2018-19 NORTHERN KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES No. 14 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas Tech Schedule March 22, 2019 | 1:30 p.m. (ET) Date Opponent Time (ET)/Result Tulsa, Okla. | BOK Center (17,996) October TV/Broadcast: TNT Oct. 30 Thomas More (Ex.) W, 84-47 Brad Nessler (PxP) | Steve Lavin (Color) | Jim November Jackson (Color) | Evan Washburn (Sideline) Nov. 6 Wilmington^ W, 102-38 26-8 Overall, 13-5 Horizon League Radio: ESPN1530 (1530 AM) 26-6 Overall, 14-4 Big 12 Nov. 9 @ Northern Illinois W, 88-85 (2ot) Jim Kelch (PxP) | Steve Moeller (Color) Nov. 11 Wabash W, 99-59 Nov. 16 UNC Asheville^ W, 77-50 Last Game Starters Nov. 17 Manhattan^ W, 59-53 Nov. 18 Coastal Carolina^ W, 89-83 Nov. 24 @ UCF L, 53-66 11 12 15 32 34 Nov. 27 @ Morehead State W, 93-71 Nov. 30 UMBC W, 78-60 December Dec. 4 @ Cincinnati L, 65-78 Dec. 8 @ Eastern Kentucky L, 74-76 Dec. 16 Miami (Ohio) W, 72-66 Dec. 20 Northern Illinois W, 65-62 Jalen Trevon Tyler Dantez Drew Dec. 28 IUPUI* W, 92-77 Tate Faulkner Sharpe Walton McDonald Dec. 30 UIC* W, 73-58 R-So. Fr. Jr. Jr. Sr. January 14.0 PPG 4.9 PPG 14.1 PPG 11.1 PPG 19.1 PPG Jan. 3 @ Oakland* L, 74-76 4.4 RPG 2.5 RPG 3.1 RPG 5.5 RPG 9.5 RPG Jan. 5 @ Detroit Mercy* W, 95-73 4.1 APG 1.1 APG 1.9 APG 2.7 APG 2.9 APG Jan. 11 Wright State* W, 68-64 Jan. 17 @ Cleveland State* W, 91-76 Jan. 19 @ Youngstown State* W, 82-74 FastBreak Points Jan. 24 Green Bay* W, 87-65 Northern Kentucky Points Jan. 26 Milwaukee* W, 73-60 • NKU jumped on top of Wright State early and held the Raiders at bay by double-figures from the 14:50 February mark of the first half for all but one possession over the remainder of the game en route to claiming a Feb. 1 @ IUPUI* L, 77-83 77-66 win and the Horizon League Tournament crown. Feb. 3 @ UIC* L, 67-69 • NKU earned its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last three years and faces No. 3 Texas Tech Feb. 7 Detroit Mercy* W, 97-65 in the first round of the West Region. Feb. 9 Oakland* W, 79-64 • NKU is 0-1 all-time against Texas Tech, dropping a 75-69 decision in Lubbock, Texas, in the Norse’s Feb. 15 @ Wright State* L, 77-81 first season as DI members (2012-13). Feb. 21 Youngstown State* W, 76-69 • With a DI-era record 26 wins, NKU has secured a third-straight 20-win season for the first time in the Feb. 23 Cleveland State* L, 77-83 DI era and just the third time in program history. • NKU is averaging 17.1 assists per game, No. 10 in the nation. The Norse also rank No. 7 in total assists Feb. 28 @ Milwaukee* W, 65-55 with 581 and have 10 games where they’ve handed out at least 20 dimes. March • NKU’s 62.1 assist rate (assists per field-goals made percentage) ranks No. 5 in the country. March 2 @ Green Bay* W, 86-82 • The Norse also rank No. 34 nationally in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 31.3 percent. March 6 No. 7 Detroit Mercy& W, 99-88 • Since the start of the 2016-17 season, NKU is a combined 72-29, has won the Horizon League regular March 11 vs. No. 3 Oakland% W, 64-63 season twice (2018, 2019) and league tourney twice (2017, 2019), and has played in both the NCAA March 12 vs. No. 1 Wright State% W, 77-66 Tournament (2017, 2019) and NIT (2018). No other team in DI history has registered this level of accom- March 22 vs. No. 3 Texas Tech$ 1:30 p.m. plishments in its first three years with active status. ^KEMI Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic (High- Norse Points land Heights, Kentucky) • F Drew McDonald was named the #HLMBB Tournament MVP after averaging 16.7 points, 8.0 re- * Horizon League Contest bounds and 4.3 assists per game while leading NKU to its second tournament title in the last three years. & Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals at • McDonald is the #HLMBB Player of the Year and the 16th player in league history to earn three first Highland Heights, Ky. team all-league honors. He leads NKU in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.5 rpg). % Motor City Madness (Horizon League Champion- • McDonald is NKU’s all-time leading scorer (2,061) and rebounder (1,075), and is one of five active play- ers in Division I basketball with at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career boards. He is tied-seventh ship) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. among active players with 48 career double-doubles. $ NCAA Tournament (BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla.) • G Jalen Tate collected his second-straight Horizon League All Defensive Team nod. • Tate earned a spot on the #HLMBB All-Tournament Team after averaging 13.