NKU wins Horizon League regular season title with victory over IUPUI
February 25, 2018
For the first time in the Division I era, the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team has captured their conference’s regular season title.
The Norse defeated IUPUI 75-56 on Sunday afternoon, clinching the Horizon League regular season title and the number one seed in the postseason tournament that starts next week.
NKU will finish the regular season with a 22-8 overall record and a 15-3 conference record. IUPUI, who defeated Wright State earlier in the week, drops to 11-18 and 8-10 in conference play.
The Norse will return home at 8 tonight to cut down the nets in honor of their regular season title.
Please join us at BB&T Arena at 8pm tonight to watch your Horizon League Regular Season Champs cut down some nets.
— John Brannen (@coachbrannen) February 25, 2018
The first half remained close until the final two minutes, when NKU went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-17 lead into halftime. The Norse shot 42 percent in the first half and held IUPUI to just 20 percent shooting and forced 10 Jaguars turnovers.
The Norse started the second half on a 6-0 run, building a 21 point lead that NKU wouldn’t relinquish. The Norse shot 51 percent for the game while the Jaguars shot only 30 percent.
Lavone Holland scored 17 points on 6-12 shooting while Drew McDonald scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the contest.
Ron Patterson and TJ Henderson were the only two Jaguars to finish in double figures, both scoring 14 points. DJ McCall finished with nine points and four rebounds.
NKU will begin preparing for the Horizon League tournament, which begins on Friday at Little Caesars’ Arena in Detroit. The Norse will play the winner of Youngstown State/Cleveland State on Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN3.
Tickets for the tournament are currently on sale. There will be an NKU sponsored bus that will take students up to Detroit for the first game of the tournament.
Stay tuned to The Northerner for full coverage and analysis of the upcoming tournament and tonight’s net cutting.