Dilling’s 25-Point Showcase Powers NKU to Victory Over Green Bay

The matchup between Northern Kentucky and Green Bay at the Kress Center promised an intense Horizon League showdown. With Northern Kentucky looking to inch closer to a .500 league record and Green Bay clawing for their first conference win, the stage was set for a thrilling showdown. From the opening tip-off, the game was marked by fast-paced action, quick transitions, and crucial defensive stops. Let's break down each half to see how the action unfolded with the Milwaukee Scouting Report to follow the recap.

First Half Breakdown:

Score: Northern Kentucky 42 – Green Bay 31

• Early Lead: NKU opened with a 4-0 run, led by Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson scoring in the paint.
• Green Bay's Response: The Phoenix hit seven three-pointers in the half, with Marcus Hall leading the charge with three makes from beyond the arc.
• NKU Surge: Josh Dilling hit two consecutive three-pointers around the 13-minute mark, giving NKU a 6-point lead.
• Biggest Lead: NKU stretched their lead to 14 points before halftime with a strong defensive stand and a fast-break dunk by Robinson.
• Technical Foul: Preston Ruedinger (Green Bay) received a technical foul in the last two minutes of the half after Robinson made a strong move pushing Marcus Hall out of the way. Ruedinger was on the perimeter watching the play and immediately turned to the referee and complained when Robinson did not get an offensive foul called on him.

Second Half Breakdown:

Score: Northern Kentucky 31 – Green Bay 29

• Green Bay Push: Foster Wonders hit a fast-break three-pointer at 18:10 to cut NKU’s lead to 9 points.
• NKU Defense Responds: Keeyan Itejere recorded 2 blocks in the first 5 minutes, stalling Green Bay’s comeback attempts.
• Scoring Drought: Both teams struggled from three-point range, combining for just 2 three-pointers in the entire second half.
• Closing Run: NKU sealed the game in the final two minutes with free throws from Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson.

Final Score: Northern Kentucky 73 - Green Bay 60

Northern Kentucky's – Key Performers:

• Josh Dilling: 25 points (Season High), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal (8-14 FG, 5-10 3PT, 4-7 FT) – A dominant offensive showing, leading all scorers with his sharpshooting from deep.
• Trey Robinson: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal (8-15 FG, 4-9 FT) – Aggressive and physical most of the game, Robinson attacked the paint relentlessly and provided key buckets to keep NKU ahead.
• Keeyan Itejere: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks (3-4 FG, 2-4 FT) – A strong defensive presence in the paint, Itejere’s shot-blocking and rebounding helped NKU shut down Green Bay’s inside game.

Green Bay – Key Performers:

• Marcus Hall: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal (5-16 FG, 3-10 3PT, 6-6 FT) – The driving force of Green Bay’s offense, leading the team in scoring.
• Foster Wonders: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist (4-12 FG, 3-10 3PT) – Provided perimeter scoring but struggled with efficiency.
• Jeremiah Johnson: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal (2-8 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-4 FT) – Hustled on both ends, contributing on the boards and facilitating offense.

This game moves Northern Kentucky to 12-14 (7-8 Horizon) and Green Bay to 2-24 (0-15 Horizon).

Dilling Returns Home and Trey Puts up 20

Josh Dilling set the tone in this game from the jump and was the best and only perimeter threat for the Norse. He has now hit five three pointers in the last two games and was the only Northern Kentucky player to hit multiple three pointers. Dilling recorded a season-high 25 points, surpassing his previous best—also set against the Phoenix—by one point. With it being just an hour’s drive from Josh's hometown of Oshkosh Wisconsin to the Kress Center, he had at least 40 family members in the stands. Dilling also played a season high 39 minutes and despite being almost strictly known as an outside scorer, 74% of shots on the season have been three pointers, he mixed in three baskets in the paint with one being an and one in transition.

