HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY. – Northern Kentucky's men's basketball team hosts Detroit Mercy in a 2022 Keeps Horizon League Championship quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Thursday at BB&T Arena.
 
The winner advances to the conference tournament semifinals at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis on March 7.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky Norse (18-11, 14-6 Horizon League)
Detroit Mercy (14-14, 10-7 Horizon League)
Thursday, March 3 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Highland Heights, Ky. | BB&T Arena (8,247)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: FOXSports1360
Stats: Live Stats
 
Fast Break Points
• Northern Kentucky finished among the top four of the Horizon League regular-season standings, ensuring a first-round bye and home quarterfinal in the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Championship. The third-seeded Norse host sixth-seeded Detroit Mercy in a third quarterfinal since 2019. In 2021, David Böhm converted a buzzer-beating tip-in for a dramatic 70-69 victory. In 2019, the Norse won 99-88 behind three double-figure scorers.
 
• The Norse have won 12 of their last 14 games and enter their quarterfinal allowing a Horizon League-low 65.8 points.
 
• NKU has been an offensive rebounding juggernaut under Darrin Horn. The Norse were 117th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (29.7) in 2019-20, Horn's first season at the helm. NKU ascended to No. 15 (34.9%) in 2020-21. Twenty-nine games into 2021-22, the Norse rank eighth (36.1%) per KenPom.com. The payoff for attacking the offensive glass: NKU's 366 second-chance points this season. That's an average of 12.6 points a game.
 
• In the national statistical rankings, NKU is 10th in total steals (268), 11th in steals per game (9.2), 14th in offensive rebounds per game (12.9) and 34th in made threes per game (9.1).
 
• NKU is riding a streak of five straight seasons with a winning percentage, beginning with the
2016-17 team. NKU has won the Horizon League regular season twice (2018, 2019) and league tourney three times (2017, 2019, 2020). The Norse have qualified for either the NCAA Tournament (2017, 2019, 2020) or NIT (2018) every year except 2021.
 
• G Marques Warrick, an All-League Second Team member, is the latest Horizon League Player of the Week. He averaged 26 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in NKU's last two games.
 
• G Trevon Faulkner averages 11.8 points and has made at least one 3-pointer in 23 of his 28 games. He surpassed the 1,000-point career milestone in November and now has 1,296 points.
 
• G Sam Vinson is the Horizon League Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year and member of the All-Freshman team. His 59 steals thus far are a new Horizon League freshman record.
 
• F Adrian Nelson, a Horizon League All-Academic Honorable Mention, ranks sixth all-time at NKU with 712 rebounds. His 3.2 offensive rebounds per game rank first in the Horizon League.
 
• F Chris Brandon has recorded two double-doubles this season, most recently Feb. 9 at Milwaukee (17 pts, 11 reb). He averages a league-third 3.1 offensive rebounds per game.
 
• G Bryson Langdon's assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) ranks fifth in the Horizon League and 80th nationally. He's averaging 5.9 points and 4.0 assists per game.
 
• G Hubie Pivorius is shooting 44.2% (34-of-77) from 3-point range, including a 4-for-5 performance at Detroit Mercy Feb. 18. He went 3-for-5 from the perimeter at Oakland Feb. 20.
 
Last Time Out
With a 75-61 defeat of Youngstown State in a regular-season finale Saturday at BB&T Arena, Northern Kentucky completed a regular-season sweep of the Penguins and claimed the No. 3 seed in the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. Marques Warrick unlocked a 34-all tie via a 3-pointer with 2:43 left in the first half and Bryson Langdon added four points in a 7-0 run. NKU never trailed again. Warrick scored a team-high 22 points and added three rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Sam Vinson converted 4-of-5 threes and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Norse scored 14 points off turnovers, won the rebounding battle 34-25 and converted 15 second-chance points.
 
Scouting Detroit Mercy
Antoine Davis scored 38 points and the Titans prevailed over Green Bay, 79-62, in a 2022 Keeps Horizon League Championship first-round game Tuesday in Detroit. Detroit Mercy has won four of its last five games and enters Thursday's quarterfinal with a .500 overall record (14-14). The team entered the Horizon League Tournament with the conference's second-ranked 3-point field goal percentage (37.5%). Davis averages 24.2 points and Madut Akec (12.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg) returned to action against Green Bay after missing seven games due to a leg injury.
 
Series Stuff
NKU is 10-4 all-time against the Titans, although the Titans have won the last two meetings. NKU and Detroit Mercy played their first game this season Feb. 5, a 74-68 Titans victory at BB&T Arena. Trevon Faulkner tied the game at 55 on a 3-pointer with 5:43 to play but Antoine Davis answered with a triple and the Titans never relinquished control. The loss snapped NKU's six-game winning streak and was Detroit Mercy's first over NKU since Jan. 3, 2020. The Titans completed a regular-season sweep of the Norse Feb. 18 with a 60-52 victory in Detroit.