BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball program put an absolute scare into Houston as the No. 16 Norse looked to make history against the No. 1 Cougars in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Legacy Arena at The BJCC on Thursday night.
 
NKU trailed by just three at the half, tied it at 36-36 with 15:44 left in the game and after a Houston run, got it as close as 55-50 with 3:36 remaining before the Cougars were able to pull away to escape with the 63-52 victory in one of the grittiest performances in NKU basketball history.
 
Northern Kentucky would have been just the second No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the tournament's history.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 16 Northern Kentucky – 52, No. 1 Houston – 63
LOCATION: Legacy Arena – Birmingham, Alabama
RECORDS: NKU 22-13 (14-6 HL), HOU 32-3 (17-1 American)
 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sam Vinson was the best student-athlete on the court as he posted a team-best 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting, to go with eight rebounds, a game-high three steals, a block and an assist. Vinson, one of the national leaders in steals, finished with 73 on the season, the third most posted by a NKU student-athlete in a single campaign.
- Trey Robinson added 11 points, three boards, a helper and a steal.
- It isn't just a saying anymore, Chris Brandon proved he is one of the best rebounders in college basketball with 14 boards against the No. 1 seed. He also added six points and two assists. The Houston, Texas native pulled down 333 boards on the year (with 131 of those coming on the offensive glass) to set the school record for most rebounds in a single season all-time.
- Xavier Rhodes chipped in eight points, five rebounds, two swipes and two assists.
- Marques Warrick (nine points) and Trevon Faulkner (three points) also contributed for the Norse. Faulkner ends his storied NKU career with the school record for most games played and most games started to go with being ranked eighth all-time in career scoring (1,624 points). Warrick finished the year ranked second all-time during a single campaign in scoring with 650 points on the year.
- Coming into the contest, Houston was the 14th-best team in the country at taking care of the basketball with just 9.9 turnovers per game. Tonight, NKU forced 17 turnovers, with nine of those coming in the first half alone. NKU also posted nine steals as a team on the evening.
- The game featured seven lead changes and eight times the game was tied.
- NKU also posted 21 second chance points in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- NKU was able to jump out to an early three-point lead with 12:29 left in the opening half. The Norse led the contest by a 12-9 margin.
- The two sides continued to battle back and forth through the rest of the first, with Houston holding a slight 21-15 edge over the final 12 minutes to take a 30-27 lead into the half.
- The Norse went on a quick run to start the second to tie the game back up at 36-36 with 15:44 left to go.
- Houston jumped back ahead 41-38 with 11:51 remaining, before the Cougars completed a 6-0 run to push their advantage to 47-40 with 10:26 left.
- After Houston got ahead by as much as 10, there was still no quit in NKU as the Norse were able to get it to a five-point game at the 4:39 and 3:36 marks.
- Houston literally could not miss down the stretch as the Cougars ended the game on an 8-2 run to escape with the 63-52 victory.
 
NEXT UP
That ends the year for the Norse, one that will go down in program history. Northern Kentucky won the Horizon League Tournament Title for the fourth time in seven years as NKU made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in 11 seasons at the NCAA Division I level. The year also included the school's first win over crosstown rival Cincinnati in program history.
 
 
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