HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky men's basketball tips off its 2021-22 campaign with a home contest against Wheeling on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at BB&T Arena.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (14-11 Overall, 11-7 Horizon League in 2020-21)
Wheeling University Cardinals (6-12 Overall, 5-11 Great Midwest in 2020-21)
Tuesday, Nov. 9 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Highland Heights, Ky. | BB&T Arena (8,427)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: The Project (100.7/106.3 FM)
Stats: Live Stats
Tickets: Purchase Now
Digital Program: NKU Men's Basketball Weekly – Week 1
 
Fast Break Points 
• NKU won its exhibition against Lake Erie, 75-64, and opens the season against first-time opponent Wheeling.
• NKU returns 91 percent (1,626-of-1,784) of its scoring, 87 percent (757-of-872) of its rebounding and 85 percent (4,294-of-5,075) of its minutes from last season's team. NKU's returning points production is the 18th-most in the country.
• NKU was picked to finish third in a tightly contested #HLMBB preseason poll that saw five teams receive a first-place vote.
• According to KenPom, NKU ranked 15th in the country in offensive rebound percentage (34.9) last year and the Norse added help on the glass with F Chris Brandon, who averaged 5.9 rebounds per game at Detroit Mercy last year
• NKU is the only Horizon League men's basketball program to reach at least the semifinals of the league tournament championship each of the last three seasons.
• NKU finished third in the Horizon League standings based on win percentage last year, marking its sixth-straight top-three league finish.
• NKU has been one of the most dominant teams in the Horizon League over the last four seasons, amassing a 73-28 (.723) mark against league foes while winning five of the combined 10 league championships (two regular season and three tournament).
• NKU is riding a streak of five-straight seasons with a winning percentage beginning with the 2016-17 team.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 109-50 (.686), has won the Horizon League regular season twice ('18, '19) and league tourney thrice ('17, '19, '20), and has qualified for either the NCAA Tournament ('17, '19, '20) or NIT ('18) every year except '21. No other team in DI history has registered this level of accomplishments in its first four years of active status.
• G Trevon Faulkner earned a spot on the All-Horizon League Second Team last year and reprised the role on the Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team this year.
• Faulkner impacts the game in all facets with averages of 16.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 2020-21
• G Marques Warrick, the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Year and all-freshman and all-league third team honoree, also adorns the Preseason All-Horizon League Second  Team.
• Warrick won seven Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors and registered 10 20-point performances last year.
• G Bryson Langdon is coming off of a 2020-21 campaign in which he averaged career-highs in scoring at 10.7 points and assists at 4.0 assists per game.
• F Adrian Nelson, a Horizon League All-Academic honoree that sports a 3.42 GPA in Organizational Leadership, ranks 24th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (3.33) and 23rd in total rebounds per game (9.8).
• F David Böhm and G Hubertas Pivorius picked up international playing experience this past summer. Böhm competed for the Czech Republic at the U20 FIBA Championships, winning the Brno pool/region title and earning MVP Honors after averaging 15 ppg, 6.6 rpg, & 2.0 apg. Pivorius averaged 8.4 points behind 40 percent 3-point shooting for Lithuania in the FIBA U19 World Cup.
• Pivorius and Brandon are part of six Norse newcomers this year, as G Sam Vinson, G Isaiah Mason, C Imanuel Zorgvol and F Seybian Sims also join the team.