HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – After playing seven of its last nine games on the road, the Northern Kentucky men's basketball team begins a four-game homestand at BB&T Arena against Horizon League foe Oakland on Thursday night. Fox Sports Ohio will carry the 7 p.m. tip on television and the game can be heard on ESPN1530.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (16-7 Overall, 8-3 Horizon League)
Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (8-15 Overall, 3-7 Horizon League)
Thursday, Feb. 6 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Highland Heights, Ky. | BB&T Arena (9,400)
TV: Fox Sports Ohio with Brady Laber (PxP) and Brad Redford (Color)
The game can also be seen on ESPN+, but will be blacked out in Fox Sports Ohio's market.
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. A Braxton Combo Ticket, which is a $14 ticket that includes one Braxton beer for patrons ages 21 and over and a plastic pint glass, is available for purchase.
 
The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a mini NKU Basketball Hoop. The Braxton Beer Garden will have happy hour from 6-7 p.m.
 
The 1,000 students for $1,000 (#1K41K) promotion is back. If 1,000 students check into the game using their All-Card, one lucky student wins $1,000. Thursday's game also features an official student tailgate.
 
Fast Break Points 
• NKU swept the Wisconsin road trip with a 65-56 win at Milwaukee thanks to stifling defense that held the Panthers to just 17 first-half points, the fewest allowed by the Norse in any half this season.
• The win was NKU's eighth true road victory of the season and the Norse are one of 10 teams nationally with at least eight true road wins.
• NKU hosts Oakland on Thursday night as part of the university's Homecoming Week festivities. The Norse are 12-11 all-time against the Golden Grizzlies, but just 3-7 in Highland Heights.
• BB&T Arena has been a particularly tough place to play for opposing teams. NKU is 8-2 at home this year and 49-7 (.875) since the start of the 2016-17 season.
• NKU has been stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.1 points per game (74th 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 seventh-best 3-point field-goal shooting defense, limiting foes to just 28.0 percent.
• The Norse have ripped off 183 steals so far, a total that ranks 37th in the nation. The team's 8.0 steals per game also rank 53rd.
• Offensively, the Norse are letting it rain from long range this year. The team ranks 22nd in the country in 3-point field-goal attempts (618) and 53rd in made threes (197).
• 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 187-118.
• NKU has been the most dominant team in the Horizon League over the last three seasons, amassing a 54-18 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 88-37 (.704), 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 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 26th all-time at NKU with 1,082 points.
• Sharpe is averaging 16.0 points per game and his 60 made threes rank 51st in the nation.
• G Trevon Faulkner has reached double figures in 10-of-11 Horizon League games. He is averaging 12.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game overall, but 13.6 ppg in league games.
• After missing 10 games due to injury, G Jalen Tate returned against Green Bay on Dec. 30, and has reached double figures in 8-of-10 games since. He is averaging 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game on the season.
• Tate notched his second career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Green Bay and followed with a 16-point, nine-rebound, five-assist outing at Milwaukee.
• F Dantez Walton returned following a 10-game absence due to injury with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double at Green Bay. He's averaging a team-best 17.1 ppg on the strength of 49 percent shooting.
• G Bryson Langdon registered a career-high 22-point performance at Green Bay and is averaging 9.2 points per game for the Norse.
• Langdon has now reached double figures in six of the last eight games, averaging 13.0 ppg during the stretch.
• F Adrian Nelson has hauled in double-figure rebound totals in five of the team's league contests. He's averaging 5.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg in league play.
 
Last Time Out
Four Norse scored in double digits, but defense, rebounding and free-throw shooting led Northern Kentucky to a 65-56 win at Milwaukee. NKU limited MKE to 36 percent (19-of-53) shooting and 30 percent (7-of-23) from 3-point range, while outrebounding the Panthers, 40-31. The Norse also made 15 free throws, which were three more than the Panthers even attempted. Sharpe scored a game-high 18 points thanks to 4-for-8 shooting from three. Tate stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Langdon and Faulkner each added 10 points to the cause.
 
Scouting Oakland
Oakland enters at 8-15 overall and just 3-7 in league play, but the Golden Grizzlies are coming off a decisive 77-64 win at their rival Detroit Mercy. Rashad Williams went off for 37 points in the game, burying seven treys and converting 14-of-15 at the charity stripe. Oakland surrenders 68.6 ppg, while scoring at a 65.3 ppg clip. Williams leads the Golden Grizzlies in scoring at 18.2 ppg, but the Cleveland State transfer has only played in five games. Xavier Hill-Mais posts 15.5 points and team-best 7.7 rebounds per game, while Brad Brechting contributes 10.1 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
 
Series Stuff
Thursday's matchup is the 24th in the series between NKU and Oakland, which dates back to Dec. 1977. The Norse hold a 12-11 advantage after winning in Rochester, Michigan, earlier this season, but are just 3-7 against the Golden Grizzlies in Highland Heights. However, NKU is riding a three-game winning streak in the series which includes a home win last year.
 
In the first meeting this season, Eleeda came out firing on all cylinders early and Langdon turned it on shortly after to help Northern Kentucky post a 75-64 victory. Eleeda buried three first-half treys en route to 10 points, while Langdon was highly efficient in converting 5-of-8 shots, including 4-of-6 from three, and all seven free throws on his way to a then-career-high 21 points. NKU used an 11-0 run over a span of 3:40 in the second half to assume control of the game. The Norse shot 62 percent (13-of-21) in the second half. Faulkner (12), Tate (11) and Nelson (10) also reached double figures, giving NKU five for the game.
 
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