It was quite the rebound for the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team on Thursday night in Seattle.
After a disappointing season opening loss to Middle Tennessee State University, the Norse were back on the road, this time through the air as they traveled to the University of Washington to take on the Huskies.
The Norse (0-2) were game all night, but eventually fell, 75-67.
NKU utilized a 21-9 first half run to take a 26-20 lead. They went into the half trailing 41-35. Washington (2-0) led the entire second half, the deficit staying between three and 12 points through the game’s entire final 20 minutes. NKU got within three in the opening stages of the second half, the Huskies using a 15-6 run from there to build their lead to 56-44 with 14:29 to play.
NKU got within six on five different occasions from there, the last a Michael Bradley 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play before the Huskies hit two free throws with 16 seconds left to make the final score.
Despite returning leading scorer and first team All-Horizon standout Marques Warrick going 0-for-12 from the field, NKU was in a battle with the Power Five foe out of the Pac-12.
Warrick did hit on all six of his free throw attempts, but the Norse’s 3-point woes carried over from Monday night in Murfreesboro, hitting just 3-of-17 from deep, including Warrick’s 0-for-5 night from long range.
“It’s guys that we know can make shots and have made shots at a high rate and high level for us and they’re not right now,” Norse coach Darrin Horn said. “We need to look at how we’re taking them, look at the one’s we’re getting and see if there’s a need to free them up for some more.”
Others stepped up, four players hitting double figures led by Sam Vinson and Keeyan Itejere’s 14 points each. Vinson added eight rebounds, Itejere with three blocked shots and several highlight reel plays for the 6-foot-9 forward with a 36-inch vertical leap.
Michael Bradley added 11 points to go with seven assists while LJ Wells came off the bench to score 10 points, pull down four rebounds and tally two steals with two blocked shots.
Trey Robinson added seven points and four rebounds, Cade Meyer with five points and three rebounds off the bench.
NKU was able to grab 19 offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive, but hit just 16-of-25 from the free throw line while the Huskies hit 22-of-27 attempts. NKU was able to limit their turnovers to 12 while forcing 14 from Washington.
Washington features a few players a lot in the Commonwealth remember, former University of Kentucky players Keion Brooks Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler. The two combined for 50 points, Brooks posted a monster night with 32 points and 10 rebounds, Wheeler with 18 points and seven assists.
Despite the loss and dropping to 0-2 to start the year, this is a game NKU can definitely build on as they head home for their season opener against DePauw on Tuesday.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win which is the start of winning,” Horn said. “Saw a lot of really positive things tonight. Wanted to take away their threes, they go 3-for-17 from the three, wanted to do the job on the glass against a much bigger and athletic team, beat them on the glass, had 19 offensive rebounds. Saw some guys if we want to be as good as we want to be, they are going to need to play well for us. Keeyan Itejere and Michael Bradley really stepped up and did some positive things. LJ Wells was fantastic.”
They’ll get another Power Five opponent after the DePauw when they head across the Ohio River to face Cincinnati on Nov. 19. The Norse will then host their Thanksgiving tournament Nov. 22-25 with home contests against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi on Nov. 22 and Long Island University on Nov. 25.
