They had a little over nine months to let it stew.
When Wright State came to Truist Arena on Thursday night, the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team finally got their chance at revenge from a season-ending loss last season in the Horizon League Conference tournament championship, denying the Norse a shot at March Madness.
A little payback took place as the Norse (8-6, 3-0) disposed of the Raiders (7-7, 0-3) with some solid defense in a 78-64 victory.
“What I liked most is that we were aggressive and that’s and not an easy team to be aggressive against. They get a lot of movement, they’ve got a dynamic guard in (Trey) Calvin and utilize their bigs really well. They present a lot of different challenges in terms of trying to stop them and so I think the biggest thing is that we were aggressive and that’s when we’re at our best,” Norse coach Darrin Horn said. “That helps us be better offensively too, get out in transition and get a few easy ones. I think it was seven or eight steals tonight.”
Marques Warrick paced the Norse once again, hitting his average of 19 points per game on 7-of-14 shooting and draining three 3-pointers. While the focus was squarely on Thursday night, the Norse did have eight days in-between games to think about the revenge matchup.
“It’s not like we can erase it from our memories, but we try not to dwell on it and we know we’re on to the next season. Different teams on both ends, so we did a good job preparing for this game. Just forget last year, it’s a new year,” Warrick said.
Warrick stayed aggressive in the second half despite picking up his third foul right before the half, scoring 14 points in the game’s final 20 minutes.
“Wanted to still stay aggressive in the second half, but also wanted to be smart,” Warrick said.
After a blistering start in hitting 62 percent of their shots from the field, the Norse missed their final 10 shots of the first half, a 28-18 lead trimmed to 33-29 by the break.
The regroup in the locker room worked wonders, opening up the second half on a 14-1 run and taking a commanding lead by as much as 21 with 10:05 to play.
Needing a boost in the scoring department, the Norse got it everywhere, nine of the 10 players who entered the contest getting into the scoring column. After Warrick’s 19, Chris Brandon followed with 12 points and 14 rebounds, making things hard on the Raiders interior all night.
“Can’t say enough about about Chris Brandon. Was just dominant around the basket tonight and in transition and was a huge difference maker for us,” Horn said.
Trevon Faulkner added 12 points off the bench as the Norse won the bench scoring battle, 22-7. Sam Vinson chipped in 11 points, also adding five assists and continuing to be a menace on the defensive end with two steals.
“Offensively I thought we were better in transition tonight. Four guys in double figures. I think that was good to see. Sam Vinson and Trevon Faulkner throw a few in and see some shots go down,” Horn said.
The Norse defense forced 13 turnovers and held the Raiders to 43 percent shooting.
Trey Calvin had the hot hand in the second half for the Raiders, finishing with 31 points and helping trim the 21-point deficit down to 10 with 2:13 to play, but back-to-back buckets from Faulkner and Warrick closed the door.
The Norse’s 3-0 start in conference play is a promising one, but there’s still a long way to go with 17 conference games left.
“It’s great to be 3-0, no question, but at the same time our goal here has always been to keep improving and get better. We have not started league play great the last two years. Hate to coach speak, but I’m just trying to get ready for the next one to make sure that we keep getting better. And that’s the thing that’s been encouraging with this group. I feel like since we got back from Washington State that individuals and our team is making strides and that’s what we want to do right up until the conference tournament in March,” Horn said.
They’ll return to action on Saturday looking for their first road win of the season when they play at IUPUI at 2 p.m. The win at home improved the Norse’s record to 8-1 at Truist Arena.