HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – A pair of road games in Northeast Ohio for Northern Kentucky kick off with a matchup at Youngstown State on Thursday, Feb. 1. The Penguins are the only Horizon League team the Norse have not faced yet this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Beeghley Center.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (15-7 Overall, 8-2 Horizon League)
Youngstown State University Penguins (6-17 Overall, 4-6 Horizon League)
Thursday, Feb. 1 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Beeghley Center (6,300) in Youngstown, Ohio
TV: ESPN3
Radio: ESPN1530 (1530 AM) with Jim Kelch (Play-by-Play) and Steve Moeller (Color)
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU moved to 8-2 in the Horizon League and 15-7 overall with a 72-44 thumping of Detroit Mercy.
• The Norse are now second in the Horizon League standings, one game behind Wright State.
• NKU is one of 13 teams in the country to use the same starting lineup in every game.
• Dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season, and including the #HLMBB Championship, NKU has won 23 of its last 31 games (.742) against League opponents.
• The Norse are 5-9 all-time versus the Penguins after going 2-1 against them last year
• Northern Kentucky is 18th in the nation in 2-point field goal percent (57.1).
• NKU is averaging 16.8 assists per game, a mark that ranks 31st in the nation. It also only commits 12.1 turnovers an outing, which ranks 76th nationally. Combining those two marks results in an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.39, the 22nd best in the country.
• NKU forces the 40th-most turnovers per game in the nation (15.7) and allows teams to distribute just 11.0 assists per game.
• NKU is 27th in the country in steals (8.1 spg), registering double-digit steals seven times this year.
• NKU's 3-point field goal defense ranks 8th in the nation at 30.3 percent.
• Through games played Jan. 30, NKU sits 74th on KenPom.com, which is tops in the Horizon League.
• The Norse are 25th in the CollegeInsider.Com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll and receiving votes in the Mid-Major Madness Power Rankings.
• F Drew McDonald has been on an absolute tear in registering double-doubles. He has eight in the last 12 games and 10 total on the year, 18th most in the nation. The Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year leads NKU in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg).
• G Lavone Holland II runs the show for the Norse. He averages 13.3 points, 4.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
• F Carson Williams is converting 62.3 percent of his field-goal attempts (114-of-183), a mark that ranks 17th in the country. He is averaging 13.4 ppg.
• G Tyler Sharpe is averaging 7.4 ppg and is shooting 48.1 percent in League play, while leading NKU - one of the nation's highest-ranked teams in steals - with 14 thefts during that time.
• F Jalen Tate had a major impact on the game in NKU's win over Detroit Mercy, guarding the Titans' Kameron Chatman for most of the game and holding him to a third (six points) of his season average (18.2 ppg) entering the contest. Tate chipped in a career-best six boards and five assists.
• HC John Brannen, last year's Horizon League Coach of the Year, has 49 wins as head coach (48 at NKU, one at Alabama) and needs just one more for his 50th.
 
Last Time Out
Northern Kentucky had its best defensive game in the Division I era, limiting Detroit Mercy to 19.4 percent (7-of-36) shooting and just 16 points in the opening stanza on its way to a convincing 72-44 victory. The 44 points tie the program mark for fewest points allowed since transitioning to Division I and it's the best effort against another DI team in the six-year era.
 
Williams had a team-high 13 points, while McDonald posted his 10th double-double of the year with 12 points and 13 caroms. Sharpe also reached double figures with 10 points, as a total of six Norse tallied at least eight points.
 
Scouting Youngstown State
Youngstown State had one of the hottest starts in the Horizon League, opening the conference slate 3-0. However, the Penguins have gone 1-6 since that point with the only win coming against IUPUI two games ago. Cameron Morse (14.5 ppg) and Braun Hartfield (14.3 ppg) pace the Penguins in scoring. Morse was a first-team all-league performer last year, after earning second team accolades in 2016.
 
Series Stuff
NKU is 5-9 against YSU, including a 2-1 mark in three meetings last season. The Norse took down the Penguins, 84-74, in the semifinals during last season's run to the Horizon League Tournament Championship. However, Youngstown State has won all three meetings at the Beeghley Center in NKU's Division I era.