Sat., March 2 - Highland Heights, Ky. - 8 p.m.
The Bank of Kentucky Center (9,400)
Jacksonville (14-16, 9-8 A-Sun) at NKU (10-15, 8-9 A-Sun)
NKU Radio: WQRT 1160 AM
•Richard Skinner (play-by-play) & Steve Moeller (color)
Series Record: Jacksonville leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Jacksonville 53, NKU 51 (12-31-12)
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is 10-15 overall (8-9 A-Sun) following a 72-45 win over North Florida on Thursday night.
2• The Norse tied a school record by committing just three turnovers the entire game and shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second half to blow the game open.
3•
Eshaunte Jones scored his 1,000th career point with a short jumper from the left block in the second half. That field goal also gave Jones a career-high 30 points, surpassing his previous best of 26 points.
4•
Tyler White received the start and scored 12 points.
5• The Norse own a 57-11 all-time record in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including a 4-4 mark this season.
+1• NKU is 0-1 all-time against Jacksonville.
HOME FINALE: Northern Kentucky plays it home finale on Saturday, when Jacksonville visits The Bank of Kentucky Center at 8 p.m. The Norse are 10-15 overall, 8-9 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Jacksonville is 14-16 overall, 9-8 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
AT STAKE: If Northern Kentucky defeats Jacksonville, the Norse will finish tied with the Dolphins and USC Upstate (9-9 A-Sun) for fourth place in the league standings. Jacksonville has locked up the No. 4 seed for the upcoming A-Sun Tournament, which begins next week in Macon, Ga. Northern Kentucky is in its first season of reclassifying to Division I and is not eligible for the A-Sun Tournament.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Northern Kentucky senior guard
Eshaunte Jones netted his 1,000th career point as a collegiate player on Thursday night during a 72-45 win over North Florida. Jones scored a total of 287 points in two years at Nebraska, and he now has 713 points in two seasons with Northern Kentucky.
Jones leads the Norse in scoring at 16.1 points per game, which is fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He is No. 2 in the A-Sun in 3-pointers made per game (3.2) and No. 3 in 3-point shooting percentage (.405).
Jones has netted at least 20 points seven times this season, including a career-high 30 points in the win over North Florida. He has scored in double figures 19 times this season.
BEAR FACTS: Prior to Thursday night, the last time a Northern Kentucky player scored at least 30 points in a game was Dec. 23, 2009, when David Palmer poured in 39 points against UC-Clermont during a 91-89 overtime victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
ELITE COMPANY: Norse senior point guard
Ethan Faulkner moved past Ryan Schrand for 11th place on the school's all-time assists list with 342. Faulkner also passed Vincent Humphrey for 48th place in Norse history with 704 career points. He is one of just 10 players in Norse history to score at least 700 points and dish out more than 300 assists.
DEFENSIVE GEM: In addition, Faulkner continued his defensive excellence Thursday night by holding North Florida's Parker Smith to just three points. Smith, who averaged 16.5 points per contest going into Thursday, had scored at least 30 points four times this season, but Faulkner's defensive effort forced the North Florida standout into a 1-for-4 shooting night from the floor.
EXTRA CAREFUL: The Norse tied a school record Thursday night by committing just three turnovers against North Florida, outscoring the Ospreys by a whopping 23-4 in points off turnovers. Northern Kentucky also had just three turnovers on Feb. 7, 2009, against Indianapolis.
MAGIC NUMBER: The Norse are 8-2 this season when scoring at least 60 points, but 2-13 when netting below 60 points. The 72 points scored against North Florida were the most for the Norse this season.
THIS DATE IN NORSE HISTORY: On March 2, 1989, Derek Fields poured in 33 points and teammate Chris Wall added 29 points, but Bellarmine held on for a 108-105 overtime win against Northern Kentucky in Louisville, Ky. Reggie Burcy scored 41 points to lead Bellarmine.
On March 2, 1995, Reggie Talbert's block and breakaway dunk in the final seconds sealed Northern Kentucky's 101-97 win over Southern Indiana in Regents Hall.
With NKU holding a 99-97 lead and the clock winding down, Marc Hostetter attempted a 3-pointer from out front. Talbert, however, blocked the shot, chased down the rebound and went in for an uncontested dunk to give the Norse a 101-97 lead. Stand Gouard poured in 37 points to lead Southern Indiana. LaRon Moore led NKU with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
NOT BAD FOR A BEGINNER: Northern Kentucky continues to lead the conference in attendance with an average home crowd of 3,156 per game.
BEZOLD IN MARCH: Northern Kentucky head coach
Dave Bezold owns a 14-12 record in the month of March during his career. Bezold picked up his 170th career victory on Feb. 21 during a 64-54 triumph at Kennesaw State. Bezold is now 171-94 in nine seasons at Northern Kentucky. He reached the 170-win mark quicker than any previous Norse head coach.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST JACKSONVILLE: Earlier this season on Dec. 31 in Jacksonville, Fla., Russell Powell made two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to give Jacksonville a 53-51 victory over Northern Kentucky.
NKU had just tied the game at 51-all with 5.8 seconds left when Stretch Watson converted a steal of a Jacksonville inbounds pass into a basket. After a timeout, Powell darted up the floor and appeared to slip just outside the 3-point arc, but NKU freshman
Tyler White was called for a tripping foul.
Powell calmly hit both free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining. NKU had one final chance, but Glenn Powell intercepted
Anthony Monaco's length-of-the-court pass and Jacksonville escaped with the victory.
NKU freshman guard
Nate Snodgrass equaled his career-high point total with 12, all coming on 3-point field goals. He buried a trio of 3-pointers in the second half as the Norse rallied from a nine-point deficit to eventually take a 46-42 lead when White drained a trey with 6:13 remaining.
The Norse still owned a 49-45 lead with 4:08 left after Snodgrass connected on his final 3-pointer of the night, but Jacksonville scored the next six points to take a 51-49 advantage on Russell Powell's off-balance layup with 23 seconds on the clock.
The two teams traded turnovers in the next 17 seconds, with Watson's steal and basket knotting the score at 51-all and setting up Powell's heroics.
NKU shot 52.6 percent from the field in the second half. The Norse were also 6-for-9 from 3-point range after the break and finished 9-for-21 from behind the arc. Jacksonville shot 38.9 percent from the field for the game.
Powell's two winning free throws enabled him to reach 10 points, the only Dolphin to score in double figures Monday night. Jarvis Haywood added eight points, nine rebounds and five assists for Jacksonville.
