Norse Take Down Mastodons Behind Robinson’s Scoring, Gherezgher’s Late Buckets, and Wells’ Glass Dominance

The matchup between Northern Kentucky and Purdue Fort Wayne was a thrilling back-and-forth battle, featuring an astounding 28 lead changes and 8 ties throughout the contest. Both teams traded blows, with neither able to establish a dominant lead for long stretches. While Purdue Fort Wayne held a slight 37-36 lead at halftime, Northern Kentucky’s strong second-half performance propelled them to a 79-74 victory. Before previewing Saturday’s regular-season finale against Youngstown State, let’s recap the game.

First Half:

• Opening Possessions: Northern Kentucky (NKU) struck first with a dunk by Keeyan Itejere, but Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW) quickly responded with a three-pointer from Maximus Nelson.
• Early Lead Changes: The teams exchanged baskets in a seesaw start, with multiple lead changes in the first 10 minutes.
• Perimeter Shooting: PFW found early success from beyond the arc, hitting 4 first-half threes, while NKU countered with strong inside play, scoring 54 points in the paint overall.
• Final First-Half Sequence: After a late three-pointer by Rasheed Bello, PFW momentarily took a 37-32 lead, but NKU responded with a quick layup from Trey Robinson and a buzzer-beating basket by LJ Wells to cut the deficit to just one point at halftime (37-36).
  • "I think the biggest part is how we finished the first half defensively." Coach Horn said in his postgame interview with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering.

Second Half:

• Fast Start by NKU: Trey Robinson came out aggressive, scoring back-to-back layups to give NKU an early second-half lead.
• Trading Baskets: The lead continued to shift as both teams exchanged clutch jumpers and three-pointers.
• Key Run by NKU: Midway through the half, NKU went on a 7-0 run, capped by a tip-in from Sam Vinson, to take a 67-64 lead.
• PFW’s Response: Purdue Fort Wayne fought back, cutting the deficit to 69-68 after a Corey Hadnot layup.
• Clutch Moments: In the final minute, Dan Gherezgher had two key and very difficult layups, and Trey Robinson sealed the win with four clutch free throws and a game-sealing steal.
• Final Score: NKU pulled away late, securing a 79-74 victory.

Game Summary:

This game was a classic Horizon League showdown, with both teams displaying resilience and offensive firepower. Trey Robinson led NKU with 25 points, while Dan Gherezgher added 22. PFW’s Rasheed Bello (20 points) and Jalen Jackson (19 points) kept their team in contention, but NKU’s dominance in the paint (54 points) and crucial second-chance opportunities proved to be the difference. With this win, Northern Kentucky improves to .500 on the season (15-15 overall, 10-9 in Horizon League play), while Purdue Fort Wayne falls to 19-11 (12-7 in conference).

Northern Kentucky Key Players and Stats

• Trey Robinson: 32 MIN, 25 PTS, 10-17 FG, 5-6 FT, 3 REB, 2 BLK, 3 STL
• Dan Gherezgher: 34 MIN, 22 PTS, 9-16 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-3 FT, 2 REB, 3 AST
• LJ Wells: 30 MIN, 17 PTS, 8-11 FG, 1-4 FT, 13 REB, 1 AST
• Keeyan Itejere: 15 MIN, 4 PTS, 2-3 FG, 5 REB, 4 PF
• Josh Dilling: 34 MIN, 3 PTS, 1-8 FG, 1-6 3PT, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
• Sam Vinson: 34 MIN, 2 PTS, 1-7 FG, 8 REB, 4 AST, 2 BLK, 1 STL
• Hubertas Pivorius: 10 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-4 FG, 2-3 3PT

Purdue Fort Wayne Key Players and Stats

• Rasheed Bello: 37 MIN, 20 PTS, 8-18 FG, 2-7 3PT, 2-2 FT, 3 STL
• Jalen Jackson: 30 MIN, 19 PTS, 7-17 FG, 5-7 FT, 6 REB, 4 AST
• Quinton Morton-Robertson: 23 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-6 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4 REB
• Maximus Nelson: 19 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-5 FG, 2-5 3PT
• Eric Mulder: 25 MIN, 4 PTS, 2-2 FG, 6 REB, 1 BLK, 4 PF
• Corey Hadnot II: 25 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL
• Chandler Cuthrell: 21 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-5 FG, 8 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL

Team Comparison

Seesaw Affair

As far as college basketball goes, you will rarely see a game this tightly contested and with this many lead changes. As I said in the opening, this game had 28 lead changes and 8 ties. The largest lead for either team was 5 points, with PFW briefly getting there late in the first half, and NKU getting it for the first time with under five minutes in the game.

