PHOTOS
 
ESTERO, Fla. – Freshman forward LJ Wells put on a show in his first extended run of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Northern Kentucky men's basketball squad dropped its final game of the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase to Toledo by an 82-69 score at Hertz Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 69, Toledo – 82
LOCATION: Hertz Arena – Estero, Florida (Gulf Coast Showcase)
RECORDS: Northern Kentucky 2-4 (0-0 HL), Toledo 4-2 (0-0 MAC)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Wells was a force all over the court as he dropped in a career-best 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists in 32 minutes of play. Coming into today, Wells had yet to score a collegiate point in 13 minutes of action. The point total is the most by a NKU freshman since Sam Vinson dropped in 20 against Wright State back on Feb. 13, 2022.
- Xavier Rhodes made it a perfect 3-for-3 in reaching double-digit points down in Florida as he finished with 10 along with five assists, three boards and three steals. Over the three-game tournament, the Lee's Summit, Missouri native averaged 12.6 points, 4.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and three steals as a guiding hand of the Norse attack.
- Marques Warrick continued to be a force for NKU with 18 points to go with three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
- Chris Brandon returned to his rebounding ways with 12 boards. He also dropped in nine points.
- Jake Evans returned to the lineup for the first time in 2022-23 as he recorded three points and a steal in 18 minutes of play.
- NKU scored 36 points in the paint and got 29 points off the bench in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Toledo jumped out to a 15-0 lead with 14:43 left to go in the opening half.
- The Rockets extended their advantage to 28-8 at the 10:54 mark before the Norse started to battle back.
- NKU was able to end the first on a 25-17 run to make it 45-33 as the two sides headed into the locker room.
- Northern Kentucky was able to cut the Toledo lead to single-digits at the 18:36 and 11:09 marks of the second half and got the game as close as 62-58 with 9:56 left to play, but it was all Rockets from that point on as they ended the game on a 20-11 run to close out the tournament 82-69 victory.
 
NEXT UP
The Norse return home to Highland Heights for a Sunday showdown against non-conference foe Tennessee Tech on Nov. 27. Tipoff is set for 2 PM ET at Truist Arena and the high-flying act of the Indiana Pacers Power Pack will be performing at halftime. The contest can be streamed nationally on ESPN+ and fans can listen to the action live on Fox Sports 1360. Tickets for the match up can also be purchased here.
 

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