HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The battle of Scandinavian mascots resumes on Thursday, Feb. 20, when the Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team squares off against the Cleveland State Vikings at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The 7 p.m. tip can be seen on ESPN+ and heard locally on ESPN1530.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (19-8 Overall, 11-4 Horizon League)
Cleveland State University Vikings (10-17 Overall, 6-8 Horizon League)
Thursday, Feb. 20 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center (13,610)
TV: ESPN+ with Al Pawlowski (PxP) and Pat Vuyancih (Color)
Radio: ESPN1530 with Jim Kelch (PxP) and Rick Broering (Color)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points 
• NKU dropped just its second game in the last 12 contests in a tough 73-43 setback to UIC.
• NKU heads to Northeast Ohio for its final regular-season road trip, beginning with Thursday night's showdown with Cleveland State. The Norse are 6-4 all-time against the Vikings, but just 2-2 in the last four meetings. NKU is 3-1 in the Wolstein Center against CSU.
• BB&T Arena has been a particularly tough place to play for opposing teams. NKU is 11-3 at home this year and 52-8 (.867) since the start of the 2016-17 season.
• NKU has been stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.8 points per game (80th 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 35th-best 3-point field-goal shooting defense, limiting foes to just 29.7 percent. However, in the last seven games opponents have hit 38 percent (55-of-146).
• The Norse have ripped off 218 steals so far, a total that ranks 23rd in the nation. The team's 8.1 steals per game also rank 40th.
• Offensively, the Norse are letting it rain from long range this year. The team ranks 19th in the country in 3-point field-goal attempts (726) and 47th in made threes (227).
• Rebounding has been a key to NKU's success this year. The Norse are a perfect 15-0 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 190-119.
• NKU has been the most dominant team in the Horizon League over the last three seasons, amassing a 57-19 (.750) 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 91-38 (.705), 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.
• G Jalen Tate scored a career-high 31 points, while adding six rebounds, seven assists and career-best six steals, in Northern Kentucky's win over IUPUI. Tate made 10-of-14 shots and went 9-of-11 at the line.
• Tate is stuffing the stat sheet with averages of 12.4 points ,5.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
• F Dantez Walton is averaging a team-best 15.8 ppg and 7.1 rpg, but has missed 11 games to injury this season. He currently ranks 37th all-time in scoring at NKU with 922 points.
• 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 23rd all-time at NKU with 1,132 points.
• Sharpe is averaging 15.5 points per game and his 68 made threes rank 54th in the nation.
• With Tate's 30-point showing against IUPUI, NKU has now had three players post a 30-point game this year. Sharpe (5), Walton (3) and Tate have combined for nine 30-point efforts.
• G Trevon Faulkner has reached double figures in 13-of-15 Horizon League games. He is averaging 13.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game overall, but 13.9 ppg in league games.
• F Adrian Nelson has hauled in double-figure rebound totals in seven of the team's 15 league contests. He's averaging 5.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg in league play.
• G Bryson Langdon registered a career-high 22-point performance at Green Bay and is averaging 8.3 points per game for the Norse.
 
Last Time Out
Northern Kentucky suffered a 30-point defeat, 73-43, at the hands of UIC on Sunday afternoon. Tate scored eight points and Walton hauled in seven rebounds, but NKU was handled in most aspects of the game. The Flames shot 50 percent (26-of-52) compared to just 22 percent (13-of-59) for the Norse. UIC posted a 49-30 advantage on the glass. The lone bright spot came in the turnovers category, where Northern Kentucky forced 17 and only committed 10 which led to an 18-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Scouting Cleveland State
Following its overtime win against Detroit Mercy in its last outing, Cleveland State is now 10-17 overall and 6-8 in the Horizon League. However, after starting the league with a 3-1 mark, the Vikings are just 3-7 in their last 10 games. Algevon Eichelberger's 14.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game leads a CSU team that averages 63.9 ppg and pulls down 34.3 rpg. However, opponents score at a 71.2 ppg clip and pull down 35.9 rpg against the Vikings.
 
Series Stuff
The Norse and Vikings have met 10 times prior on the hardwood, with NKU holding a slim 6-4 advantage in the all-time series. The series is also tied at 2-2 across the last four meetings, but the Norse claimed a 75-49 decision at BB&T Arena earlier this season and are 3-1 all-time in Cleveland.
 
An 18-0 run in the first half pushed the Norse ahead by 17 at intermission and Northern Kentucky never looked back in a dominant 75-49 win against Cleveland State in the first contest this season. NKU's defense was stout, holding CSU without a 3-point field goal in the game, marking the first time since 2009 the Norse held a team without a made three. It was also the first time in nearly two years (Jan. 28, 2018 vs. UIC) that a DI Norse opponent was held below the 50-point threshold. Faulkner scored a game-high and career-high-tying 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-6 at the stripe. Sharpe, who was honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th career point, added 18 points. Nelson corralled 10 boards and added eight points.