This is a massive game to start the year. NKU is a very good team that returns nearly all of their best players. Their starting 5 go like this.....Graduate Senior, Senior, Junior, Senior, Junior. This team had Houston on the ropes in Round 1 of the tournament last year.
I purchased the 2023-2024 College Almanac that previews all 300+ D1 teams in depth. I will copy and paste some of the notable comments regarding NKU. In summary, we need to win this game. This could be the difference in an at-large bid if we can't win CUSA tournament. They will definitely be a Top 100 team, maybe Top 50, by years end. Can't afford to give this one up @ home.
---The Norse go as
Marques Warrick and
Sam Vinson go. Warrick has multiple all-conference plaques in his trophy case, having made both second and third team All-Horizon. Vinson took home the league’s Freshman of the Year trophy in 2022 before bouncing into his own all-league selection last year.
---The Horizon’s top-rated defensive unit a year ago was equally as strong on the perimeter. Xavier Rhodes turned out to be a master thief in the steals department, and Faulkner was a plus on that end as well.
This year, there shouldn’t be any serious regression with Warrick, Vinson and Robinson — three multi-year program pillars with an ingrained understanding of Horn’s defensive principles — holding down the fort. Experience playing in zone constructs is pivotal, as repetition enables faster and sharper rotational instincts. This mental makeup helped NKU turn Horizon opponents over at a bonkers rate last season.
---The Norse had no time to ease into the season last year. Head coach Darrin Horn put together a daunting nonconference slate, which pinned NKU against the likes of Kent State, Cincinnati, Toledo, Washington State and Florida Atlantic. Of those tests, the Norse certainly got the one they wanted most — a marquee 64-51 win over local rival Cincinnati. In the others, they battled valiantly, yet inconsistently, giving the team reasons to be optimistic but not arrogant.
NKU quietly improved as the year grew old, and then went full turbo in the month of March. The Norse rode their March mojo to a three-game sweep at the Horizon Tournament, claiming the league’s coveted automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Most prognosticators didn’t give the Norse a prayer against Houston in the opening round, but again, Horn & Co. competed admirably.
A proven set of veterans are back and thirsty for more in 2024. On paper, the Norse look like the best the Horizon has to offer. And even though last season was a major milestone, this program is not one to shirk at lofty preseason expectations.
---Projected starting 5
| # | Player | Pos. | Listed | Year | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3PT% |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|
| 22 | Michael Bradley* | G | 6-0 | Gr. | 31.3 | 14.9 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 46.5 | 37.3 |
| 3 | Marques Warrick | G | 6-2 | Sr. | 34.6 | 18.8 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 43.1 | 38.2 |
| 2 | Sam Vinson | G | 6-5 | Jr. | 32.8 | 11.8 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 39.9 | 32.2 |
| 1 | Trey Robinson | G | 6-6 | Sr. | 22.2 | 7.0 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 37.9 | 34.0 |
| 10 | Cade Meyer* | F | 6-8 | Jr. | 27.4 | 10.5 | 5.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 56.8 | 23.1 |
