HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky has a short turnaround between games, as the Norse are set to battle Detroit Mercy at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (12-4 Overall, 2-1 Horizon League)
University of Detroit Mercy Titans (6-9 Overall, 3-0 Horizon League)
Saturday, Jan. 5 – 1 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN+ with Jeremy Otto (PxP) and Earl Cureton (Color)
Radio: FOXSports1360 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU dropped to 12-4 following its 74-76 setback at Oakland.
• In NKU's last two road games, it's been a tale of two halves. The Norse have limited their last two road opponents to 30.5 ppg on 37.1 percent shooting and 16.7 percent shooting from three in the first half, but in the second half the two foes averaged 45.5 points behind 51 percent shooting from the field and 54.5 percent from three.
• On Saturday, the Norse head to Detroit Mercy, which moved to 3-0 in league play following a 21-point thrashing of Wright State thanks to a 48-point outburst from freshman scoring phenom Antoine Davis.
• 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 with a 15-3 mark and played in the NIT.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 32-11 against Horizon League competition, the best of any league school against the rest of the conference. Wright State is next at 29-13.
• NKU is averaging 16.4 assists per game, No. 40 in the nation. The Norse also rank 5th in the country in total assists with 263.
• NKU is letting it fly from 3-point range, ranking 19th in attempts (409) and 25th in made treys (143). The Norse are making 8.9 threes per game, which are the 76th-most nationally.
• Foes are converting just 39.4 percent of their shots versus NKU, 30th-best nationally. The Norse are also 55th in scoring defense, allowing teams to post just 66.1 points per game.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 58-25, has won the Horizon League regular season (2018) and league tourney (2017), and has played in both the NCAA Tournament (2017) and NIT (2018). No other team in DI history has accomplished this feat.
• F Drew McDonald leads four Norse averaging double digits on the year at 18.4 points. He also leads NKU at 10.3 rebounds per game (14th in nation). His eight double-doubles rank 11th nationally and he is one of just 16 players to register a triple-double so far this year.
• In his last 23 games against Horizon League opponents, dating back to March 17, 2017, McDonald has posted a double-double 16 times.
• McDonald is one of five active players in Division I basketball with at least 1,700 career points (1,725) and 900 career boards (927).
• G Jalen Tate is averaging 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this year. He is making 55.8 percent (53-of-95) of his shots and 40.0 percent (8-of-20) of his threes.
• Tate had a career night against UIC, where he scored a career-high 25 points, including 22 in the first half, and dished out six assists. He went 8-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
• G Tyler Sharpe is second on the team in scoring, pouring in 13.5 points per game, and, in 12 of the team's 16 games has hit at least two threes.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. In his first two seasons as a Norse (61 games), he posted nine combined double-figure scoring games. He already has 12 double-digit scoring outputs this year.
• G Zaynah Robinson is running the show for the Norse and is second on the team at 3.3 assists per game. He is averaging 8.9 points per game.
• G Trevon Faulkner has started the last nine games for the Norse, playing nearly 22 minutes per outing and has dished out 17 assists while committing just seven miscues. He handed out a career-best six assists against IUPUI.
 
Last Time Out
The Norse led by as many as 10 points, even as late as the 11:49 mark of the second half, but a 20-5 Golden Grizzlies' run over the next 6:27 flipped the script. NKU was able to get stops down the stretch, twice pulling within a point and having three chances in the final 1:31 to either tie or take the lead, but failed to convert offensively. Tate had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead NKU, while Sharpe added 14 points and Robinson chimed in with 10. McDonald added 13 points and nine rebounds. Oakland's Xavier Hill-Mais poured in 32 points. NKU maded 50 percent of its shots, while OU knocked down 49 percent, but OU had a 42-29 percent advantage in made threes. The Norse owned the glass, 33-25, and points in the paint, 38-24.
 
Scouting Detroit Mercy
Detroit Mercy sits at a perfect 3-0 in Horizon League play following road wins at Cleveland State and Youngstown State and a 21-point thrashing of Wright State at home Thursday night. However, the Titans are just 6-9 overall following a 3-9 nonconference mark. Freshman Antoine Davis, son of Titans' head coach Mike Davis, averages a blistering 26.9 points and 23.3 shots per game. Davis leads the nation in 3-point field-goals made (78), 3-point field-goal attempts (186), 3-point field goals per game (5.2), field-goals made (141) and total field goal attempts (349). He ranks second in scoring (26.9 ppg) and third in total points (404). As a team, the Titans don't turn the ball over, ranking 18th in the country with just 10.9 turnovers per game, but their 40.1 percent field-goal shooting ranks 334th and they are 350^th (of 351) in rebound margin (minus-9.5).
 
Series Stuff
The Norse are 5-1 all-time against the Titans, including a perfect 3-0 at Calihan Hall. NKU is also riding a four-game winning streak in the series. The Norse needed a late basket from Lavone Holland II to come away with a 56-54 victory in Detroit last year before running away with a 72-44 triumph at home.