HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team stays on the road for the second-straight contest, battling fellow Horizon League member Oakland on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (9-6 Overall, 1-2 Horizon League)
Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (6-9 Overall, 1-1 Horizon League)
Sunday, Jan. 5 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Rochester, Mich. | Athletics Center O'Rena (4,000)
TV: ESPN+ with Neal Ruhl (PxP) and Dan Waterstradt (Color)
Radio: ESPN1530 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Rick Broering (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• NKU faltered for the second-straight game, dropping a 66-58 decision at Detroit Mercy on Friday.
• NKU stays in the Motor City where it continues a four-game road swing against Oakland. The Norse are 11-11 all-time against the Golden Grizzlies, including a 6-4 mark in Rochester, Michigan.
• In addition to the current four-game road trip, the Norse are in the midst of a stretch of seven of nine being contested away from BB&T Arena.
• The Norse were picked to finish second in the Horizon League, receiving 295 points and five first-place votes. Wright State was picked first with 350 points and 28 first-place votes.
• NKU has been the most dominant team in the Horizon League over the last three seasons, amassing a 47-17 mark against league foes while winning four of the combined six league championships (regular season and tournament).
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 81-36 (.692), 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.
• 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 stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.7 points per game, and makes its hay with the nation's 11th-best 3-point field-goal shooting defense, limiting foes to just 26.6 percent.
• The Norse have ripped off 128 steals so far, a total that ranks 22nd in the nation. The team's 8.5 steals per game also rank 51st.
• Offensively, the Norse are letting it rain from long range this year. The team ranks 13th in the country in 3-point field-goal attempts (406) and 32nd in made threes (131).
• 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 180-117.
• G Tyler Sharpe, a Preseason All-Horizon League Second-Team honoree, is second on the team in scoring, pouring in 15.5 ppg and has made 38 threes on the season, which ranks 59th 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 33rd with 946 points as a Norse.
• After missing 10 games with a hand injury, G Jalen Tate returned against Green Bay and scored a team-best 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting. He followed with another 11-point outing at Detroit Mercy and is averaging 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
• G Trevon Faulkner is one of four returning starters for NKU this year. The sophomore guard is averaging 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
• G Bryson Langdon has started the last 12 games for Northern Kentucky and averaged 4.3 assists in the outings.
• W Adham Eleeda poured in a career-best 14 points behind 5-for-10 field-goal shooting and 4-for-9 shooting from long range at Detroit Mercy.
• Eleeda has shot 40 percent (6-of-15) from three over the last three games.
• F Dantez Walton was averaging a team-best 18.4 ppg on the strength of 54 percent shooting, which includes 42 percent from 3-point range, prior to being sidelined with an injury.
• In his last seven games against DI foes, Walton averaged 24.9 points while shooting 59 percent from the floor and 52 percent from behind the arc.
• Walton has 871 career points, No. 38 all-time at NKU.
 
Last Time Out
NKU led early, 9-0 and then 16-4, but gave up 14 unanswered points to let Detroit Mercy back into the game. Northern Kentucky settled and took a 27-26 advantage into intermission. After Tate scored the first basket of the second half, the Titans rattled off an 11-2 run and never trailed after that. NKU shot 33 percent (19-of-57) from the floor and 27 percent (7-of-26) from three, but allowed UDM to make 49 percent (25-of-51) of its field goals despite limiting it to 27 percent (4-of-15) from three. The Norse forced more turnovers (20-15), but were edged in points off the miscues, 23-14. Eleeda tallied a career-high 14 points to pace Northern Kentucky; Faulkner and Tate also reached double figures with 13 and 11, respectively.
 
Scouting Oakland
Oakland is 6-9 overall and 1-1 in Horizon League play, which includes a blowout win against Detroit Mercy and blowout loss in its last game versus Wright State. Preseason All-Horizon League First Team member Xavier Hill-Mais leads the team in both scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). Daniel Oladipo is second in both categories, contributing 10.4 points and 6.0 rebounds. As a team, the Golden Grizzlies score at a 64.0 points per game clip, but surrender 67.1.
 
Series Stuff
Northern Kentucky and Oakland have a history that dates back to the 1977-78 season and the teams are deadlocked at 11 wins apiece. The Norse have won the last two matchups, but the Golden Grizzlies own a 5-4 mark as members of the Horizon League. Neither team has fared well on its home court, as NKU is 6-4 all-time at Oakland and Oakland is 7-3 at NKU.