11-30-2017, 10:59 AM
Outside of Xavier and Kentucky this is the best team on our OOC slate. They are as good as any team we will face in the SoCon. We need to make a statement here. Especially since we were humiliated last time. But we should expect a 40 minute dogfight to do it.
NKU is currently 5-2 and ranked 11th in the College Insider Mid Major poll. Last year’s Horizon tournament winner and 70-79 NCAA loser to Kentucky is much improved this year. The only blemishes on their record are a 2 point road loss at Memphis (4-1) and a 2 point neutral site loss to Vermont (5-1 and ranked 2nd by College Insider). They have wins over Iona (at home, 85-72) and JMU (neutral, 87-78)
Drew McDonald 6-7 250 F/C JR. is the preseason POY by Horizon league voters. Lavone Holland 6-1 185 G Sr. was the Horizon Tournament MVP and is pre season 2nd team all-conference. 6-5 230 So. F Carson Williams was Horizon League all-freshman.
They don’t have much length. But there is solid muscle and physicality. 6-7 250; 6-6 230; 6-6 220 3 guys 6-5 (205 to 220). 7 foot 225 freshman Chris Vogt rarely plays. Mladen Armus was effective against them hauling in 10 rebounds and 7 points in 25 minutes. He is longer than they are, just as athletic and every bit as physical. Peter Jurkin didn’t play much but got 4 points and 3 rebounds in only 8 minutes.
Sizewise this team also provides opportunities for 6-4 Bo Hodges and 6-6 Andre Edwards – NKU is more physical inside than Fordham, but Hodges and Edwards should be physical and athletic enough themselves. Bo did fairly well as a first game freshman last time around: 23 minutes, 7 points on 3-9 FG% and 1-3 FT’s, 6 rebounds with an assist and 2 steals. He’s been improving since. Edwards didn’t play, but looks like he should match up well.
Our guards were not in sync last time, the first game of the season. They’ve been improving and need to continue to do so. Jalan McCloud and Obi-Rapu were in their first game as Bucs. Devontavius wasn’t hitting. Even Desonta, who played a solid game, had not yet found his 3 point range ( he was 0-12 for the first 3 games; but 8-12 for the last 4).
The Norse stats look very different than last year.
Scoring and scoring margin is way up this year (80.7 ppg with a margin of 10.7). They hit their average against ETSU, scoring 81 against us.
Rebounding margin is way down to -0.5 rebounds. We outrebounded them by 3 last time.
Turnover margin is vastly improved with +4.2, 41st in D1. They did even better against us as the Bucs made 6 more turnovers than they did last time, 20 to 14.
They hold opponents to .406 from the field (scoring .488 themselves). They hold opponents to .270 from 3 (5.3 makes) and hit .323 (8.9 makes).
Last time ETSU was a pitiful 2-18 from 3 (.111%) while the Norse shot a fairly weak percentage (.273) but still made 9 total 3’s in 33 attempts.
Last time 6-7 250 McDonald led them with 22 points on 4-12 from 3 and 10 rebounds. 6-1 Guard Holland got 16 points (0-7 from 3), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 steals. 6-6 230 Carson Williams got 15 points (0-1 from 3) 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. 6-1 guard Mason Faulkner got 9 points (3-6 from 3), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers and 2 steals. 6-6 220 F Jeff Garrett got 6 points (0-0 from 3), 7 rebounds and 1 block.
The path to a win seems pretty clear here:
Win the turnover battle; like Fordham, the turnover’s are NKU’s key to victory.
Hit three’s – you're not going to win many games going 2-18 from 3. Even if the Bucs just hit their average of 7 makes per game, that alone would add 15 points to our total and bring us to within 3 of NKU. In fact the Bucs can do better than that… and need to if they want to go anywhere this year.
Dominate the boards.
And fan support!! This is our building!!
Front Court
#34 6-7 250 F/C Jr. Drew McDonald, 26.6 minutes, 14.1 ppg, .244 from 3 (1.4 of 5.9; but he shot .384 last year. Expect him to recover that stroke soon), 7.0 rebounds
#23 6-6 230 F So Carson Williams, 25.6 minutes, 14.0 ppg, 0.3 3’s, 5.4 rebounds, 0.7 blocks
#1 6-5 220 F Sr Jordan Garnett, 28.7 minutes, 10.1 ppg, .462 from 3 (1.7 of 3.7), 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals
#5 6-5 170 F Fr Jalen Tate, 21.1 minutes, 7.0 ppg, 0.1 3’s, 1.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals
#4 6-6 220 F Jr Jeff Garrett, 11 minutes, 5.9 ppg, no 3’s, 6.1 rebounds (!)
