HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – One game remains in the 2018-19 regular season for the Northern Kentucky men's basketball team, a matchup at Green Bay with a Horizon League regular-season title on the line for NKU. The Norse are tied with Wright State atop the standings, while Green Bay sits two games back and tied for third with Oakland.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (22-8 Overall, 12-5 Horizon League)
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (16-14 Overall, 10-7 Horizon League)
Saturday, March 2 – 1 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN+ with Ted Stefaniak (PxP) and Cordero Barkley (Color)
Radio: FOXSports1360 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU used a big second half to post a 65-55 road win over Milwaukee to move into a tie with Wright State atop the Horizon League standings.
• NKU's win over Milwaukee locked up at least a top-two finish in the league standings. A win against Green Bay guarantees at least a share of the league title, which would be two in a row for NKU.
• NKU has already guaranteed a home quarterfinal contest in the Horizon League Championship, where NKU has been a tough opponent. Its 16 home wins so far this season are the second-most in program history, trailing the 1982-83 team's perfect 17-0 mark.
• NKU has also 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 4-3 all-time against Green Bay and riding a four-game winning streak in the series, but the Phoenix are 2-1 against the Norse in Green Bay.
• NKU is averaging 16.8 assists per game, No. 16 in the nation. The Norse also rank No. 8 in total assists with 503 and have eight games where they've handed out at least 20 dimes.
• NKU's 61.6 assist rate (assists per field-goals made percentage) ranks No. 13 in the country.
• The Norse also rank No. 21 nationally in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 30.3 percent.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 42-15 against Horizon League competition, the best of any league school against the rest of the conference. Wright State is next at 40-17.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 68-29, 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 second all-time at NKU in scoring with 1,998 points as a Norse, needing two points to reach 2,000 for his career and 10 to become NKU's all-time leader. Craig Sanders ('98-02) is NKU's career leader with 2,007 points.
• McDonald leads four Norse averaging double digits on the year at 19.6 points. He also leads NKU at 9.9 rebounds per game (21st in nation). His 13 double-doubles rank 21st nationally and he is one of just 24 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 (1,998) and 1,000 career boards (1,048). He also has the seventh-most career double-doubles (47) among active players.
• G Tyler Sharpe is second in scoring for NKU, pouring in 14.0 points per game and, in 21 of the team's 30 games, has hit at least two threes. His 74 made threes on the season rank 90th nationally.
• G Jalen Tate is averaging 13.5 points behind 57.3 percent (133-of-232) shooting, which ranks 37th in the country.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging 11.2 points, 5.3 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 20 double-digit scoring outputs in 30 games this year, including a career-best 20 points at IUPUI.
• In the last six games, G Trevon Faulkner has made 15-of-20 field goals (75.0 percent), averaging 6.2 ppg.
• C Chris Vogt earned his first career start against Milwaukee, converting 8-of-12 field-goal attempts en route to 16 points for the second double-figure scoring output of his career.
 
Last Time Out
It was a tale of two halves as Northern Kentucky trailed by as many as 12 points in the opening stanza, but the Norse put the clamps down in the second half to close out the Panthers 65-55. NKU used a 12-point run to gain the lead in the second half and then scored nine-straight to put the game out of reach with 3:14 remaining. After shooting just 39 percent in the first half, NKU converted 59 percent in the second. By comparison, MKE made 40 percent in the first half and 38 percent in the second. Jalen Tate led the way with 18 points, seven boards and three assists. Chris Vogt chimed in with 16 points, while Dantez Walton and Tyler Sharpe contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Scouting Green Bay
Green Bay improved to 16-14 overall and 10-7 in the Horizon League after dispatching league-leading Wright State, 70-67, Thursday night. The win also moves the Phoenix to 11-2 at home. Green Bay sports the league's most potent offense, pouring in 81.2 ppg, but the Phoenix also allow teams to score at an 80.1 ppg clip against them, which is last in the league standings. Sandy Cohen III leads Green Bay in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounds (6.4 rpg) and assists (4.5 apg). JayQuan McCloud chips in 13.4 ppg, and ShanQuan Hemphill adds 11.7 ppg.
 
Series Stuff
The series between NKU and GB has been one of streaks, with the Norse holding a slim 4-3 advantage overall. After the Phoenix won the first three meetings, the Norse have claimed each of the last four, including an 87-65 win at BB&T Arena in late January. However, Green Bay is 2-1 against Northern Kentucky at home.
 
Vogt led five Norse in double figures with his first career double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds in the victory earlier this season. Walton added 17 points, Sharpe contributed 14, and Tate and McDonald totaled 12 and 11, respectively. Cohen led GB with 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
Horizon League Basketball Championship
Thursday's win at Milwaukee secured at least a top-two finish in the Horizon League regular season for the Norse. NKU and Wright State, the two teams currently tied atop the league standings, had already locked a home game for the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Victories by Green Bay and Oakland also clinched home quarterfinal matchups for those programs as well.
 
UIC, IUPUI, Youngstown State and Detroit Mercy have locked up positions in the 8-team tournament field and Saturday's slate of games will determine final seeding. While a win against Green Bay would secure at least a tie of the regular-season title for the Norse, the overall number one seed for the tournament depends on a host of scenarios with the remaining four games on Saturday's league slate.