James Pilcher

jpilcher@enquirer.com

DETROIT – It's time for Northern Kentucky University basketball fans to start checking in on the bracketology of the NCAA tournament.

That’s because NKU has now made it to the Horizon League tournament championship game with a 84-74 win over Youngstown State Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

The Norse’s potential reward? A possible showdown with the commonwealth’s powerhouses should NKU win the tournament title Tuesday night.

NKU rode an offense that was much more active than Sunday to open up a 15 point lead at halftime, and then was able to answer every Penguin surge in the second half. YSU cut the lead to as little as 4 early in the second, but the Norse responded, pushing their lead to as much as 16 with five minutes left.

"When I took the job one of my goals was to provide something for NKU to get excited about," said NKU head coach John Brannen, who himself is originally from Alexandria. "I have a lot of pride in the area and I have a lot of pride that I came back. And we know this is a college basketball crazy area and hopefully we can add to that in our own way."

Sophomore center Drew McDonald led the way for the Norse with 26 points, including 17 in the first half as part of the early surge. He also hit a clutch 3 to stem another YSU run with less than six minutes left, and went to the drive for two other key buckets as defenders bit on pump fakes.

"It's been a dream of mine to play in the NCAA tournament, and to do it for my hometown team would really give me chills," said McDonald, a sophomore who played for Newport Central Catholic High School. His parents also were athletes at NKU, with his mom playing basketball and his father playing tennis.

Junior point guard LaVone Holland II added 20 points with 3 assists, while Carson Williams came on to score 7 in the second half.

The latest win comes after Sunday’s turn of events at the Horizon League men’s basketball tournament when the Norse won their first ever post-season game as a NCAA Division I program while the three top seeds all lost.

All this comes in the first year that NKU is even eligible for the NCAA tournament after a four-year probationary period.

Winners of 11 of its last 13 games, No. 4 seed NKU (23-10) now faces No. 10 seed Milwaukee Tuesday night. The Horizon League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament is on the line - and it's believed that this will be NKU's first ever appearance on the main ESPN national TV network. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

Milwaukee beat UIC 74-68 Monday night to adance in yet another "upset" in the tournament.

The top two experts in projecting the tournament’s brackets Monday had NKU as a No. 15 seed should the Norse win the Horizon tournament.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi predicts NKU will land in the Midwest Region. That could mean a matchup against possible No. 2 seed Louisville in Indianapolis.

CBS’s Jerry Palm also projected the Norse as a 15 seed, although placed in the East Region. Still, that could mean a matchup against possible No. 2 seed Kentucky, also in Indianapolis.



What’s remarkable is that the Norse don’t have a player listed over 6-foot-7, and are one of the youngest teams in Division I. Eight Norse players stepped on the college court for the first time this year.

Not only that, but NKU has marked the second-best win turnaround in Division I behind only UCLA with 13 more than the previous season.

Meanwhile, Youngstown State (13-20) had a 7-footer who played alongside the nation’s ninth-leading scorer Cameron Morse. He finished with 28 points, but every shot was contested thanks to suffocating defense by the Norse.

Predictably, Brannen was hearing none of the bracketology projections Monday night.

"We're going to get these guys some rest and something to eat and then we'll be looking at tape and preparing the best way we can," Brannen said.

Aftger Sunday night's win over Wright State, Brannen also pointed out that he doesn’t consider any result in the league tournament an upset “because we’re only a 10-team league and we all see each other twice.”

“Listen, I’ve gone through this league for two years. And the way the coaching and the teams prepare? This is some of the best in the country … so what someone might call an upset is just a good matchup that night to me,” said Brannen, the Horizon League’s coach of the year.

Monday night, The Norse jumped out quickly with pressuring defense and quick hands that forced six first half YSU turnovers. McDonald was part of that, hitting three 3-pointers on delayed breaks or set plays.

And unlike Sunday, when NKU shot below 37 percent in the first half, the Norse shot 47 percent, including 41 percent from beyond the arc.

Behind a couple of baskets by Morse to open the second half, the Penguins cut it to four at one point - opening the second half on an 8-0 run. But NKU’s Holland hit two key 3-pointers and the Norse kept moving the ball for open shots.

Francisco Santiago kept the Penguins alive with several drives and 3-pointers, but every time NKU answered.

Box score

N. KENTUCKY 84, YOUNGSTOWN ST. 74

FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Donlan 33 5-10 0-0 1-6 0 1 14 Kaufman 21 2-5 1-2 1-4 1 3 5 Hartfield 38 4-9 1-3 2-6 3 4 9 Morse 38 10-24 5-6 2-2 2 1 28 Santiago 40 7-13 0-0 1-9 7 2 15 Haygood 20 1-4 1-1 1-4 0 3 3 R.Williams 9 0-0 0-2 1-3 0 1 0 Ferguson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 29-65 8-14 9-34 13 15 74

Percentages: FG .446, FT .571.

3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Donlan 4-5, Morse 3-8, Santiago 1-2, Hartfield 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 12 (8 PTS).

Blocked Shots: 3 (Hartfield 2, R.Williams).

Turnovers: 12 (Donlan 4, Morse 3, Santiago 2, Haygood, Kaufman, R.Williams).

Steals: 6 (Morse 2, Santiago 2, Haygood, Kaufman).

Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Garnett 27 3-4 0-0 0-1 0 3 7 C.Williams 24 3-5 0-0 1-3 0 2 7 McDonald 36 10-20 2-2 2-9 2 2 26 Holland 33 7-15 3-5 1-4 3 0 20 Murray 24 1-5 0-0 1-4 1 4 3 Faulkner 27 3-7 0-0 1-3 3 0 7 Walton 13 2-4 2-3 1-6 2 0 8 Garrett 11 1-1 2-2 0-2 0 2 4 Gillis 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 2 Ayers 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 31-62 9-12 7-32 11 16 84

Percentages: FG .500, FT .750.

3-Point Goals: 13-27, .481 (McDonald 4-9, Holland 3-3, Walton 2-4, C.Williams 1-1, Garnett 1-2, Faulkner 1-4, Murray 1-4).

Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 11 (13 PTS).

Blocked Shots: 2 (Garrett, McDonald).

Turnovers: 11 (Holland 3, Walton 3, McDonald 2, C.Williams, Gillis, Murray).

Steals: 6 (Holland 3, C.Williams, Faulkner, Garnett).

Technical Fouls: None.