HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team is set to face its second matchup with an opponent from the American Athletic Conference when it makes the brief 10-mile trip to Cincinnati for a Tuesday night showdown at Fifth Third Arena.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (8-1 Overall, 0-0 Horizon League)
University of Cincinnati Bearcats (7-1 Overall, 0-0 The American)
Tuesday, Dec. 4 – 7 p.m. (ET)
TV: FOX Sports Ohio with Jim Day (PxP) and Terry Nelson (Color)
Radio: FOXSports1360 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU is off to its best start of the Division I era, sitting at 8-1 following Friday night's 78-60 triumph over last season's March Madness darling UMBC.
• NKU shot 54.9 percent from the floor, while limiting UMBC to just 34.0 percent, marking the sixth time in nine games the Norse have held their opponent below 40 percent shooting.
• NKU handed out 21 assists against the Retrievers, marking its fourth 20-plus assist game of the season. The Norse are averaging 17.8 assists per game, No. 17 in the nation.
• NKU will meet up with UC for the eighth time in program history, with all eight coming during the 1980s. The Bearcats are a perfect 7-0 against the Norse.
•Current Norse AC Chris Shumate played for Cincinnati HC Mick Cronin at Murray State and later served as both Director of Operations and Director of Student-Athlete Development under Cronin at UC.
• NKU is letting it fly from 3-point range, ranking 17th in attempts (236) and 11th in made treys (87). The Norse are making 9.7 threes per game, which are the 41st-most nationally.
• NKU is forcing teams into 16.1 turnovers per game, the 61^st-most in the country. As part of the defensive pressure, NKU's 75 total steals are the 13^th-most.
• Foes are also converting just 36.7 percent of their shots versus NKU, 13th-best nationally. The Norse are also 37th in scoring defense, allowing teams to post just 62.8 points per game.
• NKU is receiving votes in both the CollegeInsider.com Men's Mid-Major Top-25 and Mid-Major Madness' The Other Top-25 Poll.
• 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 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 54-22, has won the Horizon League regular season (2018) and league tourney (2017), and has played in the NCAA Tournament (2017) and NIT (2018).
• F Drew McDonald leads four Norse averaging double digits on the year at 19.0 points (88th in nation). He also leads NKU at 9.8 rebounds per game (27th in nation). His four double-doubles rank 14th in the country and he is one of just 10 players to register a triple-double so far this year.
• McDonald also just earned his second Horizon League Player of the Week award of the year after averaging 16.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game last week, which included a triple-double at Morehead State.
• McDonald is chasing NKU's all-time rebound record. He is second with 850 boards and is 10 away from breaking LaRon Moore's Norse record, 859.
• G Jalen Tate is averaging 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this year. He's registered 25 assists to only 10 turnovers and is making 55.1 percent (27-of-49) of his shots. Tate's 2.50 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 97th in the country.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging 12.8 points and 5.9 rebounds. He's shooting 55.1 percent (43-of-78) from the floor and 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from three.
• G Tyler Sharpe exploded for a career-high 28 points at Morehead State and, following the game against UMBC, is averaging 21 points behind 57 percent (8-of-14) shooting from 3-point territory in the last two games.
• Sharpe's 21 steals on the season are the 11^th-most in the country.
• G Zaynah Robinson poured in 20 points, while adding five boards and four assists in NKU's win at MSU. He's averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in the last two contests.
 
Last Time Out
Trailing 19-9 with 8:36 remaining in the first half, Northern Kentucky went a 30-2 run to close the stanza with a 39-21 advantage. After knocking down a pair of treys to open the final 20 minutes, the Norse extended their run to 36-2 over a span of 10:08. NKU shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51), while holding the Retrievers to 34 percent (18-of-53). NKU held decisive advantages in fast break points (39-15) and points in the paint (38-24). McDonald, who was coming off of a triple-double at Morehead State, posted a game-high 21 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Walton converted 9-of-13 field-goal attempts en route to 19 points, while also adding five boards and four assists. Sharpe contributed 14 points as well as three more steals for one of the nation's leaders in thefts. Robinson and Tate also reached double figures with 10 points each.
 
Scouting Cincinnati
Since dropping the opening game of the season, 64-56, to Ohio State, Cincinnati has won seven-straight contests and is coming off a 65-61 road win versus UNLV. The Bearcats boast one of the nation's best defenses, ranking No. 7 in scoring defense while allowing opponents to score just 56.5 points per game. Jarron Cumberland paces UC's offense at 15.3 points per outing. Cane Broome and Keith Williams also chime in with 11.4 and 10.1 points per game, respectively, but Justin Jennifer makes the offense tick. The senior guard leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 6.75.
 
Series Stuff
This marks the first meeting between the two local schools since 1988. UC has won all seven meetings, each of which came in the 1980s and on Cincinnati's home court.