HTML STATS | PDF STATS | VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS | ARCHIVED BROADCASTMOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Northern Kentucky men's basketball squad shot 62 percent overall and 73 percent from three-point range in the opening half en route to a 83-60 non-conference win over Morehead State on Friday evening at Johnson Arena.
The Atlantic Sun Conference Norse improves to 5-6 overall and 2-4 on the road with just its third victory in the past seven games. The Ohio Valley Conference Eagles fall to 4-10 on the campaign and 2-3 at home with their sixth consecutive defeat.
The victory was NKU's first in the all-time series as MSU had won the previous six meetings.
"We need to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "Our veterans, who we were planning to count on, aren't producing right now. I don't know what to say tonight other than I'm highly disappointed."
Northern Kentucky connected on eight straight field-goal attempts and scored 19 unanswered points during a four-minute span in the first half. The surge pushed the Norse's advantage from 7-6 with 15:16 remaining to 26-6 with 11:06 before intermission.
Junior Tyler White scored 19 of his career-high 24 in the first half for Northern Kentucky. He drilled 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from long range for the night. The Norse made 18-of-29 from the field before the break, but just 11-of-24 over the final 20 minutes.
"Give Northern Kentucky credit," Woods said. "They came in here on a mission. They were fired up and looking forward to this game. They were a step or two faster than us tonight. They wanted it more than us for whatever reason and our guys didn't respond."
Morehead State trimmed the deficit to 56-46 with 11:57 to play, but NKU answered to keep its lead in double figures. The Norse finished at 55 percent (29-of-53) from the floor, 62 percent (8-of-13) from long range and 74 percent (17-of-23) from the foul line.
Senior Billy Reader led the Eagles with a season-best 20 points on 7-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe. Reader also tallied a team-high six rebounds and two blocks, while senior Kareem Storey was credited with a team-best four assists.
Four NKU players reached double figures in scoring. Freshman Tayler Persons registered 16 points and game-best eight assists. Senior Chad Jackson added 10 points and game-high eight rebounds, while junior Jalen Billups had 10 points and seven boards.
Northern Kentucky managed a 14-10 edge in assists and 7-4 upper hand in steals. The Norse registered advantages of 36-26 in the paint, 21-8 off turnovers and 30-25 off the bench.
Morehead State is idle until Dec. 29 when it visits Southland Conference member Central Arkansas.
Conference action begins on Jan. 3 when the Eagles host Murray State at Johnson Arena. That doubleheader, with the MSU women, will feature a "Hoop and Holler for a Dollar" promotion as upper level and bleacher seats are available for just $1 each.
"I want to thank our fans for their continued support," Woods added. "All I know is we will work as hard as we can to figure everything out and get this season headed back in the right direction. It's a long campaign, and we still have lots of games to play."
