HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The door will shut on the 2017-18 men's basketball regular season when Northern Kentucky heads to IUPUI for a 1 p.m. tilt with the Jaguars on Sunday. An outright Horizon League Regular-Season Championship is on the line for the Norse, who claimed at least a share of the title with Friday's win at UIC.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (21-8 Overall, 14-3 Horizon League)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis "IUPUI" Jaguars (11-17 Overall, 8-9 Horizon League)
Sunday, Feb. 25 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Indiana Farmers Coliseum (6,800) in Indianapolis
TV: ESPN3
Radio: ESPN1530 (1530 AM) with Jim Kelch (Play-by-Play) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU defeated UIC, 79-72, Friday night and in the process secured at least a share of the Horizon League Regular-Season Championship.
• NKU sits atop the League standings at 14-3, one game ahead of Wright State, which lost to NKU's next opponent IUPUI Friday afternoon. The Norse are now two games ahead of UIC in the standings and have also secured a top-2 seed.
• NKU is 5-1 all-time versus IUPUI and have won four-straight in the series, which includes a 77-59 Norse victory earlier this season.
• Dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season, and including the #HLMBB Championship, NKU has won 29 of its last 38 games (.763) against League opponents.
• Since navigating the transition period and earning active Division I status prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU has posted a combined 45-19 record (.703).
• Northern Kentucky is 23rd in the nation in 2-point field goal percent (56.3).
• NKU is averaging 16.6 assists per game, a mark that ranks 28th in the nation. It also only commits 12.3 turnovers an outing. Combining those two marks results in an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.34, the 35th-best in the country.
• NKU forces the 85th-most turnovers per game in the nation (14.4) and allows teams to distribute just 11.2 assists per game.
• NKU's plus-12.8 scoring margin is the 14th best in the nation.
• NKU's 3-point field goal defense ranks 9th in the nation at 30.5 percent.
• Through games played Feb. 23, NKU sits 90th on KenPom.com, which tops the Horizon League.
• The Norse are 21st in the CollegeInsider.Com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll and receiving votes in the Mid-Major Madness Power Rankings.
• G Lavone Holland II poured in 25 points to help NKU clinch at least a share of the #HLMBB regular-season title with its win over UIC. Holland is the only player in the Horizon League to average double digits in scoring (13.6 ppg) and at least four rebounds (4.3 rpg) and four assists (4.5 apg).
• F Drew McDonald has been on an absolute tear in registering double-doubles. He has 13 in the last 19 games and 15 total on the year, 11th-most in the nation. The Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year leads NKU in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg).
• F Carson Williams is converting 61.1 percent of his field-goal attempts (143-of-234). He is averaging 12.5 ppg.
• G Tyler Sharpe is averaging 9.1 ppg and is shooting 47 percent in League play. He has reached double figures in six of the last eight games.
• F Jordan Garnett does a little bit of everything for the Norse and finds a way to contribute every game. In the last four games, he's reached double figures three times, averaging 9.0 ppg during the stretch.
 
Last Time Out
Holland poured in 25 points in leading Northern Kentucky to a 79-72 victory over UIC. The win guaranteed at least a share of the Horizon League regular-season crown. NKU built a 15-point half-time advantage, which UIC erased with just over six minutes left in the game. The Norse responded with an 8-0 run that featured back-to-back threes from McDonald and Garnett, as well as a pair of free throws courtesy of Holland. The Norse held on for the win. Williams chipped in 14 points and Garnett added 10. McDonald finished with eight points and seven boards.
 
Scouting IUPUI
IUPUI enters the game on a roll, winning three in a row and four of its last five. In its last two games, it has taken down Oakland and Wright State, which were ranked fourth and tied for first in the league standings, respectively. The Jaguars are now 11-17 overall and 8-9 in the Horizon League, which has them tied for fifth with Milwaukee. Aaron Brennan leads a trio of Jaguars in double figures. He averages 12.6 ppg. T.J. Henderson adds 10.8 ppg and Ron Patterson chimes in to the tune of 10.5 ppg. On the team side, IUPUI scores 69.1 ppg and surrenders 73.0. Teams shoot 47 percent against the Jaguars, who only convert 43 percent.
 
Series Stuff
NKU is 5-1 all-time versus IUPUI and have won four-straight in the series, which includes a 77-59 Norse victory to open the Horizon League slate for both schools this season. That meeting is the only one during the DI-era. McDonald paced NKU with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Williams added 11 points and six caroms. Ten Norse played in the game and nine of them scored. Holland had an all-around game, posting five points, seven boards and eight assists, with zero turnovers. While the teams have met six times prior, only the meeting earlier this season have come since the 1984-85 campaign.
 
Regular-Season Champions
NKU's win at UIC coupled with Wright State's loss at IUPUI on Friday means Northern Kentucky has guaranteed itself at least a share of the Horizon League Regular-Season Championship. The Norse can claim the title outright with a win over IUPUI or a loss by Wright State to UIC on Sunday. If NKU claims the title outright, it will secure the No. 1 seed in Motor City Madness. Should NKU lose and Wright State win on Sunday, the two teams will tie for the regular-season title and the Raiders will get the top seed due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.