NKU Overwhelmed at Saint Louis, Falls 125-63 to Close Road Trip
Northern Kentucky wrapped up its four-game road trip to open the season Tuesday night at Saint Louis, but the finale was one the Norse will want to move past quickly. The Billikens scored the first 21 points and never looked back, handing NKU a 125-63 loss. After opening the trip with two wins, the Norse return home at 2-2 with plenty to address following back-to-back road losses.
First Half
Another Slow Start Buries the Norse Early
Northern Kentucky needed a better start than the one it had at Texas A&M. Instead, the Norse found themselves in an even deeper hole at Saint Louis, watching the Billikens score the first 21 points while nearly seven minutes passed before NKU finally got on the board.
Saint Louis built a 5-0 lead before Noah Pagotto fouled Ishan Sharma on a three-point attempt, giving the Billikens three more at the line. Amari McCottry followed with a step-through finish to make it 10-0 and force Darrin Horn into an early timeout.
The reset did little to settle NKU. Donovan Rakotonanahary stepped out of bounds along the baseline on the next possession, and Trey Green promptly showed why his shooting was a concern in the scouting report, burying a deep three. The Norse reached the first media timeout trailing 13-0, still searching for anything offensively.
Even when Saint Louis missed, NKU struggled to finish possessions. Trailing 17-0, Pagotto gave up an offensive rebound, prompting Horn to send Will Shortt to the scorer’s table. Before Shortt could check in, Pagotto surrendered another offensive rebound on the same possession and committed his second foul. Nothing was falling for the Norse, and the mistakes at the other end kept making the climb steeper.
Davis-Ray Gets NKU Going, Offensive Glass Provides a Brief Response
B.J. Davis-Ray finally ended the drought with a layup at the 13:07 mark, then knocked down a three on NKU’s next possession. After spending almost seven minutes stuck on zero, the Norse finally had something to build on.
But the defensive issues continued. Another Saint Louis finish inside against Willie Foster and Shortt prompted Horn’s second timeout less than eight minutes into the half. Davis-Ray later worked his way into the paint and got another shot to roll in, accounting for all seven of NKU’s opening points.
Kellen Thames answered with a windmill dunk in transition, flexing with the Billikens ahead 25-7. Ryan Tolliver responded with a corner three, and the Norse began finding some life through extra effort around the basket.
When Davis-Ray’s transition three airballed, Foster grabbed it and put it back in. On the next offensive trip, Pagotto collected a Foster miss, drew a foul going back up and made both free throws. NKU had put together a 14-4 run to cut the deficit to 25-14.
Foster and Shortt later connected on a two-man action that ended with a Shortt slam. For a brief stretch, the Norse were creating second chances and finding ways to score inside. They just could not sustain it long enough to put real pressure on Saint Louis.
Shortt with the slam! pic.twitter.com/ILBKRfofwL
— NKU Men's Basketball 🏀 (@NKUNorseMBB) November 11, 2026
Billikens Pull Away Again Before the Break
Saint Louis quickly erased the progress NKU had made. The Billikens continued finding opportunities in transition, and Green’s perimeter shooting helped stretch the lead back out. His third three of the half pushed the margin to 45-22 with 3:22 remaining.
From there, the half unraveled again. A Thames transition layup, a Quentin Jones free throw and an alley-oop finish by Sheek Pearson made it 50-22. Sharma added two late threes as Saint Louis pushed its advantage to 34.
Tolliver grabbed an offensive rebound and scored just before the buzzer, but NKU still entered halftime trailing 56-24.
The numbers reflected how difficult the half had been. NKU shot 21.1% from the field and went 2-for-14 from three, while Saint Louis shot 54.3% and knocked down seven triples. The Billikens also turned nine Norse turnovers into 15 points and held a 20-4 advantage in fast-break scoring.
Davis-Ray led NKU with nine points, while Tolliver and Shortt added five a piece. Foster and Eric Acker combined to shoot 1-for-17, and Pagotto played just eight minutes while picking up three fouls. The Norse had briefly fought their way back within reach, but Saint Louis controlled the opening and closing stretches to take a commanding lead into the locker room.
Second Half
Pagotto Finds Some Offense, but NKU Cannot Slow Saint Louis
Noah Pagotto opened the half by drawing a foul and converting both free throws, then added an interior finish to give NKU its first four points after the break. Will Shortt provided another highlight, passing up an open three with a shot fake before driving past his defender and throwing down a dunk.
Those moments did little to change the direction of the game. Saint Louis continued turning NKU mistakes into offense, while Eric Acker’s difficult night carried over with two turnovers in a 13-second span shortly after checking in. Trey Green kept finding room from deep, burying his fifth three of the night in transition to push the Billikens ahead 78-35.
Green Keeps Firing as Billikens Finish the Rout
Pagotto remained one of NKU’s few offensive bright spots, scoring through contact midway through the half but missing the accompanying free throw. Acker finally got on the board with 10:36 remaining and scored again on the next possession, but the Norse never made a meaningful dent in the deficit.
Green’s seventh three pushed Saint Louis past the century mark at 101-52 with 7:21 left. He finished with 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, leading a Billikens offense that never cooled off.
Saint Louis scored 69 second-half points and made 11 of its 16 three-point attempts after halftime, closing out a 125-63 win. NKU fell to 2-2 after a second straight difficult road outing.
