Nov. 9, 2013
Scouting the Norse
NKU is entering its second season of competing at the NCAA Division I level and is coming off a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss at Purdue by a 77-76 score on Friday. The Norse posted an 11-16 overall record last season and finished 9-9 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
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| Gameday Information |
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| Kentucky vs. Northern Kentucky Sunday, Nov. 10 – 4:00 p.m. ET Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK  | NKU |
| Coverage |
| TV: FS South/UK IMG Radio: UK IMG Gameday Live: Live video, stats, audio, blog, and social media Text Updates |
NKU welcomes back one starter and five letterwinners from a season ago. The Norse must replace leading scorer Eshaunte Jones, who earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors after averaging 15.7 points per game.
A year ago, the Norse were 9-3 when scoring more than 60 points. Northern Kentucky was 2-13 when held below the 60-point mark.
Northern Kentucky must replace 73 percent of its scoring total from last season. The Norse also lost 70 percent of their rebounding from last season, including the team’s top four in total boards. In addition, Northern Kentucky must replace 79 percent of its assists from last season.
Jalen Billups is expected to return to the lineup after missing the final 19 games of last season with an injury. The 6-foot-6 sophomore post player averaged 10.3 points in seven games and shot 61.1 percent from the field. Billups also averaged 5.7 rebounds per game. College Sports Madness named Billups to its preseason All-Atlantic Sun Conference team.
Last Action for Northern Kentucky
Ronnie Johnson made a pair of free throws with 13.4 seconds remaining in the game to give Purdue the lead, and the Boilermakers survived two last-second attempts by Northern Kentucky to hold on for a 77-76 victory on Friday night.
After Johnson hit the two free throws to give Purdue a 77-76 lead, Northern Kentucky’s Tyler White drove the left side of the lane and attempted a layup over three Purdue defenders that rimmed out. The Norse’s Jake Giesler grabbed the offensive rebound, but his shot at the buzzer missed and Purdue escaped with the season-opening victory before a crowd of 13,033 in Mackey Arena.
