After opening up the season with two road losses, the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball returned to the friendly confines of Truist Arena and greeted a decent home crowd with a win over DePauw.
Prior to the contest they were welcomed with the unveiling of their Horizon League Conference Tournament championship banner and NCAA tournament banner.
They followed with an 85-68 victory.
The product is still a work in process with a lot of new pieces, committing 17 turnovers and a slight 38-36 rebounding edge over a much smaller team.
NKU led by as much as 28 and never trailed in the contest. Where they separated themselves was in transition, outscoring the Tigers 24-6 on fast break points.
“We came into this game with our whole focus being that we wanted to play faster in transition and have an opportunity to get and really run,” Norse coach Darrin Horn said. “We feel like that’s how we’re going to be our best as a team going forward and I thought our guys did a really good job of that tonight.”
Marques Warrick and Sam Vinson paced the Norse with 21 points apiece, Vinson hitting a career-high five 3-pointers, while Warrick hit four himself. The nine triples combined was a welcome sight for the two after hitting just 3-of-22 in their first two contests in losses to Middle Tennessee State University and Washington.
“I feel like I came with that same mindset of going into Washington, but a little mishap just because it wasn’t the way that I was supposed to play offensively and what the team expected of me,” Warrick said. “These past three or four days after watching the game that we had I put in the work and played well in practice. Was just looking forward to this game and put that game behind me.”
Vinson knocked down 8-of-13 shots and 5-of-8 from deep.
“Really started with Mike (Bradley) pushing in transition and getting us open looks,” Vinson said. “When he gets down the floor into the paint and when he kicks opposite or its in and out, I’m going to let that fly. All week and leading into this game I just tried to put in more work in my jump shot, stay confident and letting it fly with confidence.”
After a slow start offensively for the Norse, it was Cade Meyer providing a boost off the bench, Meyer finishing with 12 points and four rebounds. The bench role is a bit of a transition for the transfer from Green Bay, the Phoenix’s leading scorer last season.
“Cade’s been fantastic. He’s an extremely hard worker. He plays hard and competes every day,” Horn said. “He has no ego. He literally came here because he said he just wanted to get better and win. He knew that we already had Keeyan Itejere committed and then still wanted to come. He’s been outstanding and it’s huge for us, especially as we get into league play to have two guys down there that we think do some really positive things.”
NKU led 44-27 at half, outscoring the Tigers 25-15 over the final 8:36 of the half.
The lead jumped to 72-44 before DePauw closed the game out on a 24-13 run over the final 8:58 of the game. Despite the win, Horn knows there’s still plenty of things to clean up as they head into their contest with Cincinnati on Sunday at Fifth Third Arena.
“Right now we got to get better defensively or we’re not gonna beat anybody good,” Horn said. “I think that’s that’s our biggest challenge. We’re going to spend the next few days trying to get better prepared because we’re gonna have to defend at a much higher level to compete on Sunday.”
Michael Bradley dished out seven assists to go with his seven points, continuing to show his facilitator role with his new team as he makes the transition from the Division II level to D-1.
“My teammates have made it really easy for me and a seamless transition,” Bradley said. “Got to get the turnovers down, we want to play fast and that’s a perfect fit for us. It’s been fun.”
LJ Wells added nine points off the bench, Keeyan Itejere scoring five and pulling down eight rebounds. The Norse utilized 11 players in the contest, including freshman and Lloyd Memorial grad Jeremiah Israel getting 9:36 of action off the bench.
“Gave Jeremiah a chance tonight because he’s been better in practice. It’s a work in progress with those guys and we’re trying to figure it out,” Horn said.
NKU’s game with the Bearcats on Sunday is at 2 p.m. The Norse handed UC a 64-51 defeat in last season’s meeting at Truist Arena.
