Northern Kentucky Claims Second-Straight Horizon League Men’s Basketball Title
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INDIANAPOLIS – For the third time in four seasons and the second year in a row, the Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team won the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after defeating UIC in the title game on Tuesday at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
RESULTS
| GAME |
RECAP |
| Northern Kentucky 71, UIC 62 |
Box Score |
RECAPS
Northern Kentucky 71, UIC 62
By Meghan Rominger
Sports Capital Journalism Program, IUPUI
INDIANAPOLIS - In order to pull out a win in Tuesday’s championship matchup against the No. 4 seed UIC Flames, the No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky Norse needed to be quick, gritty and persistent. They were all of those things and more, defeating the Flames, 71-62, to win their second consecutive Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship and their third in four years.
NKU senior guard Tyler Sharpe led all scorers with 16 points, shooting 5-of-12 from the floor, 2-of-7 from behind the 3-point line and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. Junior guard Jalen Tate (14), sophomore guard Trevon Faulkner (13), and senior forward Dantez Walton (10) also posted double-digit points for the Norse (23-9). Walton’s field goal at the 9:00 minute mark in the second half tallying his 1000th career point.
The Flames (18-17) were led by senior guard Tarkus Ferguson, who scored 15 points, shooting 4-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-4 from behind the 3-point line, and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Senior guard Marcus Ottey (12), senior forward Jordan Blount (10), and junior forward Michael Diggins (13) also scored in double-digits for UIC.
As expected, UIC and NKU emerged strong defensively in the first half, and there wasn’t much disparity between the teams’ stat lines heading into halftime. Tate proved to be the key difference for the Norse, though, taking NKU into halftime with a 34-24 lead. Tate was the only player on either team to score double-digit points in the first half, tallying 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and two free throws; Tate also notched three rebounds and three assists in the first half.
When asked about his first half dominance, Tate said he only had one goal in mind: “Just doing whatever it took to win us a championship today.”
The Flames, on the other hand, weren’t galvanized by any one particular player throughout the first half, and they ended up suffering from a few costly offensive miscues and sloppy play executions.
“I just feel like we missed a couple shots,” said UIC’s Blount in reference to his team’s early mistakes. “We just never really were able to get our rhythm going the way we wanted to.”
The second half started off much how the first half ended, as NKU’s stifling defense forced UIC to make several mistakes while on offense and commit costly turnovers. The Norse did an even better job during the second half of capitalizing on UIC’s errors, scoring 11 points off of turnovers. The Norse also added six more steals in the second half, ending the game with a total of 11.
The Flames’ sense of urgency increased in the final minutes of the game, and they were able to pull within eight points of NKU with 59 seconds to play. However, the Norse were able to remain calm and collected, minimizing their mistakes and refusing to dwell on the few mistakes they did make.
“We just came together and said that we’ve got to want it and we’ve got to finish what we started,” said Sharpe when asked about the Norse’s ability to remain calm during the final minutes.
UIC finished the game shooting 14-of-31 from the floor, 3-of-15 from behind the 3-point line and 8-of-13 from the free-throw line.
NKU had a similar final stat line, finishing the contest shooting 23-of-46 from the floor, 6-of-21 from behind the 3-point line and 19-of-29 from the free-throw line.
Despite the two teams’ similar offensive performances, NKU’s persistence and perseverance prevented the Norse from losing hope or playing with a defeated mindset. Their calmness and positivity – as evidenced by their body language and team camaraderie – ultimately led them to continue with their offensive game plan and pull out a victory.
“We had a lot of open shots, I just think we didn’t make them,” said the Flames’ Ferguson. “They did. That’s it.”
The Norse are headed to their third NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament in four years, and they’ll be aiming to advance to the second round of the tournament for the first time in program history. NKU has an all-time 0-2 record in the tournament.
“It doesn’t matter to us,” said NKU coach Darrin Horn in reference to the team’s first-round opponent. “We’re going to be prepared when we find out. We’re going to try to be really good at what we do and hopefully make whoever we play adjust to us.”
Regardless of who they face, one thing is certain: if the Norse continue to mix their strong defense with their efficient offense, they will have a great chance of advancing to the second round and beyond.