HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky University will celebrate the careers of Drew McDonald and Zaynah Robinson as part of senior night festivities for the Norse men's basketball team, which faces Cleveland State in the regular-season home finale at BB&T Arena on Saturday, Feb. 23. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with senior day honors slated to begin at approximately 6:40 p.m.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (21-7 Overall, 11-4 Horizon League)
Cleveland State University Vikings (8-21 Overall, 3-13 Horizon League)
Saturday, Feb. 23 – 7 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN3 with Brady Laber (PxP) and Brad Redford(Color)
Radio: ESPN1530 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Tickets and Promotions
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Residents of Pendleton County can purchase tickets for $9 with proof of residency. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Drew McDonald rally towel and the first 500 students will be provided a snack bar.
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU quelched YSU's six-game win-streak and stayed tied atop the Horizon League standings with a 76-69 win over the Penguins Thursday night.
• NKU has secured a third-straight 20-win season for the first time in the DI era and just the third time in program history. The last time NKU had three-straight 20-win campaigns came from 2006-07 to 2008-09. The program record is four-straight between 1994-95 and 1997-98.
• NKU is 5-3 all-time against CSU with all five victories coming in the last six meetings, but the Vikings took down the Norse in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Championship last season.
• NKU is riding a 20-game home winning streak, the sixth-longest in the country.
• NKU's 16 home wins so far this season are the second-most in program history. The 1982-83 team went a perfect 17-0 at Regents Hall.
• NKU is averaging 17.0 assists per game, No. 13 in the nation. The Norse also rank No. 6 in total assists with 475 and have eight games where they've handed out at least 20 dimes.
• NKU's 62.3 assist rate (assists per field-goals made percentage) ranks No. 9 in the country.
• NKU is letting it fly from 3-point range, ranking 49th in attempts (688) and 44th in made treys (250). The Norse are making 8.9 threes per game, which are the 64th-most nationally.
• The Norse are also rank No. 22 in the country in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 30.1 percent.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 41-14 against Horizon League competition, the best of any league school against the rest of the conference. Wright State is next at 39-16.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 67-28, 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 ranks third all-time at NKU in scoring with 1,976 points as a Norse. Craig Sanders ('98-02) is NKU's career leader with 2,007 points, but McDonald has Brady Jackson's 1,980 points in his immediate crosshairs.
• McDonald leads four Norse averaging double digits on the year at 19.5 points. He also leads NKU at 10.0 rebounds per game (21st in nation). His 13 double-doubles rank 16th nationally and he is one of just 23 players to register a triple-double this year.
• McDonald is one of five active players in Division I basketball with at least 1,900 career points (1,976) and 1,000 career boards (1,041). He also has the seventh-most career double-doubles (47) among active players.
• G Tyler Sharpe is second on the team in scoring, pouring in 14.3 points per game and, in 21 of the team's 28 games, has hit at least two threes. His 72 made threes on the season rank 73rd in the country.
• G Jalen Tate is averaging 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this year. He is making 56.0 percent (117-of-209) of his shots.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging 11.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists. In his first two seasons as a Norse (61 games), he posted nine combined double-figure scoring games. He has 18 double-digit scoring outputs in 28 games this year, including a career-best 20 points at IUPUI.
 
Last Time Out
After Youngstown State took a 64-63 advantage with 3:37 remaining, Northern Kentucky used a 9-0 run over the next 2:57 to grab hold of the game en route to a 76-69 home win. The Norse were led by McDonald's 27 points and 12 rebounds. The senior forward was efficient from the floor, converting 7-of-11 shots, and made all 12 free-throw attempts. In the process, McDonald became NKU's all-time leader in free throws made. Tate added 15 points and five assists, while Sharpe contributed 14 points to the Norse cause. NKU shot 51 percent from the floor, but held YSU to 45 percent shooting, including 29 percent from three.
 
Scouting Cleveland State
Cleveland State sits at 8-21 overall and 3-13 in league play following an 87-61 setback at Wright State Thursday night, which dropped CSU to 0-12 on the road this year. Preseason All-Horizon League First Team honoree Tyree Appleby leads CSU at 17.0 ppg and 5.5 apg. Rashad Williams adds 10.8 ppg, while Jaalam Hill contributes 10.2 ppg. Cleveland State scores at a 73.4 ppg clip, but allows opponents to post an average of 78.6 ppg.
 
Series Stuff
Northern Kentucky leads the all-time series 5-3, with all eight meetings coming as members of the Horizon League. The Norse have won five of the last six in the series, including a 91-76 win earlier this season, but the Vikings' lone win in that stretch was a first-round triumph in the Horizon League Championship last year.
 
In the first meeting this season, Sharpe poured in 23 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while McDonald added 19 points, 15 boards and six assists. Tate and Robinson each contributed 17 points. Williams paced CSU with 23 points and the Vikings' leading scorer Appleby did not play.