Jalen Jackson and Rasheed Bello were the two main offensive forces for PFW, accounting for over 50% of the team's total points. Those were the only two Mastodons to score over seven points in the game. Jackson did most of his scoring right at the rim, while Bello scored from all over the court. Despite having a top-five defense based on efficiency in the Horizon League, PFW had no answers for NKU's inside scoring.

LJ Wells Steps Up

With Keeyan Itejere getting two first-half fouls and then two more in the first two minutes of the second half, NKU was left without their main inside presence for long stretches of this game. This forced LJ Wells to play extended minutes and after a shaky start with a couple turnovers, he quickly turned it around. He was the rebounding presence NKU has been looking for all season, and at least for this game he dominated the glass with 13 rebounds and 4 of those being offensive.

Wells tied his season high in rebounds, which he got one time earlier this season in the triple overtime loss at Robert Morris. This was also the most points he had scored since that Robert Morris game (19). With all of this coming in regulation and with NKU desperately needing him to step up, it is pretty easy to say that this was his best game of the season, and potentially his whole career. If the Norse get anywhere near this production from LJ down the stretch, they will be in a much better position.

Trey and Dan Cook

Purdue Fort Wayne made a team effort to take Dilling out of this game. They face-guarded him throughout the night, forcing most of his shots to be farther out and heavily contested, leading to him shooting just 1 of 8 from the field. They saw what he was capable of doing against IU Indy and made sure that would not happen to them. Coach Horn had this to say about PFW's defensive adjustments:
"They guarded us much differently tonight. They were really worried about taking Josh (Dilling) away, and we had a lot of success keeping the ball in the middle of the floor and pounding it inside."

With Dilling drawing that much focus, it allowed wider lanes for Gherezgher and Robinson to attack the basket. They took full advantage, Trey Robinson scored 25 points, 5 of which were at the free throw line, the remaining 20 were all scored in the paint. Dan scored 12 of his 22 points in the paint, with most of those being crucial buckets late.

Final Horizon League Tournament Scenarios

With the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, NKU locked up the 6 or 7 seed in the tournament. If NKU wins on Saturday against Youngstown State and Oakland loses at Green Bay, then NKU will be the No. 6 seed and host Green Bay on Tuesday. If any other situation occurs in those two games, then NKU will host Detroit Mercy on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament as the No. 7 seed.

Youngstown State Scouting Report

#3 EJ Farmer: Senior Guard 6'5"
Season Averages (28.4 MIN, 15.0 PPG, 4.1 REB, 1.2 AST)
Did not play in the first matchup between these two teams on January 8th. He has also missed the last two games against Milwaukee and Green Bay due to illness. He is solid as a spot-up shooter and can score in transition, but it will be interesting to see how he plays based off of his recent time off.

#44 Nico Galette: Fifth Year Guard 6'6"
Season Averages (30.5 MIN, 12.7 PPG, 7.0 REB, 3.0 AST)
Was quiet in the first matchup, only scoring 5 points on 1-for-9 shooting. He will take jump shots and mix in post-ups, considering he is a 6'6" guard. Nico is shooting 45.5% from the field and 30.7% from three-point range.

#11 Juwan Maxey: Junior Guard 6'1"
Season Averages (25.7 MIN, 10.7 PPG, 2.5 REB, 2.2 AST)
Has been playing his best basketball in the second half of the season, averaging almost 15 points over his last 10 games. He also led the team with 19 points, shooting 5-for-8 from three-point range in the first matchup against NKU. A solid player on both ends of the court for the Penguins.

#1 Ty Harper: Fifth Year Guard 6'3"
Season Averages (26.9 MIN, 9.6 PPG, 2.9 REB, 1.7 AST)
Knocked down four threes against NKU earlier this year, but has not scored more than 11 points in his last seven games. He is a very solid defender and a key reason they have one of the top defenses in the Horizon League this year. He only allowed just 3 points in 31 minutes against NKU.

#45 Gabe Dynes: Sophomore Center 7'3"
Season Averages (21.4 MIN, 7.0 PPG, 5.7 REB, 3.13 BLK)
Off the bench, Gabe Dynes dominated NKU in the first matchup. He scored 11 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and recorded 4 blocks. He has 95 blocks on the season, which leads the Horizon League by 19 despite averaging less than 22 minutes per game. NKU will no doubt be aware when he is in the game, as he will make scoring in the paint significantly more difficult, especially compared to their last game against PFW.

Follow all the action with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering on Fox Sports 1360 with pregame coverage starting at 12:30 pm on March 1st! You can also watch the game on ESPN+.