HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team put the pedal down in the first half against Cleveland State with an 18-0 run and never looked back. The Norse upgraded to 14-6 on the season and 6-2 in Horizon League play, while the Vikings move to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in the league.

STATS LEADERS

• Trevon Faulkner tied his career-high with 24 points on an impressive night of shooting. The sophomore guard's 8-of-10 (80 percent) show from the floor, 2-of-3 (66.6 percent) from deep range and perfect 6-of-6 (100 percent) from the free-throw line earned top scoring honors on the night.  
• Fresh off joining the 1,000-point club, Tyler Sharpe contributed another 18 points to his career total. Sharpe went 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from the field and 3-of-6 (50 percent) with his trademark 3-ball.
• Adrian Nelson was a bucket shy of a double-double. Nelson snagged 10 rebounds, four on the offensive end, and produced an 80 percent clip from the field on 4-of-5 shooting.

TURNING POINT

• A slow start of scoring for the Norse ended with an 18-0 run beginning at the 13:03 mark in the first half. Faulkner ignited the run with a layup to allow the Norse a 10-9 lead and did not defer the Vikings a bucket until 5:06 remaining in the half with the score at 26-9.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• The 18-0 run was the catalyst the Norse needed to keep the Vikings at bay for a 38-21 lead at the end of the half.  
• The Norse defense shut down Cleveland State as the Vikings displayed a field goal percentage of 26.3 percent on 5-of-19 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range.
• NKU dominated the boards with an advantage of 21-11. The Norse cleaned up on its own end with nine offensive rebounds to nab 16 second-chance points.  
• Sharpe ended the half shooting at a 75 percent clip from beyond the arc going 3-of-4 and added seven points from the free-throw line with a 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) display.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• The Norse stretched to a lead as large as 32 points at the 3:16 mark late in the game and outscored the Vikings 37-28 in the second half.
• NKU bested CSU in field goal percentage for the second half, with the Norse shooting 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) compared to the Vikings 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) performance.  
• The free-throw battle was also won in the second half by the home team. NKU went 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) from the line while CSU sunk six of 12 attempted shots (50 percent).

GAME NOTES

• The Norse outrebounded the Vikings, 40-35, to extend its rebounding prowess to 9-0. Northern Kentucky has not dropped a game to an opponent when the rebounding battle has been won.  
• This game marks the fourth straight Nelson has been in double-figures in the rebounding column and it marks his sixth on the year.
• Cleveland State was denied a single three-point shot for the entirety of the game, as the Vikings went 0-of-5 (0 percent) on the night. The last time this feat was accomplished was in the DII era on November 15, 2009 against Grand Valley State. This is also the seventh time this year the Norse have held its opponent under the 20 percent clip from three-point range.
• This game marks the second time of the season that NKU has kept its opponent under the 50-point mark. The last time the Norse did not allow an NCAA Division I opponent 50 points was on January 28, 2018 against Detroit Mercy as they took down the Titans, 72-44.
• NKU finished the game converting on 22 of its 25 free-throw attempts. Over the last two games, the Norse have now made 39 of their last 44 (88.6 percent) shots from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

Northern Kentucky hits the road to compete in the Nutter Center on Friday, January 24 against host Wright State. The nationally-televised coverage will begin at 9 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN1530 (1530 AM).