Dan Gherezgher and the Norse End Cleveland State's State 13 Game Winning Streak

Game Summary: Northern Kentucky 85, Cleveland State 75

Date: February 5, 2025
Location: Truist Arena, Highland Heights, KY
Attendance: 2,380
Officials: Mike O’Neill, Brian McNutt, Chris Beaver

In a crucial Horizon League matchup, Northern Kentucky (11-13, 6-7 Horizon) delivered a statement victory over conference-leading Cleveland State (17-7, 11-2 Horizon) with an 85-75 win at Truist Arena. The Norse used a dominant second-half performance to break open a tightly contested battle, securing their sixth conference win of the season.

After the game, NKU head coach Darrin Horn praised the competitive nature of the contest, saying:
"Man, what a terrific college basketball game. Two teams just pouring their guts out and making a lot of plays on both ends of the floor."

First Half Recap:

The game started at a fast pace, with Cleveland State jumping out to an early lead behind the scoring efforts of Tevin Smith and Dylan Arnett. The Vikings built a 7-3 advantage, but NKU quickly responded with key defensive stops and three-pointers from Josh Dilling and Dan Gherezgher, keeping the game tight.

Right before the under 16 minute timeout Sam Vinson turned the ball over when he lost his dribble on the wing and tried to make a pass out to Itejere. This led to a fastbreak for Arnett and a shooting foul by Itejere. Since this foul triggered the media timeout, it gave Coach Horn an immediate opportunity to question and confront his emerging point guard Dan Gherezgher. Although Vinson turned the ball over, Gherezgher never attempted to help or get back into the play; he simply stood there. Horn clearly wanted to correct an early game mistake from Dan and did so at the first opportunity. We did not see another play like that from Gherezgher the rest of the way.

The half remained a back-and-forth battle, with both teams trading baskets and neither able to pull away. Sam Vinson impacted the game in multiple ways as he usually does, grabbing rebounds, dishing assists, and forcing turnovers, while Cleveland State relied on their physicality inside.

Horn emphasized the importance of playing with confidence, something his team had struggled with earlier in the season:
"We just had such a hard time when we weren't winning, getting our guys to play with a level of confidence and aggressiveness on both ends and an element of swagger."

At halftime, the teams were knotted up at 36-36, setting the stage for an explosive second half.

Second Half Recap:

Northern Kentucky opened the second half on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a fastbreak layup from Trey Robinson and a three-pointer from Dilling to take a 44-38 lead.

Cleveland State continued to battle, but NKU’s offensive efficiency soared, with Dan Gherezgher taking over the game. The guard finished with a game-high and season-high 26 points on 10-14 shooting, including 5-7 from three-point range. Horn had high praise for Gherezgher’s performance, saying:
"Obviously, there were some real bright spots with how Dan played… He's pretty dynamic athletically and with the basketball. What we're seeing now is what we thought we had a chance to get when we recruited him."

As the half progressed, NKU’s defensive intensity increased, forcing key turnovers that led to fastbreak scores by Vinson and Robinson. By the 10-minute mark, the Norse extended their lead to 61-53 behind LJ Wells’ putbacks and interior play.

Horn credited Wells’ impact, particularly his physicality and effort on the glass, stating:
"LJ was a huge key tonight, especially against a Cleveland State team that’s really good on the glass and very physical. He went and grabbed a loose ball rebound in the second half down in front of their bench. That was terrific."

In the earlier season matchup, Cleveland State dominated with a 76-58 win, Northern Kentucky did not play Dan Gherezgher due to the physical nature of Cleveland State and the lack of confidence surrounding him and his play. In the seven games before the first matchup with Cleveland State, Gherezgher averaged just over 4 minutes per game and 0 total points over that stretch. LJ Wells was also unavailable for this matchup due to illness. In the rematch, Dan and LJ combined for 39 points, shooting a blistering 70% from the field.

NKU’s lead ballooned to 72-58 after a dunk by Wells and a transition basket from Vinson, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Cleveland State attempted to mount a late comeback, cutting the lead to 78-71 after a three-pointer from Smith, but NKU remained poised at the free-throw line, closing out the game 85-75.