Guards
#30 6-1 185 Sr Lavone Holland II, 27.7 minutes, 13,3 ppg, .359 from 3 (2.0 of 5.6), 2.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.9 steals
#11 6-1 165 So Mason Faulkner, 22.1 minutes, 5.7 ppg, .400 from 3 (1.4 of 3.7), 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists
#32 6-5 205 So Dantez Walton, 17.9 minutes, 7.0 ppg, .267 from 3 (1.1 of 4.3), 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals
#15 6-1 185 So Tyler Sharpe, 6.8 minutes, 4.2 ppg, .250 from 3 (0.7 of 2.7), 0.3 rebounds
#3 5-10 185 So Tre Cobbs, 9.6 minutes, 3.8 ppg, 0.2 3’s, 0.6 rebounds
NKU is currently 5-2 and ranked 11th in the College Insider Mid Major poll. Last year’s Horizon tournament winner and 70-79 NCAA loser to Kentucky is much improved this year. The only blemishes on their record are a 2 point road loss at Memphis (4-1) and a 2 point neutral site loss to Vermont (5-1 and ranked 2nd by College Insider). They have wins over Iona (at home, 85-72) and JMU (neutral, 87-78)
Drew McDonald 6-7 250 F/C JR. is the preseason POY by Horizon league voters. Lavone Holland 6-1 185 G Sr. was the Horizon Tournament MVP and is pre season 2nd team all-conference. 6-5 230 So. F Carson Williams was Horizon League all-freshman.
They don’t have much length. But there is solid muscle and physicality. 6-7 250; 6-6 230; 6-6 220 3 guys 6-5 (205 to 220). 7 foot 225 freshman Chris Vogt rarely plays. Mladen Armus was effective against them hauling in 10 rebounds and 7 points in 25 minutes. He is longer than they are, just as athletic and every bit as physical. Peter Jurkin didn’t play much but got 4 points and 3 rebounds in only 8 minutes.
Sizewise this team also provides opportunities for 6-4 Bo Hodges and 6-6 Andre Edwards – NKU is more physical inside than Fordham, but Hodges and Edwards should be physical and athletic enough themselves. Bo did fairly well as a first game freshman last time around: 23 minutes, 7 points on 3-9 FG% and 1-3 FT’s, 6 rebounds with an assist and 2 steals. He’s been improving since. Edwards didn’t play, but looks like he should match up well.
Our guards were not in sync last time, the first game of the season. They’ve been improving and need to continue to do so. Jalan McCloud and Obi-Rapu were in their first game as Bucs. Devontavius wasn’t hitting. Even Desonta, who played a solid game, had not yet found his 3 point range ( he was 0-12 for the first 3 games; but 8-12 for the last 4).
The Norse stats look very different than last year.
Scoring and scoring margin is way up this year (80.7 ppg with a margin of 10.7). They hit their average against ETSU, scoring 81 against us.
Rebounding margin is way down to -0.5 rebounds. We outrebounded them by 3 last time.
Turnover margin is vastly improved with +4.2, 41st in D1. They did even better against us as the Bucs made 6 more turnovers than they did last time, 20 to 14.
They hold opponents to .406 from the field (scoring .488 themselves). They hold opponents to .270 from 3 (5.3 makes) and hit .323 (8.9 makes).
Last time ETSU was a pitiful 2-18 from 3 (.111%) while the Norse shot a fairly weak percentage (.273) but still made 9 total 3’s in 33 attempts.
Last time 6-7 250 McDonald led them with 22 points on 4-12 from 3 and 10 rebounds. 6-1 Guard Holland got 16 points (0-7 from 3), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 steals. 6-6 230 Carson Williams got 15 points (0-1 from 3) 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. 6-1 guard Mason Faulkner got 9 points (3-6 from 3), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers and 2 steals. 6-6 220 F Jeff Garrett got 6 points (0-0 from 3), 7 rebounds and 1 block.
The path to a win seems pretty clear here:
Win the turnover battle; like Fordham, the turnover’s are NKU’s key to victory.
Hit three’s – you're not going to win many games going 2-18 from 3. Even if the Bucs just hit their average of 7 makes per game, that alone would add 15 points to our total and bring us to within 3 of NKU. In fact the Bucs can do better than that… and need to if they want to go anywhere this year.
Dominate the boards.
And fan support!! This is our building!!
Front Court
#34 6-7 250 F/C Jr. Drew McDonald, 26.6 minutes, 14.1 ppg, .244 from 3 (1.4 of 5.9; but he shot .384 last year. Expect him to recover that stroke soon), 7.0 rebounds
#23 6-6 230 F So Carson Williams, 25.6 minutes, 14.0 ppg, 0.3 3’s, 5.4 rebounds, 0.7 blocks
#1 6-5 220 F Sr Jordan Garnett, 28.7 minutes, 10.1 ppg, .462 from 3 (1.7 of 3.7), 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals
#5 6-5 170 F Fr Jalen Tate, 21.1 minutes, 7.0 ppg, 0.1 3’s, 1.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals
#4 6-6 220 F Jr Jeff Garrett, 11 minutes, 5.9 ppg, no 3’s, 6.1 rebounds (!)
Guards
#30 6-1 185 Sr Lavone Holland II, 27.7 minutes, 13,3 ppg, .359 from 3 (2.0 of 5.6), 2.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.9 steals
#11 6-1 165 So Mason Faulkner, 22.1 minutes, 5.7 ppg, .400 from 3 (1.4 of 3.7), 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists
#32 6-5 205 So Dantez Walton, 17.9 minutes, 7.0 ppg, .267 from 3 (1.1 of 4.3), 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals
#15 6-1 185 So Tyler Sharpe, 6.8 minutes, 4.2 ppg, .250 from 3 (0.7 of 2.7), 0.3 rebounds
#3 5-10 185 So Tre Cobbs, 9.6 minutes, 3.8 ppg, 0.2 3’s, 0.6 rebounds