UTC Men Top Northern Kentucky, 93-81

A hot shooting UTC team (62.8% from the field) in McKenzie Arena on a chilly December evening, led to a 93-81 win against Northern Kentucky Tuesday in a non-conference men’s college basketball game.

Winners of three straight, UTC improves to 6-5 on the season, while the Norse fell to 4-6.

The Mocs were led by Greg Pryor’s career-high 24 points along with four rebounds and four assists, while Ronrico White tossed in 20 points with five assists.

Northern Kentucky was led by freshman guard Taylor Persons with a season-best 30 points, including 14 of 14 free throws, and Jalen Billups added 16.

“We are shooting the ball well for three straight games which is result of our 20-25 minutes of shooting drills in practice,” said UTC coach Will Wade. “You put the work in and it pays off.”

The Mocs shot 55.3% in a 104-50 win against Montreat and 50.9% in a 67-48 victory in a Southern Conference road win against The Citadel.

“We have been shooting well in practice and it has paid off in the games,” said White.

Commenting on the team hitting 13 of 26 3s, White said, “If the 3-pointer is open we will knock it down. Whatever the defense gives us we will take.”

And the Norse shot 49.1% from the field, including 58.3% in the first half.

First Half: In a torrid shooting half by both teams, the Mocs blistered the nets for 72.7% (16-22) and led 54-42 at intermission, while Northern Kentucky shot 58.3% (14-24).

The Mocs were also hot from beyond the arc, making 9 of 13 (69.2%) and 13-18 free throws (72.2%).

The Norse hit 50% from 3-point range (4-8) and a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe.

Pryor led both teams with 13 points in the first 20 minutes, followed by White with eight and Duke Ethridge with seven.

Pryor was 3 of 6 from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point land and 4 of 4 on free throws, plus three assists.

Persons had 12 points for the visitors, while Anthony Monaco contributed six points and two boards.

NKU’s best first half shooting prior to tonight was 73.3% on the way to a 98-48 win against Ohio Mid Western (Nov. 22) and shot 61.9% for the game.

Second Half: The Mocs came out and extended the lead to 19 at 16:43 on 3s from Pryor and White, while the Norse missed their first three shots.

The lead for the Blue and Gold topped out at 21 (77-56) at 10:50 on a trey by Eric Robertson, but the Norse did not go away and closed the gap to nine on three occasions down the stretch, the last coming at 90-81 with 40 seconds remaining on a jumper by Persons.

"They are a tough team to cover for us and they are never out of it," said Wade.

"Northern Kentucky is a good team with a lot of pride and they will fight back and its our job to stop them," said White.

Stats:

Points in the Paint: NKU, 36-22

Points Off Turnovers: UTC, 11-10

Second Chance Points: NKU,9-7

Bench: NKU, 58-27

Fast Break Points: NKU, 4-2

Score Tied: 4

Lead Changes: 8

Notes: The Mocs now lead the series, 8-4 ... UTC is 17-3 at home under coach Wade ... NKU is now 0-6 when trailing at halftime.

Next Game: Dec. 19 at MTSU

Next Home Game: Dec. 22 – UAB 8 p.m. ... Last year, UAB defeated the Mocs, 67-52, in Birmingham to snap a 10-game UTC win streak.

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net