Final Numbers and Takeaways
Darrin Horn’s pregame concerns about Saint Louis’ defense proved justified almost immediately. The Billikens opened on a 21-0 run, and NKU never recovered. By the end of the night, Saint Louis had scored 125 points, surpassing the previous high of 107 allowed by the Norse in their Division I era.
The turnovers were a major part of the problem. NKU committed 22, which Saint Louis turned into 34 points, and too many gave the Billikens opportunities to attack before the defense could get set. Ethan Elliott’s presence was especially missed in this one. With Eric Acker struggling, the Norse lacked a steady hand to settle the offense and organize possessions. Until Elliott returns, identifying who can provide that stability when Acker is having an off night remains an important question.
The constant lineup changes reflected a coaching staff searching for better production and effort. NKU finished the first half with Ryan Tolliver, JJ Apathjang, Juanma Ruiz, Gabrielius Jokubauskas and B.J. Davis-Ray on the floor, a group that probably has not spent a ton of practice time together. But the players expected to carry this team had given the staff little reason to stick with the usual combinations. Willie Foster entered halftime shooting 1-for-12 with two rebounds. Acker was 0-for-5 with two turnovers, while Noah Pagotto had one rebound and three fouls in just eight minutes.
Acker did not start the second half, another indication that the staff was looking for a different response. Pagotto provided some better offensive production after the break, but NKU never found the sustained execution or defensive resistance needed to make the game competitive.
There is context worth acknowledging. Four games away from home to open the season is a demanding assignment, especially with the final two coming against highly regarded opponents. Saint Louis is a very good team, and its shooting made an already difficult matchup even tougher. Still, it is reasonable to expect better effort and production than NKU delivered Tuesday night.
Losing to a good team on the road is one thing. Falling behind 21-0 and allowing 69 more points after halftime leaves much more to address. The Norse return home at 2-2, but the focus now has to be on taking care of the ball, competing consistently and establishing who can steady this group when things start going wrong.
Northern Kentucky’s Key Players
B.J. Davis-Ray: 34 MIN, 13 PTS, 4-15 FG, 2-8 3PT, 3-5 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 2 TO
Noah Pagotto: 19 MIN, 10 PTS, 3-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-5 FT, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 TO
Eric Acker: 22 MIN, 9 PTS, 4-13 FG, 1-5 3PT, 0-0 FT, 0 REB, 1 AST, 5 TO
Will Shortt: 19 MIN, 7 PTS, 3-4 FG, 0-0 3PT, 1-2 FT, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 TO
JJ Apathjang: 16 MIN, 6 PTS, 3-6 FG, 0-2 3PT, 0-0 FT, 2 REB, 1 AST, 2 TO
Willie Foster: 20 MIN, 5 PTS, 2-14 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, 2 REB, 2 AST, 2 TO
Ryan Tolliver: 22 MIN, 5 PTS, 2-4 FG, 1-3 3PT, 0-0 FT, 6 REB, 1 AST, 4 TO
Saint Louis’s Key Players
Trey Green: 27 MIN, 22 PTS, 7-8 FG, 7-8 3PT, 1-2 FT, 2 REB, 2 AST, 0 TO
Amari McCottry: 21 MIN, 18 PTS, 7-7 FG, 1-1 3PT, 3-3 FT, 4 REB, 3 AST, 2 TO
Kellen Thames: 16 MIN, 18 PTS, 8-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 2-2 FT, 7 REB, 2 AST, 0 TO
Ishan Sharma: 22 MIN, 16 PTS, 4-7 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5-5 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 0 TO
Quentin Jones: 24 MIN, 11 PTS, 4-8 FG, 2-3 3PT, 1-2 FT, 3 REB, 10 AST, 1 TO
Elijah Strong: 9 MIN, 9 PTS, 3-4 FG, 3-4 3PT, 0-0 FT, 0 REB, 2 AST, 0 TO
Sheek Pearson: 11 MIN, 8 PTS, 2-2 FG, 0-0 3PT, 4-4 FT, 1 REB, 1 AST, 2 TO
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|---|---|---|
| Field Goals (FG) | 44-75 (58.7%) | 24-73 (32.9%) |
| Three-Point FG (3PT) | 18-32 (56.3%) | 5-24 (20.8%) |
| Free Throws (FT) | 19-23 (82.6%) | 10-17 (58.8%) |
| Total Rebounds (Offensive) | 45 (12) | 42 (21) |
| Assists | 30 | 11 |
| Steals | 18 | 6 |
| Blocks | 5 | 2 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 22 |
| Points Off Turnovers | 34 | 7 |
| Fast Break Points | 42 | 8 |
| Points in the Paint | 52 | 36 |
| Personal Fouls | 19 | 17 |
| Largest Lead | N/A | 0 |
Up Next- @ Truist Arena vs Central Michigan 11/14 | 3:30 pm
NKU returns to Truist Arena on Saturday looking to regroup against a Central Michigan team that enters 3-0, fresh off a 91-78 win over Youngstown State. Ranked No. 240 in KenPom, the Chippewas have shot 43.6% from three against Division I opponents and collected 37.9% of their available offensive rebounds, presenting two immediate challenges for a Norse defense coming off a rough night at Saint Louis. Central Michigan ranks 294th in adjusted defensive efficiency, though, giving NKU an opportunity to regain some offensive rhythm if it can take better care of the ball.