Horn has always emphasized the importance of players stepping up in crucial moments, saying:
"Players have to make plays when it matters most, in March especially, which is so important to us here."

Northern Kentucky has always needed Sam Vinson, Trey Robinson and Keeyan Itejere to play well on a nightly basis in order to win, and I think we will be adding Dan Gherezgher’s name to that list going forward. He is not going to drop 20+ points a night but the Norse need him to be a major contributor to this team. His ability to finish on the move and around the rim while contorting his body is something nobody else possessed on the court last night even from the Cleveland State side.

Northern Kentucky was the first team to score more than 80 points on Cleveland State in Horizon League play.

Moving forward, Cleveland State is still very much the team to beat in the Horizon League, and head coach Daniyal Robinson believes his team did not give NKU their best shot. He has his eyes on Milwaukee now where they will look to get back in the win column in a game everyone in the league will have their eyes on.

Next Games:

Robert Morris will come into town for NKU Homecoming on 2/8 @ 2 pm EST at Truist Arena. I will be on the MBB call one last time this season with Brady Laber on ESPN+.

Cleveland State will host Milwaukee on 2/8 @ 3 pm EST at the Wolstein Center.

Key Performers:

Northern Kentucky:

• Dan Gherezgher (37 MIN): 26 PTS, 10-14 FG, 5-7 3PT, 1-3 FT, 1 REB, 1 AST
• Josh Dilling (31 MIN): 14 PTS, 4-10 FG, 3-9 3PT, 3-3 FT, 3 REB, 2 AST
• Sam Vinson (34 MIN): 13 PTS, 3-6 FG, 1-2 3PT, 6-8 FT, 7 REB, 7 AST, 4 STL
• Trey Robinson (31 MIN): 12 PTS, 5-11 FG, 0-0 3PT, 2-2 FT, 8 REB, 1 AST
• LJ Wells (26 MIN): 13 PTS, 6-9 FG, 0-0 3PT, 1-2 FT, 7 REB

Cleveland State:

• Tevin Smith (33 MIN): 18 PTS, 5-10 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5-7 FT, 6 REB, 4 AST
• Dylan Arnett (30 MIN): 17 PTS, 7-11 FG, 0-0 3PT, 3-4 FT, 3 REB, 4 AST
• Tahj Staveskie (30 MIN): 10 PTS, 4-8 FG, 2-4 3PT
• Reece Robinson (18 MIN): 7 PTS, 3-7 FG, 1-3 3PT

Team Comparisons:

Turning Points:

The game shifted in NKU’s favor midway through the second half when they went on a 15-5 run, highlighted by Dilling’s three-pointer, Wells’ score, and Vinson’s defensive effort. Horn emphasized the importance of winning the turnover and rebounding battle, which NKU did effectively:
"We told our guys coming into the game, we really got to try to win the turnover battle and the offensive rebounding battle specifically. And I thought our guys did a really good job of that."

Quietly, I believe the most important play of the game that almost nobody will remember happened right before the under 8 minute media timeout in the second half with the Norse leading 61-55. Dan Gherezgher had the ball knocked out of his hands and deflected into backcourt by Dylan Arnett on the double team off of a ball screen. Arnett tried to keep the ball in bounds so that the Vikings would have an easy fastbreak layup and cut the deficit to just 4, but his right foot barely stepped on the line and Northern Kentucky avoided a potential game-changing play. From that point on Northern Kentucky went on a 11-3 run after the media and controlled the game the rest of the way as the game never got closer than 7 points.

Final Takeaways:

• Northern Kentucky dominated the paint, outscoring Cleveland State 40-26 and although the Norse only had 8 fastbreak points, there was a clear incentive to push the ball down the court as quickly as possible before Cleveland State's defense could get set.
• The Norse capitalized on Cleveland State’s mistakes, scoring 17 points off turnovers while committing only 8 turnovers themselves.
• Randall Pettus II did not have a good game in the box score (1-8 FG), but was up in Cleveland State players defensively which is one of, if not the biggest key to NKU playing great defense and should not be overlooked due to a bad shooting performance.

With this win, NKU snapped Cleveland State’s thirteen game winning streak, sending a strong message as they continue their push for Horizon League tournament positioning. Brady and I wrapped up the game with highlights and stats below!