The NKU Norse are currently sitting on a 4 game win streak thanks to their Sunday night blowout victory over the UIC Flames 73-58.
Hot off two 3-game win streaks, the UIC Flames clashed with the NKU Norse Sunday evening. In their first meeting of the season, NKU was coming into the game 9-0 at BB&T while the Flames were 1-6 on the road. NKU star, senior forward, Drew McDonald was following a monster 24 point, 12 rebound performance with a win over IUPUI on Friday night and continued that dominance into Sunday's win.
After a back and forth contest for the first 5 minutes of play, NKU went on a 9-0 run thanks to freshman guard, Jalen Tate. Tate set a career high by halftime with 22 points (previous career high 16 points). His play helped the Norse to a 44-28 lead after the end of the first half. Dantez Walton was also feeling it with three 3-pointers.
The second half was much of the same with NKU ballooning their lead by 25 points by the end of the game. The Norse had a huge rebounding edge (46-27) for the majority of the contest thanks to Drew McDonald who finished the game with 20 rebounds (the most for an NKU player since 1972) along with 19 points. Jalen Tate slowed down during the second half but nonetheless set his new career high with 25 points (along with 6 assists). Dantez Walton finished with 15 points going 5-9 from downtown.
After the game, Drew McDonald spoke highly of teammate Jalen Tate "I didn't have it going during the 1st half and you're seeing what we see everyday in practice with Jalen". When asked on his career 20-rebound night "my goal is to contribute anyway I can". Jalen Tate complimented the coaching staff on getting them ready for every contest.
NKU improve to 12-3 and are now 10-0 at home this season. UIC Flames fall to 7-8. NKU look to continue their excellent play when they travel to Michigan on Thursday evening to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (ESPN+, 7:00 p.m. EST).
