Following Tuesday night’s win over Cleveland State in the Horizon League championship game, the Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time since transitioning to Division I in the 2012-13 season.
The Norse were Division II runner-up in both 1996 and 1997 and also made the Sweet 16 in 1995 and 2001 under coach Ken Shields.
While this is the school’s fourth Horizon League tournament title, it will be the third time participating in the NCAA Tournament. NKU won the Horizon in coach Darrin Horn’s first season in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NKU in the NCAA Tournament
2017: NKU’s first dance vs. UK
The first-ever tournament for the Norse had them face off against in-state power Kentucky.
The No. 15-seed Norse kept the final margin within single-digits, but fell 79-70 against a Wildcats team that featured future NBA players De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk, Mychal Mulder, Isaiah Briscoe, Isaac Humphries and Wenyen Gabriel.
“You look back on it,” NKU’s Cole Murray said after the game. “The first team in NKU history to ever make it to the tournament, win a conference championship in the first season eligible. We’re going to have that for the rest of the years. This group played together only one time, and we made history together. And the way we played tonight, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”
LaVone Holland scored a game-high 22 points and Carson Williams scored 21 for NKU. Fox had 19 points and Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds for UK.
“I saw people saying thank you. It just hit me,” NKU’s Drew McDonald said after the loss. “I looked up and I saw my dad specifically and he gave me a thumbs up and that’s what put a tear in my eye, really, just to realize the impact we’ve put on our community and the university as a whole.”
2019: NKU vs. national runners-up Texas Tech
The Norse earned a 14 seed for their second tournament, and ended up facing a Texas Tech team that made it all the way to the title game before following to Virginia in overtime.
Texas Tech was too much in a 72-57 win.
The tough Red Raiders defense held McDonald, NKU’s leading scorer, to five points on 2 of 13 shooting.
"I left my heart, my blood, my sweat on that floor," McDonald said after the game. "It's tough. It's not the way you want it to end. Only one team can walk off a champion. Coach said you can't let one game define you, but it's hard not to look at like that now.
Tyler Sharpe scored 23 points to lead NKU. He shot 4-for-7 on 3-pointers. The rest of the team was only 1-for-14.
"I did have some concerns with our ability to score, and it showed up today with their physicality and length," NKU coach John Brannen said after the game. "I thought we'd get to foul line more. We didn't do that at all. Their physicality put us in situations we weren't comfortable with.”
NKU NCAA Tournament results
2017
March 27, 2017: Kentucky 79, NKU 70
2019
March 22, 2019: Texas Tech 72, NKU 57
2020
NCAA Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
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