The 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, affectionately known as March Madness, has kicked off, and South Region No. 15-seed Northern Kentucky readies for its first foray into March Madness with Friday night’s showdown against in-state foe and No. 2 seed Kentucky.
Game Information
No. 15 Northern Kentucky University Norse (24-10 Overall, 12-6 Horizon League, Horizon League Champions)
No. 2 University of Kentucky Wildcats (29-5 Overall, 16-2 SEC, SEC Champions)
Friday, March 17 – 9:40 p.m. (ET)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,165) in Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: CBS w/ Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and Tracy Wolfson (sideline)
Radio: 55KRC (550 AM) with Andrew Kappes (play-by-play) and Steve Moeller (analysis) ; Westwood One (Sirius 134, XM 201, Online 961) with Chris Carrino (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analysis)
Scouting No. 2 Kentucky
Kentucky (29-5, 16-2 SEC) won the SEC regular-season for the 48th time and conference tournament for the 30th time. The Wildcats are no stranger to the NCAA tournament, reaching the field for a national-record 56th time in school history. UK ranks fifth in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Poll, while sporting the fourth-best RPI in the nation.
Malik Monk boasts a team-best 20.4 points per game scoring average, while De’Aaron Fox averages 16.1 points and 4.8 assists per game. Bam Adebayo leads the Wildcats’ inside presence at 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. At 12.6 points an outing, Isaiah Briscoe provides the nation’s fifth-best offensive team (85.9 ppg) with its fourth double-digit scorer (12.6 ppg). UK has won 11-straight games entering Friday’s matchup.
NKU players react after learning who their opponent would be in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (NKU Athletics Photo)
All-Time Series
NKU is 0-1 all-time versus UK after the Wildcats won the only meeting at Rupp Arena, 93-63, on Nov. 10, 2013. Murray and Matt Rosenwinkel (three points combined) were on that Northern Kentucky team, while Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins (six points combined) suited up for Kentucky.
Fast Break Points
• NKU earned the No. 15 seed in the South Region and will play No. 2-seed Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in Indianapolis on Friday.
• The matchup marks the second time the two teams have faced one another in NKU’s Division I-era, with the Wildcats defeating the Norse 93-63 on Nov. 10, 2013 at Rupp Arena.
• After a four-year reclassification process, NKU became eligible to compete for a berth in the NCAA tourney after receiving active status from the NCAA in August 2016.
• By virtue of it’s Horizon League Championship on March 7, NKU earned the League’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, becoming just the seventh institution to earn a berth in its first season eligible.
• NKU has won six-straight games and 12 of its last 14.
• NKU sits at 24-10 and has established a new Division I-era record for victories, topping the 13 recorded in the 2014-15 season as a member of the Atlantic Sun.
• NKU’s 24 wins are 15 more than it had last year, a turnaround that is the second-best in the nation based solely on wins. According to the NCAA, which also considers losses, NKU is third at plus-13.
• NKU reached a program-best No. 87 in the March 14 RPI release.
• The 70-point plateau is key for NKU. Northern Kentucky is 20-4 when scoring at least 70 points and 14-2 when holding opponents to 70 or fewer points.
• NKU has eight players who set foot on a DI collegiate basketball court for the first time this year. According to KenPom.com, the average experience for the Norse this year is 1.30 years, which is 292nd.
• G Lavone Holland II was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP after averaging 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the tourney.
• Holland has averaged 18.5 points and 6.2 assists per game during the last six games, helping NKU to six-straight wins. He is second on the team at 14.3 ppg, but has a team-high 141 assists.
• Second-year head coach John Brannen was named Horizon League Coach of the Year after leading the Norse to 21 regular-season wins, third-place league finish and Horizon League tourney championship.
• F Drew McDonald was named to the all-Horizon league first, all-academic and all-tourney teams. He averaged 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in the Horizon League Tournament.
• McDonald has a team-high 11 double-doubles on the year, and leads NKU in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (7.7).
• F Carson Williams was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after collecting a league-best four freshman of the week honors, including the last two of the regular-season. He is third on the team in scoring (10.5) and second in rebounding (5.8).
• F Cole Murray is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg, ranks No. 25 nationally with 99 made threes this year and No. 35 in 3-point shooting percent, converting 40.6 percent. He has made a triple in 32-of-34 games.
Last Time Out
Northern Kentucky trailed for a mere 12-seconds, but had to fend off a pesky Milwaukee team to earn a hard-fought 59-53 victory in the Horizon League Championship title game. The win provided NKU with its first-ever Horizon League Championship and the program’s first-berth into the NCAA Division I Championship, a remarkable feat given that it was the first time the Norse were eligible for NCAA postseason play since reclassifying from DII only five years ago.
Holland controlled the game throughout for NKU, earning tournament MVP honors after posting 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. McDonald joined Holland on the all-tournament team after posting 14 points and 12 rebounds in the title match.
From NKU Athletics
