Final Score: Youngstown State 64, Northern Kentucky 58

NKU’s worst first half in their tenure at the Horizon League happened this afternoon. The Norse scored just 15 first-half points, marking their worst offensive output against a Horizon League opponent since joining the conference. They have only had worse halves three times:

• @ Washington State (12/1/22): 12 first-half points
• @ Wisconsin (11/14/14): 14-point half
• @ Indiana (12/22/21): 14-point half

Halftime Stats: NKU had no one in double figures in the first half. They went a dismal 6-30 from the field, 2-13 from deep, and just 1-4 from the free-throw line.

NKU’s second half started with a bang, utilizing an immediate 14-4 run to open the period. However, the scoring balanced out after that, and the Penguin lead hovered around 10 for the next 5 minutes. With roughly nine minutes to go, NKU cut the deficit to nine points for the first time since it was 13-4. YSU answered and pushed it back over 10 points, but the Norse kept fighting, getting it down to an eight-point game with four minutes left.

Over the next minute, NKU closed the gap to 56-52. With 2:36 remaining, YSU was forced to call a timeout in a four-point game. The Penguins responded out of the break, hitting a couple of buckets to extend their lead to 60-54. A clutch Kael Robinson three-pointer with 34 seconds left made it a one-possession game! YSU hit two free throws on the next possession, and a follow-up three from Robinson clanked off the rim and out of bounds. After YSU missed both ensuing free throws, Robinson hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to make it a four-point game with 13.8 seconds remaining. Ultimately, Chris Carroll hit both free throws to extend the lead to six points, and Donovan Oday missed two late three-point attempts as the clock expired.

Despite the strong second half for the Norse, 18 turnovers and 21 fouls will doom nearly any team playing on the road. The Norse actually managed to win the rebounding battle 43-40; however, they shot just 20-68 (29%) from the field, 8-31 (26%) from deep, and 10-18 (55%) from the free-throw line. The Norse defense held YSU to 21-50 from the field (42%) and 5-20 from deep (25%), while the Penguins went 17-26 (65%) from the charity stripe.

Some credit clearly needs to go to the Penguin defense, as they made things extremely difficult on the Norse throughout the night. However, NKU’s shot selection at times—especially during the first half—was questionable at best.

It’s clear, NKU has handed teams double digit leads way too often this year, and fighting back from those deficits isn’t possible at a consistent clip. NKU will likely head on the road to open the Horizon League tournament, despite having the talent to compete at the top of the league.

Key Performances

Donovan Oday: Per usual, Oday led the Norse, though his performance was inefficient. He put up 18 points on 6-23 shooting from the field and 4-15 from deep. He added just two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. He dealt with foul trouble for most of the game (committing four fouls) and turned the ball over four times in his 36 minutes of action.

Kael Robinson: Robinson added 13 points on an inefficient 3-15 from the field. He did lead the Norse from the free-throw line, going 5-6. He pulled down seven boards, tallied an assist and a block, and committed four fouls alongside two turnovers.

Tae Dozier: Dozier continues to be a rebounding machine, pulling down 11 boards. He added eight points on 3-5 from the field and 1-2 from deep. He grabbed two steals, had two turnovers, and committed four fouls in 29 minutes.

Ethan Elliott: Elliott continues to be the glue guy for the Norse. He was just 3-7 from the field today for six points, but added five boards, four assists, and two steals. He committed two turnovers and two fouls while playing a solid 29 minutes.

Dan & LJ’s Disappearance

• Dan added just 5 points on 1-4 shooting, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, turning it over three times and committing two fouls in 21 minutes.
• LJ didn’t score until the end of the game and finished with a 4/6/3 stat line, plus one steal, three turnovers, and two fouls. He played just 25 minutes.

Penguin Standouts

• Bryson Dawkins poured in a game-high 22 points on highly efficient 9-12 shooting. He pulled down three rebounds, had an assist, and grabbed a steal with just one turnover.
• Chris Carroll was an extremely inefficient 2-10 from the field, including 1-7 from deep. However, he tallied 15 points (10 coming from the free-throw line), 10 rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. He had four fouls and five turnovers in 35 minutes.

Up Next

Northern Kentucky will travel back to Cleveland to play the Cleveland State Vikings on Wednesday for a 7:00 PM tip-off on ESPN+. The Norse are now 9-9 in Horizon League play. They are currently projected to take on Oakland in their Horizon League first-round matchup on the road. I’ll have more this week related to the Norse’s path to Indy!