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NKU athletics
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Northern Kentucky shot a blistering 72 percent in the second half and gave head coach Darrin Horn his 200th career win in an 81-76 victory at Robert Morris. The victory elevates NKU’s record to 6-8 overall and 4-5 in Horizon League action, while RMU dips to 3-6 in all games and 2-4 in the conference.
STATS LEADERS
- Marques Warrick poured in 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the game, including a 3-for-4 clip from 3-point territory.
- Trevon Faulkner added 18 points to the Norse cause, shooting 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 from deep.
- David Böhm was aggressive early in the game and it continued throughout the matchup as the freshman contributed 16 points.
- Adrian Nelson made six of his seven shot attempts and tallied 12 points in the contest.
- Bryson Langdon was just off the double-digit mark with nine points, but both he and Faulkner handed out five assists. Langdon also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
TURNING POINT
- Trailing by two entering the second half, Northern Kentucky came out and hit is first seven field-goal attempts and did not miss until the 14:33 mark of the second stanza. However, the Norse had already regained the lead more than a minute prior to the miss and never relinquished their advantage.
FIRST HALF SUMMARY
- The first eight minutes of the game saw neither team lead by more than three points, but the Norse went on a quick 6-0 run to pull ahead 17-11.
- Robert Morris responded with eight-straight points to regain the lead, but Northern Kentucky continued to battle and outscored the Colonials 8-3 in a high-octane span of 1:37.
- RMU settled and the two teams continued to trade blows, but it was Robert Morris who took a 33-31 advantage into intermission.
- Eight Norse scored in the first half, led by eight points from Böhm and seven from Warrick.
- Overall, NKU shot an efficient 47 percent (14-of-30) from the field, but made just 11 percent (1-of-9) from three. RMU made 42 percent (13-of-31) of its shots, including 27 percent (3-of-11) from long range.
- Rebounding was in favor of the Norse, 19-16, as were points in the paint, 20-16.
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
· A frenetic pace opened the second half. NKU scored on Warrick’s three, but RMU responded. Both teams went 3-for-3 from the floor in the first 2:13 of the half and NKU called timeout trailing 41-38.
· Northern Kentucky went on to make its first seven shots and eventually pushed ahead 51-46 on Faulkner’s three with 13:45 remaining.
· The Norse lead swelled to nine, 61-52, just three minutes later after Warrick canned a three and Böhm made a pair of free throws.
· RMU eventually pulled within three, 63-60, but the Norse scored 13 of the next 16 points in the contest to take a commanding lead.
· While Robert Morris made 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor in the second half, it was no comparison to Northern Kentucky’s 72 percent (18-of-25) shooting. The Norse also made 8-of-14 from 3-point range, meaning they converted on 10-of-11 shots inside the arc.
GAME NOTES
- NKU finished the game shooting 58 percent (32-of-55) overall and 39 percent (9-of-23) from deep.
- The last time Northern Kentucky made 70 percent of its shots in a half came on Dec. 8, 2019 when it made 70.8 percent (17-of-24) in the second half in a 76-57 win over Eastern Kentucky.
- With 20 points tonight, Warrick has now registered at least 20 points in five of the last seven contests. He’s averaging 17.9 ppg over that span.
- Horn picked up his 200th career win tonight. He won 111 games at Western Kentucky, 60 at South Carolina and 29 now at NKU.
- Böhm has now registered three-consecutive double-digit scoring outputs and is averaging 8.6 ppg for NKU.
- Northern Kentucky won the battle of the boards tonight, 32-27.
NEXT UP
The Norse and Colonials head back to the hardwood on Saturday for the backend of the series. Tip is set for 5 p.m. at UPMC Events Center.