HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky men's basketball closes out its nonconference schedule on Saturday, Dec. 21, when it heads to UNC Greensboro for a 7 p.m. tilt. Both teams are currently ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 as the Norse check in at No. 22 while the Spartans are No. 12.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (8-3 Overall, 0-0 Horizon League)
UNC Greensboro Spartans (9-3 Overall, 1-0 SoCon)
Saturday, Dec. 21 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN+ with Scott Pryzwansky (PxP) and Darryl Kosciak (Color)
Radio: 55KRC with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Rick Broering (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU won its third-straight game with a 79-64 decision over Illinois State on Sunday afternoon.
• NKU squares off against UNC Greensboro Saturday night. The Norse meet the Spartans for the first time ever, and are 7-15 all-time against teams in the SoCon.
• NKU has been stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.1 points per game, and makes its hay with the nation's 11th-best 3-point field-goal shooting defense, limiting foes to just 26.0 percent.
• The Norse have ripped off 102 steals so far, a total that ranks 29th in the nation. The team's 9.3 steals per game also rank 32nd.
• Offensively, the Norse are letting it rain from long range this year. The team ranks 27th in the country in 3-point field-goal attempts (308) and 41st in made threes (103).
• NKU is going after its fourth true nonconference road win this year, which would tie the 2016-17 squad for the most in the DI era.
• NKU is in the first year of the Darrin Horn era, as the Kentucky native is just the sixth head coach in the 49th season of the program. In his 10th year as a head coach, Horn has a career record of 179-114.
• NKU is coming off of its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last three years, where it fell 72-57 to No. 3 Texas Tech, which finished as the national runner-up.
• NKU has been the most-dominant team in the Horizon League over the last three seasons, amassing a 46-15 mark against league foes while winning four of the combined six league championships (regular season and tournament).
• With a DI-era record 26 wins last year, NKU secured a third-straight 20-win season for the first time in the DI era and just the third time in program history.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 80-33 (.708), has won the Horizon League regular season twice (2018, 2019) and league tourney twice (2017, 2019), and has played in both the NCAA Tournament (2017, 2019) or NIT (2018) every year. No other team in DI history has registered this level of accomplishments in its first three years with active status.
• G Tyler Sharpe, a Preseason All-Horizon League Second-Team honoree, earned NKU its fourth-straight Horizon League Player of the Week honor thanks to a 30-point outburst against Illinois State that included 10-for-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
• Sharpe is second on the team in scoring, pouring in 14.4 ppg and has a team-high 23 steals, which rank 46th in the country.
• Though only in his third season as a Norse, Sharpe moved into the top-50 all-time scorers at NKU with his 18-point showing at Missouri. He now ranks t-38th with 871 points as a Norse.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging a team-best 18.4 ppg on the strength of 54 percent shooting, which includes 42 percent from 3-point range.
• In his last seven games against DI foes, Walton is averaging 24.9 points while shooting 59 percent from the floor and 52 percent from behind the arc.
• Walton has 871 career points, tied with Sharpe at No. 38 all-time at NKU.
• G Trevon Faulkner is one of four returning starters for NKU this year. The sophomore guard is averaging 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
• G Bryson Langdon has started the last eight games for Northern Kentucky and averaged 4.3 assists in the outings.
• F Adrian Nelson is averaging 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game across the last three games.
 
Last Time Out
A career-high 30 points from Sharpe helped Northern Kentucky to its third-straight win in a 79-64 decision over Illinois State. Holding a five-point advantage just over two minutes into the second half, NKU put together 13 unanswered points to assume complete control of the game. The Norse never led by fewer than 12 points the rest of the contest. Northern Kentucky finished the game shooting 53 percent (28-of-53) from the floor and 44 percent (11-of-25) from three, while holding Illinois State to 49 percent  (28-of-57) across all attempts and just 36 percent from deep. Walton continued his stretch of strong play, adding 19 points, six boards and career-high seven assists. Faulkner added nine points and Adheke contributed eight.
 
Scouting UNC Greensboro
Southern Conference Preaseason Player of the Year Isaiah Miller leads a powerful UNC Greensboro squad that is 9-3 on the season and is battle tested. UNCG has already faced then-No. 3 Kansas (L, 74-62), Georgetown (W, 65-61) and perennial mid-major stalwart Vermont (W, 65-64)on the road. And, if it wasn't for a buzzer-beating, half court game-winner, the Spartans would have taken NC State to overtime, but have an 80-77 loss instead. Miller averages 16.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Kaleb Hunter is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 points. UNC Greensboro scores at a 70.1 ppg clip, but uses the nation's 10th-best scoring defense to hold opponents to a mere 56.8 ppg. Foes are forced into 17.4 turnovers per game versus the Spartans, an average that ranks 32nd in the country.
 
Series Stuff
UNC Greensboro is the final of eight first-time opponents for the Norse this season, joining Arkansas, Ball State, Coppin State, Illinois State, Midway, Mizzou and Texas Southern. NKU dropped its decisions against Missouri (71-56), Texas Southern (98-96 in double overtime) and Arkansas (66-60), but defeated Coppin State (82-70), Ball State (59-57), Midway (86-56) and Illinois State (79-64) to sit at 4-3 against first-time opponents. NKU is 7-15 all-time against teams in the Southern Conference.