Darrin Horn admitted it.
Northern Kentucky University’s head men’s basketball coach said scheduling three games in six days maybe wasn’t the best idea. There was, however, the best consolation – two straight wins, including Saturday’s 72-64 triumph over Long Island University in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Toyota Dealers Thanksgiving Tournament at Truist Arena.
“This was a game of two very, very different halves, right?” Horn said. “And I think what you saw at the beginning was a team that their head coach did a poor job of scheduling too many hard games in too short a time. That was our third game in six days.”
The Norse’s win capped a busy week – a 90-66 loss at Cincinnati on Nov. 19 and Wednesday’s 88-73 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
NKU (3-3) had four double-figure scorers Saturday: Sam Vinson, Marques Warrick and Michael Bradley had 14 points apiece, and Keeyan Itejere added 12. Vinson and Itejere led the Norse with six rebounds each, and Bradley had five.
LIU (1-5), meanwhile, had trouble all afternoon – 20 turnovers altogether (NKU converted them into 19 points, a more than three-minute scoring drought, and NKU’s 44-26 paint points advantage.
“Defense, that’s our identity, and we really have preached that over the last couple weeks,” Vinson said. “We’re just getting better on the defensive end.”
NKU had at least 50 deflections and 13 steals; Vinson led with three thefts.
A closer look at Itejere’s playing time: he played nearly 14 minutes Saturday. For the season, he’s averaged 22 minutes a game – about 20 more than last season at Marquette.
“He’s never been counted on for 25, 30 minutes a game,” Horn said. “There is a process with that. But you’ve got Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson and Marques Warrick who’ve logged a lot of minutes.”
That NKU is smiling was a testament to persistence. After four minutes, the Norse had four turnovers and eight in the first half, but just one in the second 20 minutes.
“I think these are the kind of games that good teams find a way to win when you start out like that and shoot really poorly,” Horn said.
Free throw shooting was one difference – the Norse were 2-for-2 in the first half but finished 19-for-26. It made up for making just three of seven 3-pointers.
After Trey Robinson’s layup gave NKU a 26-25 lead with 3:44 to go in the first half, LIU finished with a 9-2 run and a 34-28 lead at intermission.
Vinson’s two free throws with 10:22 to go in regulation gave NKU a 49-48 lead, which Itejere extended to 51-48 with a bucket 37 seconds later.
LIU didn’t go away. Tai Strickland’s pull-up jumper with 5:16 to go tied things at 55-all. Warrick’s jumper with 2:43 remaining capped a 9-0 run.
Strickland led the Sharks with 18 points. Tana Kopa was next with 14, and Eric Acker added 13.
NKU opens Horizon League play against Robert Morris at home Wednesday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
Vinson didn’t think there were any major changes to make.
“It’s not really big things,” he said. “It’s small details that we need to clean up and execute.”
LIU 34 30 – 64
NKU 28 44 – 72
Long Island U. (64) — Djapa 5, Acker 13, Greene 8, Terrell Strickland 4, Tai Strickland 18, Kopa 14, Essahaty 2. 3-Pt. FG: 6 (Kopa 4, Acker, Tai Strickland). FT: 4-7. Rebounds: 33 (Greene 10, Djapa and Terrell Strickland 6). Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Terrell Strickland. Turnovers: 20.
Northern Kentucky (72) — Wells 3, Itejere 12, Robinson 9, Vinson 14, Warrick 14, Meyer 6, Bradley 14. 3-Pt. FG: 3 (Warrick 2, Bradley). FT: 19-26. Rebounds: 31 (Vinson and Itejere 6). Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 9.
Officials: Tony Mee, Luke Schumer and Todd Von Sossan.