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, which included 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in the title game. • Tate is averaging 14.0 points behind 55.5 percent (157-of-283) shooting, which ranks 44th nationally. ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS • G Tyler Sharpe is second in scoring for NKU, pouring in 14.1 points per game and, in 25 of the team’s 34 games, has hit at least two threes. His 86 made threes on the season rank 79th nationally. Assistant AD for Communications: • Sharpe joined McDonald and Tate on the all-tournament team, averaging 15.3 points and 3.7 re- Bryan McEldowney bounds across the three games Email: [email protected] • F Dantez Walton is averaging 11.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists. In his first two seasons as a Office Phone: (859) 572-5470 Norse (61 games), he posted nine combined double-figure scoring games. He has 22 double-digit scor- ing outputs in 34 games this year, including a career-best 20 points at IUPUI. Cell Phone: (937) 478-5027 • Walton registered his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-best 14 rebounds in the Fax: (859) 572-7956 league championship game against Wright State. Best Time to Reach Coach: • Graduate transfer G Zaynah Robinson had his best game as a Norse in the #HLMBB Championship game, converting 6-of-7 field goals, including all three Contact Bryan McEldowney treys, en route to 15 points. Director of Comm. (Video): Brad Pope • C Chris Vogt has averaged 8.6 points behind 65.5 percent (19-of-29) shoot- Asst. Athletic Comm. Dir.: Chloe Smith ing, while also contributing 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, in the last five games. Athletic Comm. GA: Ryan Wilker 2018-19 NKU MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES NORTHERN KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Numerical No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/High School/Previous School 0 Silas Adheke F 6-10 240 R-So. Chattanooga, Tenn./Hamilton Heights/Evansville/Eastern Fla. State 2 Paul Djoko G 6-5 200 R-Fr. Strasbourg, France/Champagne Chalons Reims 3 Tre Cobbs G 6-1 200 Jr. Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic 4 Adrian Nelson G/F 6-8 220 Fr. Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central 5 Zaynah Robinson G 6-0 180 Gr. Atlanta, Ga./Duluth/Norfolk State 10 Gerald Gray G 6-3 170 Fr. Louisville, Ky./Pleasure Ridge Park 11 Jalen Tate G 6-6 170 R-So. Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central 12 Trevon Faulkner G 6-4 195 Fr. Harrodsburg, Ky./Mercer County 15 Tyler Sharpe G 6-1 195 Jr. Mt. Washington, Ky./Bullitt East/Louisville 20 Chris Taylor G 5-8 175 Fr. Wichita, Kansas/Independent/IMG Prep 24 Brooks Ely G 6-4 205 Jr. Lexington, Ky./Hargrave Military Academy/Glenville State 25 Bryant Mocaby G/F 6-6 210 Fr. Derby, Kansas/Derby 32 Dantez Walton G 6-7 210 Jr. Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic 33 Chris Vogt C 7-1 240 So. Mayfield, Ky./Graves County 34 Drew McDonald F/C 6-8 250 Sr. Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic 44 David Wassler F/C 6-10 235 Fr. Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Staff Head Coach John Brannen (4th Season, Marshall ‘97) Silas Adheke ............................................ sigh-liss uh-deck-ee Assistant Coach Sean Dwyer (4th Season, Michigan State ‘09) Tre Cobbs ........................................................................... tray Assistant Coach Tim Morris (3rd Season, Stanford ‘08) Paul Djoko ....................................................................joe-coe Assistant Coach Chris Shumate (3rd Season, Murray State ‘04) Brooks Ely .......................................................................eel-ee Dir. of Basketball Ops. Jake Luhn (1st Season, UMASS Boston ‘02) Trevon Faulkner .........................................................tray-vonn Video Coordinator McIntyre Webb (3rd Season, Michigan State ‘14) Bryant Mocaby ....................................................mock-uh-bee Strength & Conditioning Coach Brian Boos Zaynah Robinson ........................... zuh-nye (rhymes with high) Assistant Athletic Trainer Zach Malecki Chris Vogt ..........................................................................vote Dantez Walton .............................................................. dan-tez 2018-19 HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS THE OTHER TOP-25 (MID-MAJOR MADNESS) COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR TOP-25 School Conference Overall Wright State 13-5 21-13 As of: March 11, 2019 As of: March 11, 2019 Northern Kentucky 13-5 26-8 Rk. Tm. Rcd. Prev. Pts. Rk. Tm. Rcd. Pts. Prev. Oakland 11-7 16-17 1 Gonzaga (13) 28-2 1 325 1. Gonzaga (31) 29-2 775 1 Green Bay 10-8 17-16 2 Wofford 28-4 2 307 2.