HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky men's basketball hosts IUPUI on Friday, Feb. 14 at BB&T Arena. The 7 p.m. tipoff will be carried on ESPN+ and can be heard on ESPN1530.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (18-7 Overall, 10-3 Horizon League)
IUPUI Jaguars (6-20 Overall, 2-11 Horizon League)
Friday, Feb. 14 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Highland Heights, Ky. | BB&T Arena (9,400)
TV: ESPN+ with Brady Laber (PxP) and Brad Redford (Color)
Radio: ESPN1530 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Rick Broering (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Tickets and Promotions
To purchase tickets online, please visit TicketMaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Alice Sparks Ticket Office at BB&T Arena.
 
Friday's Valentine's Day contest features the Food Friday Combo Ticket, a $14 ticket that includes a $5 concession voucher.* Food Friday Combo Tickets can be purchased in person at the ticket office.
 
The 1,000 students for $1,000 (#1K41K) promotion continues. If 1,000 students check into the game using their All-Card, one lucky student wins $1,000.
 
Fast Break Points 
• NKU won its fourth-straight game and is now 9-1 in its last 10 games following a convincing 84-65 victory over Detroit Mercy.
• NKU is in the midst of a four-game homestand, its longest of the season, and hosts IUPUI on Valentine's Day. The Norse are 8-2 all-time versus the Jaguars, including a 5-0 mark at home.
• BB&T Arena has been a particularly tough place to play for opposing teams. NKU is 10-2 at home this year and 51-7 (.879) since the start of the 2016-17 season.
• NKU has been stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.3 points per game (72nd in the country), and only two opponents have scored more than 73 points against the Norse this season.
• NKU makes its hay with the nation's 12th-best 3-point field-goal shooting defense, limiting foes to just 28.6 percent.
• The Norse have ripped off 200 steals so far, a total that ranks 33rd in the nation. The team's 8.0 steals per game also rank 45th.
• Offensively, the Norse are letting it rain from long range this year. The team ranks 20th in the country in 3-point field-goal attempts (675) and 52nd in made threes (214).
• Rebounding has been a key to NKU's success this year. The Norse are a perfect 14-0 when either leading or tying in the rebound battle. They are an additional 4-2 when being outrebounded, but keeping the margin within five caroms.
• 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 189-118.
• NKU has been the most dominant team in the Horizon League over the last three seasons, amassing a 56-18 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 90-37 (.709), 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-plus years with active status.
• F Dantez Walton returned following a 10-game absence due to injury at Green Bay and has tallied double-doubles in two of the team's games, going for 15 points and 10 boards against the Phoenix and 23 points and 11 caroms versus Oakland. He's averaging a team-best 16.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg.
• In his last 11 games versus DI opponents, which includes the 10-game absence in the middle, Walton is averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
• G Tyler Sharpe became NKU's 28th member of the 1,000-point club with a career-high-tying 33-point outing versus Youngstown State, his fifth 30-point showing this year. He now ranks tied for 23rd all-time at NKU with 1,114 points.
• Sharpe is averaging 16.0 points per game and his 65 made threes rank 48th in the nation.
• G Trevon Faulkner has reached double figures in 12-of-13 Horizon League games. He is averaging 13.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game overall, but 14.4 ppg in league games.
• G Jalen Tate is averaging 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals  per game on the season.
• Tate poured in a season-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while adding six rebounds and six assists against Detroit Mercy.
• F Adrian Nelson has hauled in double-figure rebound totals in seven of the team's 13 league contests. He's averaging 5.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg in league play.
• G Bryson Langdon registered a career-high 22-point performance at Green Bay and is averaging 8.8 points per game for the Norse.
 
Last Time Out
Tate hit a 10-foot jump shot as time expired to put the Norse ahead by six at intermission. Tate went on to pour in a season-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists in leading Northern Kentucky to its fourth-straight win, defeating Detroit Mercy, 84-65. Sharpe added 17 points and Faulkner contributed 16. Nelson continued to own the backboards, snaring 13 rebounds in the contest to help the Norse to a 38-29 rebounding advantage. Both teams shot 45 percent from the floor, but Northern Kentucky outscored Detroit Mercy 22-13 in second-chance points and 23-10 in points off turnovers after winning the turnover battle, 19-11. NKU's stout defense also limited the nation's third-leading scorer Antoine Davis to a season-low 10 points.
 
Scouting IUPUI
IUPUI has two of the league's most dynamic scorers, Marcus Burk, who averages 20.7 points per game as the nation's 10th leading scorer, and Jaylen Minnett, who posts 16.7 ppg. But, the Jaguars enter at just 6-20 overall and 2-11 in league play, although both wins in Horizon League action have come on the road. Teams score at a clip of 78.7 ppg against the Jaguars, while IUPUI tallies 70.4. Minnett (3rd) and Burk (11th) are among the nation's best 3-point shooters having made 90 and 78, respectively.
 
Series Stuff
NKU is 8-2 all-time against IUPUI, including a perfect 5-0 mark at home. Half of the 10 total meetings between the two teams to this point came in the DII era, with the Norse holding a 4-1 advantage during both time frames.
 
When the teams met in Indianapolis in January, Northern Kentucky dominated nearly every statistical category. Sharpe posted his fourth 30-point outing of the season in the 96-71 win. Sharpe poured in a career-high tying 33 points, while adding three assists and two steals. Faulkner and Langdon also netted double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively, as 11 of the 12 Norse that played scored. NKU shot 56 percent for the game, including a 37 percent showing from long range, and held the Jaguars to 38 percent from the field and 19 percent from three. Northern Kentucky led in rebounding (39-37), assists (22-14), points in the paint (40-32) and points off turnovers (19-10). As a team, NKU posted a whopping 2.2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.