NKU went into College Station, Texas with high hopes. However, those hopes were quickly dashed. The Norse found themselves down 11-0 with 17:44 remaining in the first half before Willie Foster hit 2 free throws to get the Norse on the board. The Norse were able to close the gap to just 7 with 16:44 remaining in the first half at 14-7, however, Texas A&M never let it get closer than that. By the end of the first half, the Norse were in a 52-32 deficit, and tonight quickly became about getting out without injury. The second half was much of the same, with the final score ending at 104-67.
Willie Foster was, once again, a bright spot, though he was relatively inefficient tonight. He put up 23 points on 8-18 from the field and 3-8 from deep. Eric Acker put up 14 points on 5-9 from the field and 0-4 from deep. He added 5 assists. Both guards were able to force 2 steals each, however, they also turned it over 5 times a piece, accounting for 10 of the 23 Norse turnovers.
BJ Davis Ray was the third Norse in double figures with 11, though, he was 3-13 from the field, and 3-5 from deep. He added 5 rebounds, but had 4 turnovers. After the electric start to the year, Noah Pagotto was overwhelmed physically, finishing with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
What good comes from this one?
First, and foremost, Willie Foster continues to shine. Norse fans couldn’t have hoped for a better opening week than what they got from the star freshman. He played 96 minutes this week, shooting 49% from the field, 39% from deep and an astounding 95% from the FT line. He is averaging 23 points per contest, has a double-double with points and rebounds on the year, has 5 total steals, and is yet to foul out of a game. He is struggling with turnovers over the last two games, with 9 across those two. He’ll work to clean that up as the Norse move forward.
NKU had, by all accounts, a wildly successful week. While the defense is a work in progress, the offense is firing on all cylinders, and carried the Norse to two wins this week. There was never a realistic hope that NKU would go into College Station and win, that game was one where the talent and athleticism is just too much to make up for. However, Foster and Acker showed they can compete with those top teams. NKU will not play another team quite like Texas A&M this season unless they make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Noah Pagotto and Willie Foster have led the way with great performances, while Eric Acker has thrived as both a distributor and scorer. It’s clear that this team is going to be very guard oriented, with Acker, Foster, Jokubauskas, and Davis-Ray expected to carry most of the scoring load, however, having a guy like Pagotto step up has raised expectations in Highland Heights from “a competitive year” to “Horizon League title contenders”.
NKU’s defense has to get better. Using Barttorvik.com, NKU’s defense comes in at 245 overall. Of course, that factors in a third game while many have only played one, but this isn’t just isolated to one matchup. They gave up 94 to South Dakota Wednesday before following it up with 104 Friday. Coach Horn’s practice focus will likely be heavily on the defensive side of the ball moving forward.
Up Next for NKU:
Another busy week awaits, NKU will head to Saint Louis to take on an extremely dangerous Saint Louis squad in their second of three buy games on the calendar. That game is slated to tip off Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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