HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky plays host to Stetson at 7 p.m. Saturday in an Atlantic Sun Conference showdown in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Northern Kentucky is 8-13 overall after dropping a 60-53 decision to Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday night. The Norse are 6-7 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Stetson is 11-14 overall following a 76-66 win at Lipscomb on Thursday night. The Hatters are 8-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST STETSON: Earlier this season on Jan. 17, Chris Perez ignited a game-changing 25-10 run in the second half with 10 of his 17 points as Stetson rallied for a 71-59 victory over Northern Kentucky in the Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla. It marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Northern Kentucky owned a 33-27 lead after
John Staley's basket to open the second half. Stetson countered by scoring the next nine points to grab a 36-33 advantage on a layup by Perez.
Chad Jackson's basket cut the Stetson lead to 36-35, but the Hatters responded by scoring 16 of the next 24 points to build a 52-43 advantage on Aaron Graham's 3-pointer with 8:23 remaining. Graham scored eight of his 13 points in the second half as the Hatters shot 57.1 percent from the floor after the break.
Jackson netted 11 of his team-leading 15 points in the first half as NKU forged a 31-27 lead at the break. The Norse held Stetson to 40.7 percent shooting from the field in the first half and limited Perez to five points. NKU also controlled the boards (18-13 rebound advantage) and led despite seven turnovers.
All of that changed drastically in the second half. Stetson used its superior size to even up the rebounding totals at 31 by game's end. The Hatters also took advantage of 10 Norse turnovers in the second half to key the big run.
Stetson finished the game at 49.1 percent shooting from the field and extended its winning streak to four games. Joel Naburgs scored 17 points and added eight assists for the Hatters, while Graham and Adam Pegg each finished with 13.
Ethan Faulkner scored 12 points, dished out five assists and collected four steals for NKU, while Jackson pulled down eight rebounds and added four steals.
Eshaunte Jones scored eight points for the Norse, who were 9-for-25 from 3-point range.
FOUL PLAY: In the loss at Stetson on Jan. 17, Northern Kentucky made just four trips to the free-throw line - the fewest attempts in school history. Prior to that game, the Norse single-game record for fewest attempts at the line was five, which was set six times (most recently last March against Southern Indiana). Northern Kentucky did make all four of its attempts against Stetson.
Ironically, almost a year to the date earlier (Jan. 14, 2012), Drury shot 51 free throws against visiting Northern Kentucky - the most attempts at the line ever taken against the Norse.
MOVING UP THE LIST: Senior point guard
Ethan Faulkner passed Andre McClendon for 50th place on the Norse all-time scoring list Thursday night with 676 career points. Deron Blasingame (688 career points) is 49th on the Norse's all-time list.
Faulkner enters Saturday with 334 career assists, which is 12th in school history. Faulkner needs eight assists to move past Ryan Schrand (341) for 11th place on the Norse career list. Brenden Stowers (344 assists) is currently 10th in Norse history in that category.
NOT BAD FOR A BEGINNER: Northern Kentucky continues to lead the conference in attendance with an average home crowd of 3,111 per game. Mercer is second in home attendance at 2,621 per game.
NEAR UPSET: Bernard Thompson ignited an 11-1 run in the second half with eight points to lift Florida Gulf Coast to a 60-53 come-from-behind victory over Northern Kentucky on Thursday night. The Eagles overcame a five-point deficit midway through the second half to extend their winning streak to seven games and remain atop the A-Sun standings.
With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, Northern Kentucky held a 46-41 lead after a 3-pointer by
Eshaunte Jones. That's when Thompson and Chase Fieler literally took over, combining to score their team's final 19 points.
Florida Gulf Coast used the game-changing 11-1 run to take the lead for good at 52-47. Thompson netted eight points – a pair of 3-pointers and a fade-away jumper – to ignite the run, while Fieler scored three points.
Jones, who scored a game-high 20 points, cut the Florida Gulf Coast lead to 52-49 with 4:45 left by making two free throws, but Fieler countered with a dunk to push the Eagle advantage back to five points.
Thompson ended the game with a steal and breakaway dunk as time expired. He finished with 18 points, three assists and two steals. Fieler added 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and eight rebounds.
Northern Kentucky missed its last six 3-point attempts and was unable to pull off the upset before a crowd of 3,386. Florida Gulf Coast beat No. 3-ranked Miami (Fla.) earlier this season and had handed the Norse their worst A-Sun loss of the season, 73-54 on Jan. 19.
BEZOLD IN FEBRUARY: Northern Kentucky head coach
Dave Bezold owns a 39-24 record in the month of February during his career. Bezold is 169-92 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.