Trey Robinson also had a standout offensive performance getting his 6th 20+ point game of the season and being a reliable paint scorer for Northern Kentucky. This was Trey's sixth straight game without recording a three pointer, but shot 8-12 from two and got to the free throw line nine times. A consistent eye sore on Robinson's box scores all season has been his free throw shooting. Despite getting to the free throw line the second most in the Horizon league, Trey is shooting just 62%. With how much Northern Kentucky relies on Robinson's inside scoring, they will need him to find a more consistent free throw shot as they approach the Horizon League Tournament.

Improved Norse Defense

In the postgame interview that Jim Kelch and Rick Broering held with Coach Horn, they discussed how they played with much better effort defensively and won while playing ugly on offense. It is usually hard to say a team played ugly offensively when they shoot almost 50% as a team, but if you watched last night's game you would probably agree. Dilling knocking down shots in the first half surrounded and attempted to hide the nine first half turnovers that NKU committed.
Horn played even more man-to-man tonight with Yonatan Levy not playing in this game. Green Bay went to a lot of five out on offense, which just meant that all five offensive players started and ran most of the offense from behind the three-point line. This led to NKU playing 37 man-to-man defensive half court possessions where Green Bay shot just 18.2% from the field compared to 26 fist possessions resulting in the Phoenix shooting 41%. Horn praised the team's ability to guard one-on-one in these situations and that is reflected in Green Bay's poor field goal percentage and just 16 points in the paint.

In the end, Northern Kentucky took care of business winning their 9th straight against a struggling Phoenix team. We will look ahead to another important matchup as the Norse take on the Milwaukee Panthers on February 16th at 3 pm EST.

Milwaukee Scouting Report

#1 Themus Fulks 6'2" Redshirt-Senior Guard
Season Averages (34 MIN, 14.8 PPG, 3.3 REB, 5.6 AST)
The leading scorer and point guard for the Panthers is coming off a 21 point (7-18 FG) and 12 assist (season high) in an overtime win against Wright State. Consistently throughout this season he performs best when he is coming down hill off of a screen and either use his speed and crafty ability to get to the basket or find a teammate on the perimeter. There will be possessions where he gets multiple set screens or rub screens set for him to try to create. He scored 15 of his 21 against Wright State playing off of a screen.

#3 Jamichael Stillwell 6'8" junior Forward
Season Averages (27.8 MIN, 13.3 PPG, 10.7 REB, 1.0 AST)
Leads the Horizon League in rebounding with 268 and has a staggering 96 offensive rebounds. No surprise that is where Stillwell is most effective, shooting 75% on shots after an offensive rebound. He is not nearly as effective when posting up, but does it fairly often. Northern Kentucky will need to do a great job at team rebounding to limit his overall impact.

#4 Kentrell Pullian 6'0" Senior Guard
Season Averages (27.9 MIN, 12.7 PPG, 5.7 REB, 1.5 AST)
Pullian is a well rounded offensive player for the Panthers who is used mostly as a spot up shooter but is also excellent when he gets the opportunity to come off ball screens where he shoots 63% on limited attempts.

#5 AJ McKee 6'2" Redshirt-Senior Guard
Season Averages (30 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 2.7 REB, 1.7 AST)
McKee is certainly capabale of scoring 10+ points on any given night, but is one of the best guard defenders for the Panthers. With him as the primary defender, opponents are shooting just 34% from the field. He led the Panthers with three steals in the previous matchup against NKU.

#8 Erik Pratt 6'5" Redshirt-Senior Guard
Season Averages (22.5 MIN, 11.1 PPG, 3.3 REB, 1.8 AST)
The 6th man for Milwaukee gave Northern Kentucky problems in the previous matchup. He dominated with 20 points on 7-12 FG with an effective 4-5 from 3 in just 23 minutes of play. He is at his best when he is just catching and shooting three pointers where he is over 40% on the season.

Northern Kentucky will look to stop a 3 game slide against the 17-9 Milwaukee Panthers. Follow all the action with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering on ESPN 1530 with pregame coverage starting at 2:30 pm! You can also watch the game on ESPN+.