cluxton, would advance to the NCAA Division II national championship game before losing to Cal State Bakersfield, 57-56.
BEAR FACTS: NKU senior guard
Eshaunte Jones leads the team in scoring (14.7 points per game) and 3-pointers made (18). Jones knocked down four treys against Texas Tech and finished with 16 points in that game.
Jones has scored in double figures four times this season, with a high of 24 points against Cal State Northridge. In the two games he did not reach double-digit scoring (Tulsa and Ohio State), Jones finished with nine points in each contest.
BILLUPS IN THE POST: NKU sophomore post player
Jalen Billups, who missed the Texas Tech game while nursing an injury, is expected to play against Hampton. Billups averages 8.8 points per game and is shooting 54.1 percent from the field. He also leads NKU with seven blocked shots.
FROSH TO THE RESCUE: Norse freshmen
Tyler White and
Jack Flournoy helped ignite an NKU comeback against Texas Tech that trimmed a 20-point Red Raider lead to single digits late in the game. White scored a career-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Flournoy added a career-high 13 points for the Norse.
White and Flournoy were the only two bench players who scored against Texas Tech.
TORRID FIRST HALF: NKU was 7-for-14 from 3-point range in the first half against Texas Tech and finished 10-for-28 from behind the arc. For the season, NKU is shooting 26.8 percent this season from 3-point range.
ABOUT HAMPTON: The Pirates are 2-7 after posting a 72-65 win over American on Tuesday night in Hampton, Va. Senior guard Jasper Williams led three Pirates in double figures with a career-high 22 points off the bench. He also tied his career high with five 3-pointers.
Sophomore forward Emmanuel Okoroba added a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Freshman guard Deron Powers contributed 17 points and a career-high 10 assists for Hampton, which is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
REMEMBER THIS?: Hampton's men's basketball program captured the national spotlight during the 2001 NCAA Tournament, as the 15th-seeded Pirates stunned No. 2 seed Iowa State, 58-57, in the opening round. That game is still considered one of the top five upsets in college basketball history, as many experts thought Iowa State had a legitimate shot at advancing to the Final Four.
Iowa State featured future first-round NBA picks Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley, but it was the Pirates' Tarvis Williams who knocked down a shot with 6.9 seconds left to give Hampton the 58-57 victory. The Cyclones had one last chance to win, but Tinsley missed a shot as time expired.
NAVY UP NEXT: NKU concludes the two-game road trip Saturday by playing Navy in Annapolis, Md. It will mark the first meeting between NKU and Navy in men's basketball.
IN MARYLAND: NKU is 1-1 all-time in games played in Maryland, and both were during a 1986 regular-season tournament at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. NKU defeated West Chester, 73-72, on Dec. 29, 1986, then dropped a 69-66 decision to host Mount St. Mary's the next evening.
At that time, Mount St. Mary's was still competing at the Division II level but is now a Division I program.
