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The highlight of the night came late in the game from Tae Dozier!

How did NKU score 90 points in 30 minutes? Offensive rebounding, 3 point shooting, and turnovers. The Norse turned the ball over just 4 times on the night.

NKU’s ball security and movement led to 23 assists on 33 made baskets. There were multiple occasions where a Norse player gave up a good look to find an even better look. NKU was able to force 9 Phoenix turnovers, which resulted in 17 Norse points.

LJ, Kael, and Coach horn spoke to the media tonight. You can find it here.

Kael was extremely complimentary of the ball movement, especially some offensive boards from LJ that resulted in open looks from deep. Kael finished the night 5-10 from deep with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and an assist.

LJ again, was very complimentary of the ball movement for the Norse tonight. LJ’s physicality and rebounding were vital for the Norse advantage tonight.

I asked coach Horn about the ball distribution from Ethan tonight, he was extremely complimentary of Ethan and his growth overall this year. He called him a pure point guard, and tonight’s performance (5/4/9, a steal, 2 turnovers) in 34 minutes call out just how well Ethan does in that role.

Coach Doug Gottleib, postgame mentioned that he was proud of his team for the year they had, and went on to talk about how when you turn the ball over more than the other team, the other team hits 10 more 3’s than Green Bay, and then giving up 15 rebounds makes it nearly impossible to win. He’s not wrong, the Norse performance tonight was extremely impressive.

Key Performances are below, with Kael and LJ leading the way, however, Donovan Oday put up 18 points on an impressive 4-7 from deep.

Revisiting the 3 Keys to the game:

Start Strong: NKU did NOT do this. However, Green Bay did not do this well either. It was 11-6 with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Rebounding: NKU pulled down 37 rebounds to just 25 for Green Bay. This discrepancy led to NKU taking a huge lead in the second chance aspect of this one at 21-5. They had 15 offensive rebounds to just 5 for the Phoenix.

Fouls/Free throws: NKU committed a total of 16 fouls, as did Green Bay. This wasn’t necessarily something that changed the game, as NKU was 16-21 from the FT line, while GB was 18-19. The key for the Norse here is that they kept it relatively even overall.

Norse vs. Wright State | 7:00, ESPNU | 3/8/2026

Northern Kentucky will now have the opportunity to avenge 2 losses from Wright State. If you recall, WSU took care of the Norse on 2/28/26 in a crazy ending with a buzzer beater.

The second half of the Wright State game resulted in nothing but foul trouble for both teams. However, NKU was unable to capitalize, going 6-10 in the 2nd half compared to WSU’s 12-18. LJ Wells was unable to keep himself in the game due to some foul trouble, which limited his performance to just 13/5/2. Since then, LJ has put up monster numbers and been able to stay out of foul trouble.

My three keys from the last matchup with Wright State stand true today.

Control the fouls

• This key is something that is focused on NKU’s season trends, rather than the trends of their opponent. Wright State doesn’t draw a ton of fouls (130th in the nation), and they do not send teams to the FT line a lot (128th nationally). However, as we’ve talked at length about this year, NKU does very poorly at sending teams to the line, and will need to correct that tonight to have a hope of staying alive. NKU comes in at 171st nationally at drawing fouls, and 227th at sending teams to the FT line on the year.

Manage the 3 point line

• Wright State takes very few 3’s, however, their defense allows teams to shoot a crazy 34.7% of their shots from deep. The Norse will need to do what they did Sunday against Green Bay, and ensure they’re getting clean, open looks from beyond the arc. For Wright State, as I said, they don’t shoot a ton from deep, but when they do, they make 36% of them, good for 48th in the nation. NKU will need to limit their clean looks and force them to drive the ball.

The Turnover Battle

• NKU is among the best in the country at forcing turnovers. Can they repeat that performance tonight? NKU is 59th in turnover % on defense in the country, forcing a turnover 18.8% of the time. While they do turn it over 16.2% of the time, this is a relative strength for the Norse, especially when Ethan is playing like he did on Sunday. Wright state, however, is middle of the country on offense at protecting the ball, with a turnover % of 16.5%. They do not force many turnovers (16.4%). NKU should look to speed up this game and make WSU run tonight. If they can do that, they have a shot to pull off the upset.

Wright State Rotation:

Starters:

• Kellen Pickett – 22 minutes, 8/5/1, 1 block, 1 turnover. 28% from deep
• Michael Imariagbe – 24 minutes, 12/7/2, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers. Non-shooter from deep, 70% from FT
• Dominic Pagonis – 28 minutes, 9/3/1, 1 steal, 1 turnover. 38% from deep
• TJ Burch – 24 minutes, 12/2/4, 3 steals, 2 turnovers. 33% from deep
• Solomon Callagan – 28 minutes, 10/2/1, 1 steal, 1 turnover. 40% from deep

Bench (played 5+ minutes in previous game)

• Michael Cooper – 26 minutes, 13/3/2, 1 steal, 1 turnover. Microwave scorer, leads the team despite coming off the bench 36% from deep. 82% from FT
• Logan Woods – 19 minutes, 5/2/2, 1 steal, 1 turnover. 33% from deep, 63% from FT
• Andrea Holden – 14 minutes, 6/4/0, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover. Non-shooter
• Bryan Etumnu – 13 minutes, 4/3/1, 1 steal, 1 turnover. 30% from deep, 51% fro the field overall

KenPom projects a tight one with Wright State winning 78-77 and a 46% chance the Norse win. This one will be fun!

The drive to indy isn’t bad at all, 7:00 tip-off!

Photo/Videos from NKU Athletics!