PHOTOS
 
ESTERO, Fla. – Northern Kentucky standout Marques Warrick joined the 1,000-point club for his NKU career, but the celebration was cut short as Florida Gulf Coast knocked off the Norse by an 82-61 margin in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena on Monday night.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 61, Florida Gulf Coast – 82
LOCATION: Hertz Arena – Estero, Florida (Gulf Coast Showcase)
RECORDS: Northern Kentucky 2-2 (0-0 HL), FGCU 3-2 (0-0 ASUN)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Warrick became just the 31st student-athlete in NKU program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau as he dropped in 16 points to go with a team-best four assists and four steals. The Lexington, Kentucky native reached the milestone in just 61 games, as he has averaged 16.4 points per contest so far during his NKU career. Warrick was the fastest NCAA Division I student-athlete to join the 1,000-point club in program history. His 16.4 points per game average also currently ranks ninth all-time in school history. With his one three-point made tonight, he also tied teammate Trevon Faulkner for 19th all-time in NKU history with 137 career made three-pointers.
- Trey Robinson recorded a double-double as he pulled down 12 boards to go with 10 points on the evening in just 24 minutes of play. It was the first double-double of his NKU career.
- Sam Vinson also finished in double figures with 14 points along with three steals, two assists and two rebounds. It was his second straight contest with double-digit scoring and at least three steals in his two games since returning from injury.
- Xavier Rhodes made it four Norse in double figures for the first time this season as he recorded 10 points and added three steals and two assists.
- The Norse finished with a higher shooting percentage than the Eagles (23-of-54, .426 to 24-of-58, .414) but Florida Gulf Coast did their damage from beyond the arc (12-of-28, .429) and went a near perfect 22-of-23 from the charity stripe (.957).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The two sides found themselves tied at 10 through the first 6:36 of the game.
- NKU jumped out to a 18-12 lead at the 10:11 mark of the first, but Florida Gulf Coast battled right back to tie the game at 18 with 8:33 left in the opening half.
- The Norse and Eagles continued to battle as FGCU won the remaining of the opening 20 minutes with a slight 16-13 edge to take a 34-31 advantage into the half.
- NKU jumped out to a 41-37 lead with 16:20 left in the contest.
- It was all FGCU from that point on as the Eagles ended the game on a 45-21 run to collect the non-conference, tournament victory.
 
NEXT UP
The Norse will be back in action to face UT Arlington in the consolation round of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 1:30 PM ET inside Hertz Arena. The game can be watched nationwide on FloHoops and fans can listen to the contest on ESPN 1530.
 

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