Northern Kentucky headed to Indianapolis on Saturday to take on IU Indy to open up Horizon League play.
The Norse came away with the tip-off and they were off and running on offense. Trey Robinson hit a three followed by a three from Pettus II. The Jaguars couldn’t find a defensive stop as NKU led 7-0 early.
The Norse’s defense tightened up as they kept the Jaguars off the scoreboard for four minutes with NKU’s Dan Gherezgher making a layup to give the Norse a double-digit lead, as they led 19-9.
The Jaguars then responded with a 16-4 run and a layup from Ruthland III, giving the Jaguars their first lead of the day at 25-23.
Keeyan Itejere dunked the ball and the game was tied, but the Norse had no defensive answer for Paul Zilinskas. On three straight offensive possessions, Zilinkskas hit a three for the Jaguars, shooting 6-8 from beyond the arc in the first half. The Jaguars led by five, then a free throw from Robinson made it a 33-29 game going into half-time.
The second half began and the Jaguars turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions. NKU converted on those turnovers to tie the game 33-33. Itejere sent Jaguars’ DeSean Goode to the free throw line, both shots were good and IU Indy took the lead back.
The game remained close but NKU couldn’t take the lead. Jarvis Walker hit a three starting a 12-0 run for the Jaguars, with Walker contributing nine of the 12 points. The Jaguars then led 58-50.
With five minutes left, Josh Dilling hit a three to start a 9-2 run for the Norse, and the Jaguars wouldn’t score for over four minutes as NKU took back the 64-62 lead.
With only 19 seconds left, Walker knocked down a shot to tie the game. The game was now on the line, with one second remaining, and Vinson inbounded the ball to Robinson, who threw up a missed shot. However, whistles blew as Jaguars’ Julian Steinfield got called for goaltending.
After an agonizingly long official review, the goaltending call stood and NKU took the 66-64 win over IU Indy to start 1-0 in conference play, giving Horn his 100th win as Head Coach.
Robinson led the Norse with 19 points, entering his name into NKU’s 1,000-point club, shooting 7-10 from the field. Dilling followed with 17 points shooting 5-9 from three.
NKU will host the University of Cumberlands on Wednesday, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.