HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – After coasting to an opening-night win Tuesday night, the Northern Kentucky men's basketball team heads out for its first road contest of the season when it squares off with Northern Illinois in a 7 p.m. ET/6 CT tip. It is the first of two meetings between the schools this season.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (1-0 Overall, 0-0 Horizon League)
Northern Illinois University Huskies (1-0 Overall, 0-0 MAC)
Friday, Nov. 9 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
NIU Convocation Center (10,000) in DeKalb, Ill.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 55KRC (550 AM)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• Twelve players found the scoring column as NKU defeated Wilmington, 102-38, in its regular-season opener at BB&T Arena.
• Northern Kentucky's victory against the Quakers was the 800th win in program history.
• NKU is coming off a 22-10 campaign in which it won the Horizon League regular-season title and played in the NIT.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 47-21, has won the Horizon League regular season (2018) and league tourney (2017), and has played in the NCAA Tournament (2017) and NIT (2018).
• The Norse were picked to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll, receiving 356 points and 10 first-place votes. Wright State was picked first with 377 points.
• NKU opened the season No. 136 in KenPom.com's ratings and is currently 135th. The Norse finished No. 90 last season thanks in part to the 23rd-best effective defensive field-goal percentage (47.1) and the 61st-highest effective offensive field-goal percentage (53.8).
• NKU was stout in its 3-point defensive field-goal percentage, allowing teams to convert just 31 percent from beyond the arc last year, the 9th-best in the country. Wilmington made just 20.8 percent.
• NKU also shared the ball well last season, ranking 25th nationally at 16.3 assists per game. NKU dished out 20 assists in its opening-night win.
• The Norse return seven players from last season and welcome eight new faces to the fold.
• F Drew McDonald led USA Team to a gold medal in the FISU Americas (collegiate version of Pan-Am Games) to close out July before earning Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year and preseason all-league first team honors in October. He was also named one of 20 candidates for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame's Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year award.
• McDonald played just under 14 minutes against Wilmington and added 14 points and nine boards.
• G Jalen Tate followed last season's Horizon League All-Defensive and All-Freshman honors with a preseason All-Horizon League Second Team accolades to begin the season. He had a game-high 17 points and chipped in eight rebounds versus the Quakers.
• McDonald and G Zaynah Robinson, a graduate transfer from Norfolk State, were named to the Mid-Major Madness Preseason First and Second Teams, respectively. In his Norse debut, Robinson registered nine points and four assists.
• F Dantez Walton began his junior campaign with a 10-point, eight-rebound effort versus Wilmington.
• F Silas Adheke had a workmanlike effort against the Quakers, posting 10 points and 14 caroms in just 15 minutes of action for his first double-double as a Norse.
• Freshmen F Adrian Nelson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field en route to a 10-point showing in his debut.
• G Tyler Sharpe finished second in the nation last year among walk-ons with 209 points. The junior guard is now on scholarship for the Norse.
 
Last Time Out
The Norse opened the game on an 11-0 run and never looked back in a 102-38 rout of Wilmington to start the season. Twelve players found the scoring column, led by Jalen Tate's 17 points and eight rebounds. Drew McDonald added 14 points and nine rebounds, while newcomer Silas Adheke registered a 10-point, 14-carom double-double. Dantez Walton and Adrian Nelson each chipped in 10 points, with Walton also grabbing eight rebounds. NKU's defense was stifling, limiting the Quakers to 22.4 percent shooting (13-of-58) from the floor, including 20.8 percent from three (5-of-24).
 
Scouting NIU
NIU opened the season with a 93-54 win over Rockford, an NCAA Division III program. Lacey James had a game-high 17 points behind 6-of-8 shooting to pace the Huskies. Jaylen Key added 15 points and Noah McCarty 14. Both Anastasios Demogerontas and Austin Richie contributed 10 to close out the double-figure scorers. NIU went 13-19 last season, which included a 6-12 Mid-American Conference record leading to a last-place finish in the West Division.
 
Series Stuff
Northern Illinois is one of five schools on the schedule the Norse are set to face for the first time, joining UNC Asheville, Manhattan, Coastal Carolina and UCF. NKU and NIU are also scheduled to play Nov. 20 in Highland Heights.