Fri., Feb. 8 - Nashville, Tenn.
Allen Arena (5,028)
NKU (8-11, 6-5 A-Sun) at Lipscomb (8-14, 3-8), 7 p.m.
NKU Radio: WQRT 1160 AM
•Jim Kelch (play-by-play) & Steve Moeller (color)
TV/Webcast: A-Sun/CSS Friday Night Game of the Week (CSS) and ESPN3
•Matt Stewart (play-by-play) & Sonny Smith (color)
Series Record: Tied, 2-2
Last Meeting: NKU 67, LU 53 (1-11-13)
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is 8-11 overall (6-5 A-Sun) after posting its fourth consecutive win, a 70-65 triumph at USC Upstate on Saturday.
2•
Eshaunte Jones, who was named the College Sports Madness A-Sun Player of the Week on Monday, continued his torrid shooting by pouring in 18 points against USC Upstate. Jones has averaged 23.5 points during NKU's four-game winning streak.
3•
Chad Jackson added 17 points,
Tyler White scored 13 and
Ethan Faulkner netted 10 points in the win.
4• NKU shot 56.4 percent from the field on Saturday.
5• The Norse held a 23-9 edge in points off turnovers.
+1• NKU is 2-2 all-time against Lipscomb.
DRIVE FOR FIVE: NKU is shooting for its fifth consecutive victory, which would be the longest streak for the Norse since winning six straight games last season. NKU, in fact, won its first 13 games last season to tie the school record for best start. The Norse finished the campaign 23-7.
BEAR ON A TEAR: Eshaunte “Bear” Jones remains in a shooting zone few NKU players have ever visited. He has averaged 23.5 points per game during the last four contests - all Norse wins - and made a total of 20 3-pointers in those four victories.
Jones had his streak of games with at last 25 points stopped at three last Saturday at USC Upstate, but the senior guard still poured in 18 points as the Norse posted a 70-65 win. Jones averages 15.8 points per game, which is No. 4 in the A-Sun. He is No. 2 in the league in 3-pointers made per game at 3.3, and he buried a career-best seven treys against East Tennessee State last week.
Jones has scored in double figures 14 times this season, including the past five games. He has reached the 20-point mark five times this season, with a career-high 26 against Mercer on Jan. 24.
MORE HONORS: Jones, who was selected as the College Sports Madness Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week on Monday, enters Friday with 612 career points at NKU in two seasons. He also scored a total of 287 points in two years at Nebraska, giving him 899 career points as a collegiate player.
AGAINST THE A-SUN: Jones averages 17.9 points per game against A-Sun opponents. He is shooting 46.2 percent from 3-point range in 11 games against A-Sun foes. He is 20-for-34 (.588) from behind the arc in the last four games.
FLOOR GENERAL: NKU senior point guard
Ethan Faulkner enters Friday with 327 career assists, which is 12th in school history. Faulkner needs 15 assists to move past Ryan Schrand for 11th place on the NKU career list. He also enters Friday with 666 career points, which is 52nd in Norse history.
He is two points away from passing Jim McMillan (667) for 51st place, and Faulkner can move into the top 50 all-time scorers with six points to pass Andre McClendon's total of 671.
JACKSON ON A ROLL: NKU junior guard
Chad Jackson scored 17 points and made huge plays at the end of the USC Upstate game. Trailing 68-65, USC Upstate's Adrian Rodgers launched a 3-point attempt that missed its mark, and Jackson rebounded.
Jackson was fouled and converted both free throws to seal the Norse win. Jackson netted 11 points in the second half and was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line during the final 20 minutes of play. He has scored in double figures the last four games and also averaged 7.0 rebounds during those four wins.
JAM-TASTIC: Jackson became an instant celebrity on Jan. 26 when he made ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays with his two-handed dunk off an offensive rebound against Kennesaw State. Jackson is the first NKU athlete to ever be featured on the ESPN nightly roundup of top plays around the nation.
GETTING THE HANG OF D-1: Since starting the season 0-6, NKU has gone 8-5 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: NKU leads the conference in attendance with an average home crowd of 3,056 per game.
BEZOLD IN FEBRUARY: NKU head coach
Dave Bezold owns a 39-22 record in the month of February during his career. Bezold is 169-90 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.
SONNY DISPOSITION: NKU has played twice on the A-Sun Game of the Week with former Auburn head coach Sonny Smith as the color commentator, and the Norse have won both times. He will also be handling those duties Friday night, with Matt Stewart doing the play-by-play. Smith built Auburn into a Southeastern Conference power during the 1980s with players such as Charles Barkley and Chuck Person.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST LIPSCOMB: Earlier this season on Jan. 11,
Jack Flournoy and
Tyler White each scored a career-high 18 points as NKU posted a 67-53 victory over Lipscomb in The Bank of Kentucky Center. The freshmen duo jump-started the Norse offense early in the game with a barrage of 3-pointers, and by the time the final buzzer sounded, NKU had buried 13 shots from behind the arc.
White was 4-for-6 from 3-point range, while Flournoy finished 4-for-5. Flournoy came off the bench and poured in 11 points during a 14-4 run that turned a 9-8 deficit into a 22-13 lead. Flournoy started the run with a 3-point field goal and capped the spurt with another trey.
SAME SCHOOLS, MODIFIED NAMES: On Dec. 4, 1971, then-Northern Kentucky State College – in its first season of fielding athletics - met David Lipscomb College in a tournament in Lexington, Ky. NKSC won that first encounter, 85-75, in the consolation game of the Transylvania Tip-Off Classic.
A month later, on Jan. 8, 1972, Bruce Bowers scored 43 points as David Lipscomb rolled to a 93-77 win over Northern Kentucky at Grant County High School. Bowers poured in 34 points in the first half as David Lipscomb built a 50-26 lead at the break. It marked the first time an opposing player had scored at least 40 points against the Norsemen.
On Jan. 11, 2013, the two schools renewed their rivalry after a 41-year hiatus, and NKU pulled away for a 67-53 win.
BLACK OUT THE BANK: NKU returns home Feb. 14 to meet Florida Gulf Coast in “Black Out the Bank” night in the Bank of Kentucky Center at 7 p.m. 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
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
