By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
CHICAGO — In the early hours of Friday afternoon, Northern Kentucky University received an unexpected gift — IUPUI’s 66-56 upset of Wright State — and gained sole possession of first place in the Horizon League.
By late Friday evening, NKU owned a share of the Horizon League regular-season championship.
Aware of Wright State’s loss to IUPUI, NKU jumped all over Illinois-Chicago early, built a 15-point halftime lead and then held off a late rally to post a 79-72 victory against the Flames at the UIC Pavilion. The Norse improved to 21-8 overall, 14-3 in the Horizon League and are assured of no worse than the No. 2 seed in the upcoming postseason tournament.
NKU’s Lavone Holland II scored 25 points in the win at Illinois-Chicago on Friday night. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
A loss to IUPUI and a Wright State victory over Illinois-Chicago would drop NKU to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament, which begins March 2 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“We won [a share of] the Horizon League championship tonight, and of course we’d like to win it outright on Sunday,” NKU head coach John Brannen said. “Now we want to try and get the No. 1 seed for the tournament. Our guys gutted this one out, a great win over an outstanding UIC team.”
Lavone Holland II scored 25 points to lead NKU, including 12 in the first half as the Norse sprinted to a 41-26 lead at the break. Carson Williams came off the bench and netted nine of his 14 points before the break, and Dantez Walton — making his first start of the season — knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
“Carson Williams was awesome, really made big plays for us,” Brannen said. “He battled the UIC inside people very effectively. And Dantez sparked us with his play. Big night for him as well.”
Illinois-Chicago (17-13 overall, 12-5 Horizon League) battled back in the second half and eventually tied the game at 61-all on a Marcus Ottey basket with 5:31 remaining in the game. NKU, however, countered with an 8-0 run — keyed by consecutive 3-pointers from Drew McDonald and Jordan Garnett — to push its advantage to 69-61 when Holland hit a pair of free throws with 3:06 left on the clock.
“Drew had a swollen right eye, but we drew up a 3-point shot for him, and he hit it,” Brannen said. “Jordan Garnett then hit another big 3-pointer, and he played great tonight. Lavone cramped up at times tonight, but he made big plays down the stretch. I can’t say enough about this team and the way they executed in a tough place to play.”
The Flames — who had won nine of their previous 10 games to jump into title contention — made one last run and cut the NKU lead to 69-66 with 2:01 remaining, but a basket by McDonald while being fouled and the subsequent free throw extended the Norse advantage to 72-66.
Holland scored seven points in the final 37 seconds to seal the NKU victory, the Norse’s second win against Illinois-Chicago this season. On Dec. 30 in Highland Heights, the Norse posted an 86-51 triumph against the Flames at BB&T Arena. The senior guard from Louisville also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Tai Odiase led Illinois-Chicago with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Dikembe Dixson added 12 points for the Flames, who shot 40.3 percent from the field.
NKU made 45.2 percent of its shots from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 40-38 margin. Garnett finished with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. McDonald added eight points and seven rebounds for the Norse, who are now 5-1 all-time against the Flames.
Now in control of its quest for the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League, NKU closes out the regular season at IUPUI on Sunday. The tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport
