Northern Kentucky's Defensive Lapses Lead to Costly Homecoming Defeat

Game Summary

Robert Morris (RMU) outlasted Northern Kentucky (NKU) 81-76 in a game that saw four lead changes and three ties. The game remained close throughout, with NKU leading 41-39 at halftime, but Robert Morris made key plays down the stretch to secure the win.

NKU's head coach Darren Horn was highly critical of his team's defensive performance when talking on the radio postgame with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering:
"We played no defense from start to finish. That they would shoot 52% and get to the foul line 25 times on us? Clearly they’re the more physical team."

First Half: RMU Starts Strong, NKU Stays Close

• Sloppy Offense Early for NKU: Turning the ball over 5 times in the first 8 minutes of the game allowed RMU to have its biggest lead of the half at 14-6.
• Colonials Lead Early: Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, but RMU maintained the lead for almost 16 minutes this half.
• Folgueiras Takes Over: RMU’s Alvaro Folgueiras began to impose his will inside, scoring on back-to-back possessions, including a three-pointer that pushed RMU ahead 21-13.
• Norse Push Ahead: Northern Kentucky took its first lead at the 4:04 mark of the first half, when Josh Dilling hit a three-pointer, putting NKU ahead 31-30.
• NKU Plays 2-for-1: Horn decided to attempt an end of half 2 for 1 opportunity where Gherezgher quickly got the ball up the court off the inbound and tossed the ball back to Dilling for a logo three-pointer leading to a 41-37 advantage. Chris Ford cut it to 41-39 before halftime, setting up a competitive second half.

Despite NKU holding the lead at halftime, Horn was unimpressed on the ESPN+/FanDuel broadcast halftime interview:
"Got to clean up on the defensive end. Not aggressive enough, only two steals"

Second Half: Robert Morris Closes Strong

• NKU’s Early Run: Northern Kentucky came out fast after a Dan Gherezgher steal and layup followed by a three pointer.
• Robert Morris Claws Back: RMU answered quickly, led by Folgueiras and Kam Woods, who hit crucial jumpers all night.
• Dilling's Hot Hand Continues: He buried his fourth three-pointer, pushing NKU’s lead to 51-43—tying their largest of the game.
• Leading by 10 under 10: After almost a two and a half minute scoring drought by both teams, Gherezgher made a layup to make it 63-53. Every time NKU tried to separate, Folgueiras would knock down one big shot after another to keep it close.
• Scoring Drought: Josh Dilling subs out at 4:25 after an Itejere tip in and leading 73-67. Coach Horn goes offense for defense, bringing Vinson back into the game. Dilling was getting taken advantage of on the defensive end, which led to the decision to take him out until Northern Kentucky desperately needed offense.
• Final 2 Minutes:
  • Prather Jr. drilled a clutch three at 2:08 (73-71 NKU).
  • Woods tied it at 1:29 (74-74) with a deep three.
  • Woods then hit a jumper in the paint over LJ Wells at 0:53 (76-74 RMU).
  • Folgueiras delivered the dagger dunk at 0:34 easily going past Keeyan Itejere on the perimeter (78-74 RMU).
  • Free throws sealed it, as RMU won 81-76.

Horn specifically criticized NKU's execution in the final possession, saying:

"L.J. got a great look, but he didn’t come to play today. We rebounded well on that play, but you got to know to kick it out for a three at that point. That didn’t happen."

Coach Horn is breaking down what turned into the losing play for NKU. Down 79-76 and 21.3 seconds remaining after D.J. Smith hit one of two free throws, Gherezgher pushed hard toward the basket but was stopped and after moving it around quickly, LJ Wells got the ball inside and pushed it just strong on the left handed hook shot in the paint. Pettus controlled the rebound with 5.5 seconds left, but in traffic forced up an extremely contested shot over two Colonials instead of kicking out to a wide open Dilling on the wing. Nobody was within 20 feet of Dilling at the time. Pettus missed, RMU secured the rebound and drew a foul, sealing the win.

Key Performers

• Robert Morris:
  • Alvaro Folgueiras: 35 points (Career High), 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block (12-14 FG, 3-4 3PT, 8-10 FT) – Simply unstoppable. Dominated inside and hit big shots.
  • Kam Woods: 15 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds – Made clutch plays in the final minutes.
• Northern Kentucky:
  • Trey Robinson: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals (9-15 FG) – Aggressive and physical most of the game.
  • Josh Dilling: 17 points, 5-6 3PT, 4 assists – Offensively brilliant, but Horn pointed out his poor defense.
  • Dan Gherezgher: 14 points, 6 assists, 4 turnovers – Made plays throughout but struggled with ball security late.

