Sam Vinson has had to make many adjustments in his first season of Division I college basketball at Northern Kentucky University.
He knew it would be a step up from the highest levels of high school basketball in Kentucky, and that there would be many differences.
One thing the NKU freshman knows is very similar at both levels is the need for the most urgency in March. The mindset that losses in the regular season don’t cripple your chances of winning the biggest prizes at the end of the season.
Unlike Cincinnati, Xavier and other major-conference teams, NKU doesn’t have to worry about computer ratings and resume-building wins, or whether their opponents are Quad 1 or Quad 4, as they stress out over getting an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament bracketology:The battle for a No. 1 seed will be as close as ever on Selection Sunday
NCAA Tournament bubble:Six most dangerous teams
Only one Horizon League team will earn a berth into March Madness, and that is the one that cuts down the nets after the conference tournament championship game March 8 in Indianapolis.
NKU was the last team standing in the Horizon in three out of four seasons between 2017-20. The Norse played in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2019, and didn’t get to play in 2020 after the tourney was canceled by the pandemic.
NKU’s current record is not sparkling (17-11), but the Norse are 13-6 in Horizon League play, and they hope to put themselves into position to cut down the nets at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the home court for league foe IUPUI.
“We’re not shy about making it clear to our guys,” said head coach Darrin Horn. “This thing for us is about three days in March. Our league is a ways away from an at-large situation, so it’s all about playing our best basketball for three days in March. The last few years our guys have really bought into that.”
Vinson knows how that feels, after his Highlands Bluebirds rose from underdog status to dominate their opponents in Rupp Arena last April on their way to the program’s first Sweet 16 state championship.
Highlands played at peak efficiency in Rupp, and Vinson wants to help his teammates do the same thing at IUPUI next month.
“We just have to go out there and keep doing what we have been doing,” Vinson said. “We’re looking to get the last two wins of the season and go into the postseason on a winning streak.”
Northern Kentucky defeated Robert Morris 78-64 Thursday at BB&T Arena.NKU hosts Youngstown State in the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Saturday.
NKU could clinch a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals with a win Saturday. A loss could leave the Norse vulnerable to tiebreakers and having to play in the first round next week.
NKU struggled to begin the season, with a 4-8 overall record and 1-3 in league play. Since then, the Norse have won 13 of 16 and 11 of their last 13.
The biggest reasons for the turnaround have been two key staples of championship basketball: Defense and rebounding.
Entering the Robert Morris game, NKU had allowed only 62 points on defense in its last 12 games and has the top-scoring defense in the league at 66.1 per game.
NKU outrebounds teams by 1.4 and ranks 13th in the KenPom national Division I rankings in offense rebounds. The Norse rebound 35.5 percent of their misses and average 12.3 second-chance points per game, getting 2.2 more offensive rebounds per game than its opponents.
Both of those stats are driven by an athletic team that doesn’t have much size outside 6-foot-8 centers Adrian Nelson and Chris Brandon.
NKU ranks 11th in DI in steals per game (9.4) and 44th in made 3-pointers (9.0 per game).
“We’ve been really solid defensively,” Horn said. ‘We’re really good when we’re out in transition. And we can’t do that unless we get stops.”
Vinson has been a major part of that. Starting at point guard, he averages 11.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He is second on the team in assists (3.4 apg) and leads the team in steals with 55. He is also third on the team with 43 3-pointers made.
And that is after taking time to adjust to the differences between high school and college hoops.
“The biggest adjustment as the speed of the game and how physical it was,” Vinson said. “In the beginning, I had a harder time seeing plays develop. Now the pace of the game has slowed down for me and I see plays I didn’t see before.”
Vinson has been named Horizon freshman of the week seven times and seems to be a lock for league Freshman of the Year.
“He’s not just one of the best freshmen in our league, but one of the best players in our league, period,” Horn said. “We’re not surprised. We felt like he could be a big impact guy right away. He can really do it on both ends. He’s arguably our best defender. He rebounds the ball. We can play him on the point or off the ball.”
Vinson, a Kentucky Mr. Basketball finalist last season, joins a bumper crop of Kentucky players on the NKU roster.
“Being a leader on the court, I have to stay vocal,” Vinson said. “The older kids have really pushed me to become a better player. We hold each other accountable.”
Sophomore Marques Warrick, a former Mr. Basketball finalist out of Henry Clay High School in Lexington, and last year’s Horizon League Freshman of the Year, leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game, including 17.6 in the last 10 contests, and only improved that after scoring 30 against Robert Morris.
Senior Trevon Faulkner, Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball of 2018 out of Mercer County High School, averages 12 points per game.
Nelson, a senior from Pickerington, Ohio averages seven points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He grabbed his 700th career rebound Thursday, sixth in team history. He leads the league in offensive rebounds. He and Brandon (7.0 rebounds per game) have been a strong 1-2 punch all season at center and Horn said Brandon is an elite defender.
Bryson Langdon, a 5-9 senior from Chicago, has averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 assists in NKU’s last six games and leads the team with four assists per game. Guard Hubie Pivorius has hit 32 3-pointers off the bench.
Trey Robinson, a sophomore out of Hamilton High School, averages 18 minutes and four points per game off the bench.
“We feel like guys will develop and get better,” Horn said. “That’s one thing we always pride ourselves on, is developing guys and getting the best out of their ability.”
Source link
