by Parker Fields
Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana got this game going early. The All-big Ten player started the game with three beautiful post finishes inside to set the tempo and get the Hoosiers out to an early 6-0 lead.
From there, NKU made some nice plays on offense and was starting to get some nice stops on the defensive end. From there it was really all Indiana the rest of the half. Indiana played stout defense leading to NKU turning the ball over constantly and having to force up lots of bad shots.
Indiana held NKU to 0 points over an 11-minute stretch, where NKU had a total of just 5 points when there was 5 minutes to play in the first half. On the other side of the ball, NKU was in their usual Matchup 2-3 zone defense which was working on the first shot, but Indiana was too big on the inside and constantly getting rebounds over the Norse. At the end of the half, Indiana was leading 38-14.
NKU shot a horrible 16 percent from the field and 17 percent from three in the first half, which you can see how they scored just 14 points. Indiana on the other hand shot 52 percent from the field and 43 percent from three in the first half. NKU was led by Sam Vinson with 6 points, and Indiana was led by Trayce Jackson-Davis and Rob Phinisee with 7 points each.
The second half on the other hand was a whole different story, NKU came out shooting the ball well in the second half. The half started with NKU and Indiana trading baskets the first 5 or so minutes of the half with Trevon Faulkner starting to get his stroke from the outside for the Norse. For Indiana, they really started feeding the ball to their dynamic duo of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. NKU really made a valiant effort in this half cutting the game to as close as 15 at certain points. Trevon Faulkner went crazy late in the half hitting three straight contested threes. After that, Faulkner missed one and Indiana came down and hit a three.
That was all for the NKU comeback effort. Indiana had closed it out and won the game 79-61 for their 10th win of the season. Indiana was led by Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 21 points and 6 rebounds, followed by Race Thompson with 14 points. Trevon Faulkner led all players in scoring with 22 points and David Bohm chipped in 8 for the Norse.
NKU will host Green Bay in a big Horizon League game on December 30th at 7 P.M.
