What got off to a promising start, finished with a disappointing road loss for the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team.
The Norse (7-7, 2-1), playing their first game without Sam Vinson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week in a loss to Saint Mary’s, dropped their road contest with Purdue-Fort Wayne on Friday, 73-60.
NKU was outscored 46-34 in the second half. The Norse jumped out to a 19-8 lead as they were getting good scoring balance, but found themselves down by one at the half after the Mastadons closed on a 20-8 run in the final 9:23 of the half.
PFW’s (12-2, 3-0) nine 3-pointers made in the second half were just too much to overcome. The Mastadons hit 14 triples in the contest compared to five from the Norse.
Marques Warrick led the Norse with 17 points, Michael Bradley adding 10 as he was inserted into the starting lineup for Vinson. Trey Robinson just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, LJ Wells adding eight points and seven rebounds. Jeremiah Israel chipped in six points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Norse won the rebounding battle, 48-35 and collected 17 offensive rebounds, but only got 15 second chance points from it. NKU had 17 turnovers to just seven assists while the Mastadons had 17 assists on 25 made field goals. PFW turned the Norse turnovers into 22 points.
Fort Wayne had four in double figures, led by Jalen Jackson with 17 points.
NKU returns to action on Thursday when they host Youngstown State at 7 p.m. at Truist Arena. The Norse will look to avoid falling below .500 since getting off to a 1-3 start and then winning four in a row.