Fri., Nov. 8 - West Lafayette, Ind. - 7 p.m.
Mackey Arena (14,240)
Northern Kentucky (0-0) at Purdue (0-0)
NKU Radio: WQRT 1160 AM
•Jim Kelch (play-by-play) & Steve Moeller (color)
Series Record: First meeting
Sun., Nov. 10 - Lexington, Ky. - 4 p.m.
Rupp Arena (23,500)
Northern Kentucky at #1 Kentucky
NKU Radio: WQRT 1160 AM
•Jim Kelch (play-by-play) & Steve Moeller (color)
Television: Fox Sports South
Series Record: First meeting
NKU OPENS SEASON FRIDAY AT PURDUE
Norse (11-16 last season) face Boilermakers (16-18 last season) for first time
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is entering its second season of competing at the NCAA Division I level. The Norse posted an 11-16 overall record last season and finished 9-9 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
2. NKU welcomes back one starter and five letterwinners. The Norse must replace leading scorer
Eshaunte Jones, who earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors after averaging 15.7 points per game.
3• This is the first meeting between NKU and Purdue.
4• NKU is 0-1 all-time against Big Ten teams, that being a 70-43 loss at Ohio State last season.
5• NKU is 76-84 all-time in games played in the state of Indiana.
+1• The Norse play at top-ranked Kentucky on Sunday in Rupp Arena at 4 p.m.
NORSE VISIT BOILERMAKERS: Northern Kentucky begins the season Friday night with a road game at Purdue. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind. Northern Kentucky posted an 11-16 record last season in its Division I debut. The Norse finished 9-9 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Northern Kentucky welcomes back five letterwinners and one starter from last season. After facing Purdue on Friday night, the Norse will travel to Lexington, Ky., to meet No. 1-ranked Kentucky at 4 p.m. Sunday in Rupp Arena.
NKU VS. THE BIG TEN: The Norse have played just one team from the Big Ten prior to Friday night's game at Purdue. On Dec. 1, 2012, Northern Kentucky dropped a 70-43 decision at Ohio State. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes held the Norse to 27.1 percent shooting from the field in that game, which was played in Columbus, Ohio.
FOR OPENERS: Northern Kentucky is 33-9 all-time in season openers. From 1982 until 2008, the Norse won 27 consecutive season-opening games. Grand Valley State stopped that streak in the 2009 opener. A year ago in their first-ever Division I game, the Norse dropped a 65-61 decision at San Diego in the season opener.
TO THE POINT: A year ago, the Norse were 9-3 when scoring more than 60 points. Northern Kentucky was 2-13 when held below the 60-point mark.
BY THE NUMBERS: Northern Kentucky must replace 73 percent of its scoring total from last season. The Norse also lost 70 percent of their rebounding from last season, including the team's top four in total boards. In addition, Northern Kentucky must replace 79 percent of its assists from last season.
TOUGH TO REPLACE: The Norse must replace four starters from last season, including leading scorer
Eshaunte Jones. Jones earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors after averaging 15.7 points per game. He also led the team in 3-pointers made with 81 and became the first player in Norse history to earn All-Atlantic Sun Conference accolades when he was voted to the first team.
Starting point guard
Ethan Faulkner and starting forward
Ernest Watson are also among the graduation losses for the Norse. In addition, senior guard
Chad Jackson will sit out this season as a redshirt. Jackson averaged 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season, and he led the Norse with 39 steals.
POWER IN THE POST: Jalen Billups is expected to return to the lineup after missing the final 19 games of last season with an injury. The 6-foot-6 sophomore post player averaged 10.3 points in seven games and shot 61.1 percent from the field. Billups also averaged 5.7 rebounds per game. College Sports Madness named Billups to its preseason All-Atlantic Sun Conference team.
IMPRESSIVE FEAT: Northern Kentucky led the Atlantic Sun Conference in home attendance last season, finishing with a home average of 3,551 for nine dates in The Bank of Kentucky Center. The Norse drew a regular-season record 6,719 in the home finale against Jacksonville on March 2.
STINGY DEFENSE: Northern Kentucky finished No. 2 in scoring defense in the Atlantic Sun Conference last season, allowing just 61 points per game. The Norse were No. 4 in field-goal percentage defense by allowing opponents to make just 43.9 percent of their shots from the field.
BALL CONTROL: Northern Kentucky finished No. 3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference in assist-turnover ratio last season at 1.1. The Norse dished out 340 assists, compared to 308 turnovers.
HOOSIER STATE: Friday's game at Purdue will mark the first time Northern Kentucky has played in the state of Indiana since Jan. 28, 2012, when the Norse visited Evansville, Ind., to play Southern Indiana. Northern Kentucky was a member of the Division II Great lakes Valley Conference at that time and dropped a 69-68 decision to Southern Indiana.
The Norse own a 76-84 all-time record in games played in the state of Indiana. Friday marks Northern Kentucky's first road game against a Division I program in Indiana.
YOUTHFUL ROSTER: Northern Kentucky features a 12-man active roster with 11 players who are either freshmen or sophomores. The Norse's only junior, guard
Jordan Jackson, is a transfer from a junior college and also has no Division I experience. Jackson averaged 14.9 points per game last season at Williston State College and is expected to start in the backcourt.
Sophomore forward
Jake Giesler is a transfer from Jacksonville and played in 16 games for the Dolphins two years ago. He averaged 1.9 points per game in 6.4 minutes per contest.
NKU VS. UK EXHIBITION: Northern Kentucky and Kentucky have never met in the regular season, but the two programs squared off in an exhibition game on Nov. 3, 2004. The Wildcats rallied from an eight-point deficit in the first half and cruised to a 91-73 win over the Norse in front of a crowd of 18,824 in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats used a 15-0 run in the first half to wipe out a 20-12 deficit and forced 26 NKU turnovers.
Kelenna Azubuike scored 26 points to lead UK, which made 60.5 percent of its shots from the field in the second half. Rajon Rondo finished with 16 points for the Wildcats, and Chuck Hayes added 15 points. Mike Kelsey scored a game-high 27 points to lead NKU.
NKU AGAINST THE SEC: Northern Kentucky is playing a Southeastern Conference opponent for the first time in men's basketball.
AGAINST NO. 1: While competing in Division II, Northern Kentucky faced the No. 1 team in the nation 17 times. The Norse were 3-14 against teams ranked No. 1 in Division II, with two of the wins coming againt Southern Indiana (1994-95 & 2003-04 seasons). Northern Kentucky also upset top-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan during the 2002-03 season.
ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE POLL: Northern Kentucky was picked ninth by the coaches in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason poll. The Norse tied for fourth place in the A-Sun standings last season with a 9-9 record. In the A-Sun media poll, the Norse tied Lipscomb for eighth place in the vote. Florida Gulf Coast was tabbed as the preseason favorite in both polls, with Mercer picked second in both polls.   Â
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH: Dave Bezold is beginning his 10th season as the head coach at Northern Kentucky. Bezold owns a 172-95 career record with the Norse and has led Northern Kentucky to five 20-win seasons as head coach. He guided the program to three Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division titles while the Norse competed in Division II, and his 2009 team captured the GLVC Tournament championship.
