Fresh off a thrilling victory in Sioux Falls against UTEP, the Norse are right back in action, this time headed to Vermillion, South Dakota for game two of the 2026-27 season. Fun fact: Vermillion is so small that NKU is actually staying in Sioux Falls while commuting to Vermillion. It’s roughly 60 miles away, so not an unbearable commute.

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NKU

To reiterate, Monday’s performance was impressive in several ways for the Norse. What matters most is that they got a victory while going 4-21 from deep. They outrebounded, and out hustled the Miners who were much bigger than the Norse. Also, when they got to the free throw line, they made it count, going 30-33 on the day.

Noah Pagotto was one of the two most positive signs for the Norse, and I would argue his performance meant the most for the Norse. Coming into this year, there are significant concerns about the front court. Pagotto coming in and giving NKU a double double and a physical presence down low was exactly what the Norse needed.

Willie Foster was the highlight of the night. In his debut, he put up a double double with 24/10/1. All summer, we’ve been discussing Willie and his potential. At this point, he’s the frontrunner for Horizon League Freshman of the year, and looks poised to contribute significantly for the Norse.

Eric Acker provided a scoring punch, as expected. However, he had 6 turnovers to just 5 assists. He will need to take better care of the ball moving forward.

BJ Davis-Ray was benched after a missed defensive assignment and played just 21 minutes. The SMU transfer needs to be better than his 9/2/1 performance Monday, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Shooting: NKU has to shoot the ball better, or take less 3 point shots. Foster, Davis-Ray and Gabrielius Jokubauskas each shot 5 or more 3’s on the night, each hitting just 1. Chalk it up to early season jitters, or whatever you want, the shooting must be better.

Will Shortt, Donovan Rakotonanahary, and Ryan Tolliver need to separate themselves. The trio of guys played the frontcourt minutes for the Norse outside of Pagotto’s 37. However, they combined for 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 1 block while fouling 8 times. It’s clear the Norse are guard heavy, and there were bright spots from all three. However, a leader needs to emerge. Right now, that guy appears to be Shortt. However, Tolliver had impressive minutes Monday, putting up 5/4 on his own, including a three pointer than effectively sealed the game.

South Dakota

Like NKU, South Dakota opened their season Monday, however, they did so at home vs. Mount Marty, an NAIA program. What that means is South Dakota won by 38 and cruised to a victory. No one played more than 19 minutes in the game.

The Coyotes shot 32% from deep on the night, going 8-25. They also got to the free throw line a staggering 41 times, converting 31 of them (76%).

The biggest issue is that there is genuinely no way to judge this team off of this game. Below I’ve broken out the starters and then every player who appeared. I wouldn’t be surprised to see South Dakota throw 10 guys out there over the course of this matchup.

Starting 5:

• Stef van Bussel played 17 minutes, putting up 11 points and 6 rebounds. He’s a 6’1″ junior who was buried in the rotation and Duquesne last season.
• Vince Buzelis is a sophomore guard who averaged 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist a season ago. In game 1, he put up 14/7/6 in his 19 minutes. I expect him to be the key to the Coyotes this year.
• Jahni Summers played 18 minutes, putting up 17/3/1 to go with 2 turnovers. He played 18 minutes. The junior transferred into USD after a year at Sacramento State where he averaged 10/3/1. He was lethal from deep, hitting 42% on 4.4 shots per game.
• Cade Kelderman played 17 minutes Monday and put up 1/2/0. Last year he was a depth piece for Iowa State.
• Josiah Dotzler is a 6’3″ guard from Omaha, Nebraska who appeared in 3 games last season at St. Louis. He put up 12/5/0 on Monday, making his presence known on defense with 3 steals.

Rotation:

• Kajus Kublickas played 18 minutes, scoring 14 points on an efficient night (4-6/2-3/4-6). He added a rebound, and an assist. He had 3 fouls. He is a former Florida Gator who spent last year at Pacific where he shot 28% from deep, averaging 5.6, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.
• Jake Brack is a forward who has spent all 4 years at USD. He appeared in 25 games last year, averaging 2/3/0. Monday saw him put up 4/2/1.
• Ethan Kizer is a junior who transferred into USD before last season. He appeared in 32 games for the Coyotes, scoring 4/1/2. Monday saw him put up 5/1/0.
• Josh Townley-Thomas is a 6’10” junior who played 14 minutes and put up 5/3/1 Monday. The Creighton Transfer played in one game a season ago where he scored 6 points.
• Melo Sanchez is a 5th year guy who transferred in after a productive year at Central Connecticut State where he averaged 10/2/1. He played 14 minutes for 5/2/1 Monday.
• Michael Nee was a 3* recruit in the 2026 class from Lombard, Illinois. He went 0-4 (all from deep) Monday and added 6 rebounds.
• Iliam Fevry is a sophomore from Paris, France. He played 12 minutes Monday adding 2/2/1. Last year at Juco Arizona Western, he put up 10/4/2 on 54/35/64 shooting splits.
• Marvin Richard III is a freshman out of Pine Ridge, SD. He played eight minutes and scored 5 points Monday.
• Brandon Domsch saw 2 minutes of action Monday.

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding: Much like Monday, NKU is going to be a bit smaller than their opponent. They must continue the physicality and buy in they had Monday.

Shooting: No, I do not expect this year’s iteration of the Norse to shoot 19% on the season. On the contrary, I expect them to be a solid shooting team who can space the floor. Foster, Acker, Davis-Ray and Jokubauskas are all four above average shooters who will do much better than 3-20. If there’s another ineffective night Wednesday, we’ll have another discussion.

Turnovers and Pace: NKU loves to play quick, yet that tends to lead to more turnovers. The Norse committed 14 Monday in a 74 possession game. That number isn’t egregious, but any more and it becomes a significant problem. Both teams prefer to play fast, with South Dakota similar to the Norse’ pace last season. NKU needs to take care of the ball and get ready for a track meet.

Depth and conditioning: NKU had a hard fought battle where three guys played 35 or more minutes (Foster, Acker and Pagotto). The Norse are also missing Ethan Elliott to injury. As the pace continues to pick up, USD will have fresher legs. The Norse must get production from the bench to allow some respite for guys who will get tired.

Prediction:

NKU 88, South Dakota 83

Kenpom has this one as a genuine toss-up.