DETROIT – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball program secured a top spot in the upcoming Barbasol Horizon League Championships with its 67-64 win over Detroit Mercy on Thursday night in Calihan Hall.
With the victory, Northern Kentucky clinched a top-four seed, a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals of the upcoming conference tournament for the third straight season. NKU will host the quarterfinal game of the Barbasol #HLMBB Championship on Thursday, March 2 inside Truist Arena. Opponent for the post season contest is still to be determined.
The win also made it a season-sweep for NKU over the Titans during the regular season.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 67, Detroit Mercy – 64
LOCATION: Calihan Hall – Detroit, Michigan
RECORDS: NKU 18-12 (13-6 HL), UDM 13-17 (9-10 HL)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Not to bury the lede, but standout junior
Marques Warrick made history on Thursday night. The Lexington, Ky. native dropped in a team-best 20 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Warrick has now scored 574 points so far this season, a mark that is the new NKU Division I era school record to go with being ranked in a tie for fourth all-time for most points scored in a single campaign. He trails Derek Fields and his 664 points scored in 1988-89 by just 90 with one game left to go in the regular season and more action in the upcoming conference tournament.
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Trevon Faulkner stepped up in a big way off the bench with 13 points and a steal in 26 minutes of action. It was his 12th game so far this season in which the fifth-year leader finished with double-digits in points.
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Sam Vinson was all over the court once again as he finished with 11 points, five boards, five helpers and two steals. It was the sophomore's 16th game this year where he finished with double-digit points to go with being his 21st contest with two or more steals. With 65 steals on the year, Vinson moved into seventh all-time for most swipes during a single season.
- Against his former squad,
Chris Brandon pulled down 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, two steals and a game-high two blocks. It was Brandon's 15th game finishing with double-digit boards. With his 283 rebounds already on the season, Brandon is now ranked third all-time for most boards in a single campaign. He trails record-holder and NKU great Drew McDonald by just 25 boards heading into the end of the year.
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Hubertas Pivorius added six points in just seven minutes of play as he went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
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Trey Robinson (four points, three boards) and
Xavier Rhodes (three points, two steals) also contributed for the Norse in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
DARRIN HORN PRESSER
NEXT UP
It's one final game on the road for the Norse as NKU wraps up the regular season with a showdown against Oakland, set for Saturday, Feb. 25 with a 3 PM ET tip inside the Athletics Center O'rena. The season-finale can be
streamed nationwide on ESPN+ and can also be
heard anywhere in the country on Fox Sports 1360.
FOLLOW NKU NORSE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I college basketball team through
@NKUNorseMBB on Twitter,
@nkunorsembb on Instagram, nkunorsembb on Facebook and
subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.
