HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Little Caesars Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship resumes for Northern Kentucky with a rubber-match against Oakland in the semifinals. The two teams, which split the regular-season meetings, are set to tip at 9:30 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, with the matchup set to air on ESPNU.
 
Game Information
No. 2 Northern Kentucky University Norse (24-8 Overall, 13-5 Horizon League)
No. 3 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (16-16 Overall, 11-7 Horizon League)
Monday, March 11 – 9:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPNU with Rich Hollenbert (PxP) and Fran Fraschilla (Color)
Radio: ESPN1530 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Steve Moeller (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
How to Purchase Tickets
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March Madness Central
Want more information on fan gatherings in Detroit or watch parties in Northern Kentucky? Visit NKUNorse.com/MarchMadnessCentral.
 
Fast Break Points
• Runs of 12-2 and 10-0 in the second-half helped Northern Kentucky erase a seven-point halftime deficit en route to a 99-88 win over No. 7-seed Detroit Mercy in the Motor City Madness quarterfinals.
• NKU is set to face Oakland in the semifinals at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Monday, March 11.
• NKU is 10-11 all-time against Oakland, with both teams winning on their own home court this year.
• 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. The 24 wins this season match the 2016-17 season for most wins in the DI era.
• NKU is averaging 17.0 assists per game, No. 14 in the nation. The Norse also rank No. 7 in total assists with 544 and have nine games where they've handed out at least 20 dimes.
• NKU's 61.7 assist rate (assists per field-goals made percentage) ranks No. 9 in the country.
• The Norse also rank No. 33 nationally in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 30.9 percent.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 44-15 against Horizon League competition, the best of any league school against the rest of the conference. Wright State is next at 41-17.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 70-29, 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 in its first two years of active status.
• F Drew McDonald was named the #HLMBB Player of the Year and became the 16th player in league history to earn three first team all-league honors. He leads NKU in scoring (19.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.5 rpg), the latter of which ranks 27th in nation.
• McDonald is NKU's all-time leading scorer (2,030) and rebounder (1,056), and is one of five active players in Division I basketball with at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career boards. He is tied-seventh among active players with 47 career double-doubles.
• G Jalen Tate collected his second-straight Horizon League All Defensive Team nod.
• Tate is averaging 13.9 points behind 56.5 percent (144-of-255) shooting, which ranks 37th nationally.
• Tate is coming off of two career performances. Against Green Bay, he made 11-of-19 field goals, 4-of-5 3-point attempts and 4-of-4 at the line en route to a career-high 30 points. He also added six assists. Then, against Detroit Mercy Tate scored just eight points but distributed a career-high 10 assists.
• G Tyler Sharpe is second in scoring for NKU, pouring in 14.4 points per game and, in 23 of the team's 32 games, has hit at least two threes. His 82 made threes on the season rank 72nd nationally.
• Sharpe buried a career-best six 3-pointers and scored 25 points versus Detroit Mercy.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging 11.0 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 21 double-digit scoring outputs in 32 games this year, including a career-best 20 points at IUPUI.
• In the last eight games, G Trevon Faulkner has made 24-of-35 field goals (68.6 percent), averaging 7.1 ppg. He is coming off of a career-high 20-point showing in which he converted 8-of-13 field goals against Detroit Mercy.
• C Chris Vogt has averaged 11.7 points behind 65.2 percent (15-of-23) shooting, while also contributing 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, in the last three games.
 
Last Time Out
No. 7 Detroit Mercy came out firing on all cylinders offensively in the opening 20 minutes of the Motor City Madness Quarterfinal matchup at No. 2 Northern Kentucky. The Titans converted on 10-of-21 attempts from long range en route to a 47-40 halftime advantage. But, the Norse opened the second half on a 12-2 run and, with five minutes remaining, used a 10-0 spurt to outscore Detroit Mercy 59-41 in the second stanza and advance to the semifinals with a 99-88 win. The Norse finished the game shooting 50.7 percent (34-of-67), while the Titans converted 46.2 percent (30-of-65). NKU outrebounded UDM, 38-32, outscored the Titans 44-22 in the paint and distributed 28 assists with just eight turnovers.
 
Sharpe paced NKU's offense with 25 points on the strength of a career-high six treys. Faulkner, who had the unenviable task of guarding the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and No. 3 scorer in the nation Antoine Davis and held him to 30 points on 29 shots, posted a career-high 20 points himself behind 8-of-13 shooting. McDonald tallied 19 points and Vogt converted 7-of-10 field-goal attempts on his way to 16 points and eight rebounds. Tate orchestrated the offense, distributing a career-best 10 assists.
 
Scouting Oakland
Oakland enters Monday night's matchup as the hottest team in the Horizon League, riding a five-game win streak. The Golden Grizzlies defeated Youngstown State, 88-84, in their opening round game of the Little Caesars Horizon League Tournament. Oakland is 16-16 on the year and used an 11-7 record in league play to finish third. While the Golden Grizzlies haven't played a neutral site contest this year and were just 6-10 on the road, they own a 10-6 home record and Little Caesars Arena is less than 30 miles from their home court at the O'rena.
 
All-Horizon League First Team selection Xavier Hill-Mais averages 18.5 ppg for a team that scores at a rate of 77.2 ppg. Jaevin Cumberland also averages 16.8 ppg, converting 39.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. Brad Brechting averages 9.6 ppg, but in league play that number swelled to 13.4 ppg.
 
Series Stuff
Northern Kentucky and Oakland are nearly deadlocked in the all-time series, with the Golden Grizzlies holding a slim 11-10 advantage. Both teams held serve on their home court this season, with Oakland securing a 76-74 win on Jan. 3 at the O'rena before Northern Kentucky claimed a 79-64 decision at BB&T Arena on Feb. 9.
 
McDonald led NKU in the two games, averaging 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. Tate (16.5 ppg, 6.0 apg), Sharpe (12.5) and Walton (10.5) also averaged double figures against Oakland this year. With a 32-point barrage in the first meeting, Hill-Mais led Oakland at 19.0 ppg against the Norse this season. The Golden Grizzlies also received double-digit scoring averages from Cumberland (15.5 ppg), Brechting (10.0) and Norris (10.0).