HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky gets a chance to play spoiler in the Atlantic Sun Conference this Thursday night when league-leading Florida Gulf Coast visits The Bank of Kentucky Center at 7 p.m.
Florida Gulf Coast enters Thursday night with an 18-8 overall record, and the Eagles are atop the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with a 10-3 mark. Florida Gulf Coast is riding a six-game winning streak and owns a 73-54 victory over Northern Kentucky earlier this season on Jan. 19 in Fort Myers, Fla.
Northern Kentucky is 8-12 overall, 6-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Norse had their four-game winning streak snapped last Friday during a 76-58 setback at Lipscomb. It marked the first time Northern Kentucky had won four consecutive games as a Division I program.
BLACK OUT THE BANK: Thursday's game with Florida Gulf Coast is “Black Out the Bank” night. The first 500 NKU students receive a free Black Out T-shirt courtesy of Topper's Pizza. In honor of Valentine's Day, $1 concessions will also be available throughout the game (select beverages & hot dogs). #LoveNBasketball
AIMING FOR 1,000: Northern Kentucky senior guard
Eshaunte Jones enters Thursday night with 914 points as a collegiate player. Jones scored a total of 287 points in two years at Nebraska, and he now has 627 points in two seasons with Northern Kentucky.
Jones leads the Norse in scoring at 15.8 points per game, which is fifth in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He is also second in the A-Sun in 3-pointers made per game (3.2) and is fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (.408).
Jones led Northern Kentucky with 15 points in the loss at Lipscomb, and has scored in double figures the past six games. He has netted at least 20 points five times this season, including a career-high 26 points in a win over Mercer. Jones has scored in double figures 15 times this season.
ON A ROLL: Northern Kentucky junior guard
Chad Jackson has scored in double figures the last five games. He is also tied for second place in the A-Sun in steals per game at 1.7. Jackson averages 9.7 points per game.
ELEVATING HIS GAME: Northern Kentucky freshman guard
Tyler White has scored in double figures three times in the past four games, including 13-point performances against both Kennesaw State and USC Upstate. White averages 6.8 points per game and is 24-for-63 from 3-point range this season.
FLOOR GENERAL: Northern Kentucky senior point guard
Ethan Faulkner enters Thursday with 331 career assists, which is 12th in school history. Faulkner needs 11 assists to move past Ryan Schrand for 11th place on the NKU career list. Brenden Stowers (344 assists) is currently 10th in Norse history in that category.
Faulkner also enters Thursday with 670 career points, which is 51st in Norse history. Faulkner needs just two points to pass Andre McClendon (671 points) for 50th place on the Norse all-time scoring list. Deron Blasingame (688 career points) is 49th on the Norse's all-time list.
BOARD GAME: Lipscomb finished with a 45-26 advantage in rebounds on Friday night in its win over Northern Kentucky. The Bisons collected 15 offensive rebounds and owned a 21-0 advantage in second-chance points.
GETTING THE HANG OF D-1: Since starting the season 0-6, Northern Kentucky has gone 8-6 with five road victories. The Norse played their first 10 games away from home this season, their first in Division I.
NOT BAD FOR A BEGINNER: Northern Kentucky leads the conference in attendance with an average home crowd of 3,056 per game.
BEZOLD IN FEBRUARY: Northern Kentucky head coach
Dave Bezold owns a 39-23 record in the month of February during his career. Bezold is 169-91 in nine seasons at NKU. With one more victory this season, Bezold will reach the 170-win mark faster than any previous Norse head coach.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST FGCU: Earlier this season on Jan. 19, Sherwood Brown poured in 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Florida Gulf Coast posted a 73-54 win over visiting Northern Kentucky in Alico Arena.
Brown, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, scored 16 points in the first half as Florida Gulf Coast built a 43-23 lead at the break. The Eagles, who shot 62.5 percent from the field during the opening 20 minutes, used a 28-9 run to turn a 15-14 lead into a 20-point cushion at halftime.
The Eagles led by as many as 24 points in the second half and defeated the Norse in the first meeting between the two programs.
Florida Gulf Coast finished 12-for-27 from 3-point range, with Brown knocking down five treys. Christophe Varidel made four 3-pointers for his 12 points. Brown's 29 points were the most by a Northern Kentucky opponent this season.
Eshaunte Jones led Northern Kentucky with 22 points. Jones buried five shots from 3-point range and added seven rebounds for the Norse, who were 10-for-29 from behind the arc. Stretch Watson recorded the second double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
ALSO. . . MARK YOUR CALENDARS
THINK PINK/COACHES VS. CANCER
NKU vs. Stetson
Saturday, Feb. 16th
4:30 PM (WBB) & 7 PM (MBB)
The Bank of Kentucky Center
NKU invites you to take part in the annual "Think Pink" game by wearing pink and supporting breast cancer awareness. With the help of the American Cancer Society, NKU Basketball is also participating in Coaches vs. Cancer by wearing sneakers during the games. The entire night is dedicated to cancer survivors and to raise awareness for breast and colon cancer. The first 200 NKU Students will receive a FREE Coaches vs. Cancer T-shirt! Shirts will also be available to our fans by simply making a donation to the American Cancer Society. You can donate your extra concessions money to help the cause as we will feature $1 Concessions throughout the games (Select Beverages &Hotdogs). NKU will also honor the 2013 inductees into the David Lee Holt NKU Athletics Hall of Fame at half-time of the Men's Game.
#Hoops4theCure