Team Comparisons

Where did it go Wrong?
Northern Kentucky had 4 double-digit scorers: Robinson (19), Dilling (17), Gherezgher (14), and Vinson (12). They also shot 52.5% as a team, so where did everything go wrong? Well, Folgueiras for the Colonials had a staggering, 16 points in the first half and 19 points in the second. He got into a rhythm early in this one, as Northern Kentucky was initially completely good with him taking long two pointers. On his first jumper at just under 10 minutes in the first half, Folgueiras caught the ball right between the three point and the free throw line, and as Itejere blatantly walked backwards to defend the paint and leave him open, Folgueiras easily knocks it down.

The long two point shot in basketball is statically not a great shot, but a player like Folgueiras is capable of using it as a way to get get his night going. He most certainly did that missing only two shots the whole game and finishing with a double-double and career-high 35 points.

Halftime Adjustments
Despite the overall defensive struggles in this game, Northern Kentucky did attempt to shake things up in this one. In possessions in the half court, which exclude things like transition plays, the Norse played 70 defensive possessions. In those 70 possessions, they played 41 zone/fist possessions and 29 man-to-man. Ultimately, they played Horn's Fist defense on 58.6% of plays. Fist defense struggled substantially in those possessions, with RMU shooting 66.7% from the field. Northern Kentucky was not nearly disruptive enough on defense for fist to be effective in this game.

Very few deflections as a team will usually lead to a defense of this nature struggling, which Horn alluded to with his halftime comment about the low number of steals. In the 29 man to man possessions, RMU shot 33.3% from the field. One game is of course a very small sample size, but the fist defensive struggles in this game forced the staff to try other options. In the first half NKU played just 9 possessions of man and followed that with 20 in the second half. Northern Kentucky has consistently been a top 3 team defensively under Horn, but has struggled more than normal this year defensively and has been the reason for more stretches of man defense like we saw against RMU.

Game of Runs
In a game where NKU lost by five, Robert Morris went on a 14-5 run in the last six minutes of the game. At the time, the six minute mark felt like a crucial swing in NKU's favor as Amarion Dickerson had just fouled out of the game. The perennial shot blocker was in constant foul trouble and played less than 16 minutes, when he averages 28. With Dickerson on the court in the first half, RMU outscored NKU by 6 points (29-23). With Dickerson out, NKU outscored RMU by 8 points (18-10).

Gherezgher's Growth and Struggles
In the most impressive stretch of games of his Northern Kentucky career, Dan Gherezgher had a similar performance against the Colonials. After missing his first four shots, he got his night started with a tough left hand finish around two Colonial defenders. He finished the half with 7 point, 4 assists, and just 1 turnover. Gherezgher led the Norse to a fast start by getting the first five points of the half for them via a steal and fast-break layup followed up by a three-pointer. His night slowed down from there, he would go on to score two more points to finish with 14, but turnovers late fed into NKU's offensive struggle. His first was with four minutes remaining and the Norse up 4, where he went one-on-one against D.J. Smith and got in the paint but tried to spin back to his left hand. During the spin, in help defense Kam Woods poked the ball out.

Dan's second late game turnover happened with just under 2:30 remaining, and this turnover was completely unforced. He went to drive to his left to get past Kam Woods and simply bounced the ball off his leg while the Norse were up 73-68. Prather Jr. for RMU hit a wide open 3 the next possession to cut it to a one possession game in one of the many late games instances where NKU defenders lost Colonial shooters on the perimeter. The Norse do not need Gherezgher to play perfectly and score 20+ points in order to win, but they will most certainly need more consistency down the stretch in close games.

Final Thoughts

1. RMU shot 53.8% overall and capitalized on NKU's soft interior defense.
   “Had we played even remotely okay defensively, we still win the game,” Coach Horn noted.
2. RMU attempted 25 free throws, NKU just 7. Horn acknowledged the imbalance but refused to fully blame officiating:
   “As much as we drive the ball, for that to be the discrepancy? I think it’s really interesting.”
3. NKU needs a defensive reset before Green Bay on Friday. This is a team that can clearly beat and play with the best in the league, but needs to find a way to have consistent efforts on both ends of the floor night in and night out.

Next Game

NKU will travel to Green Bay on February 14th at 7 pm where they will face a Phoenix team that is 2-23 (0-14 Horizon) and has lost 20 games in a row.