The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team placed 11 players in the scoring column as it cruised to its third-straight home victory with an 88-44 win over IU-Kokomo at BB&T Arena Wednesday night.
Tyler White paced the Norse offense with 18 points to go with four assists and career-high four steals. Freshman Drew McDonald posted career-highs in points with 13 and rebounds with nine in 11 minutes of play.
NKU placed 11 players in the scoring column Wednesday in its 44-point victory over IU-Kokomo (NKU Athletics Photo)
Cole Murray rounded out NKU’s scorers in double-figures with 10, all in the first half, while Jalen Billups and Lavone Holland II added eight apiece.
The Norse shot 54.1 percent from the field (33-of-61) including 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from three after a 62.1 percent clip in the opening period. They held the Cougars to 31.5 percent shooting from the floor on the day.
Northern Kentucky won the rebounding battle, 42-26, and posted 24 total assists on 33 field goals.
Murray and Holland combined for the first nine points to help NKU out to an early 9-2 advantage as the squad never looked back.
The Norse defense held IU-Kokomo (4-9) to two field goals across the first eight minutes of action and led 18-5 with 13:37 left in the half after a 9-0 run was capped off by a White free throw.
A stretch of 11-straight points, sparked by a White triple at the 5:33 mark, propelled NKU to a season-high 49 first-half points as it held a 49-24 advantage at halftime.
The NKU lead continued to climb in the second half as the Norse led by 35 after a 12-0 run over five minutes. The Norse forced six turnovers in that span to hold a 63-28 lead with 13:55 to play.
The Norse close out the nonconference portion of the schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 30 when they travel to take on Toledo at 7 p.m. to open a three-game road swing.
NORSE NOTES:
· The victory is NKU’s third in the last four games as its home record improves to 4-1 on the season.
· The Norse forced 16 turnovers which they converted into 24 total points.
· With three rebounds against the Cougars, Billups is just seven away from posting 500 career boards. He would become the 21st player in NKU history to reach the career mark.
From NKU Athletics
