HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Head coach John Brannen leads the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team into the 2015-16 regular season with a Friday-night tilt at West Virginia. Tipoff for the Nov. 13 contest is set for 7 p.m.
Links to live stats and the radio broadcast, which will air on The Project (100.7/106.3 FM), are available at NKUNorse.com.
Northern Kentucky University Norse (0-0 Overall, 0-0 Horizon League)
West Virginia University Mountaineers (0-0 Overall, 0-0 Big 12)
Friday, Nov. 13 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
WVU Colliseum (14,000) in Morgantown, W.Va.
TV: Root Sports Pittsburgh
Radio: The Project (100.7/106.3 FM) with Jim Kelch (Play-by-Play) and Steve Moeller (Analysis)
Fast-Break Points
- NKU will play its inaugural season in the Horizon League this year after moving to the league on July 1, 2015.
- The Norse are eligible to compete in the #HLMBB championship, Motor City Madness, in its final season of reclassification to Division I.
- NKU welcomed @coachbrannen as the fifth coach in program history in a formal ceremony on April 7, 2015.
- .@coachbrannen came to NKU from Alabama after going 1-1 with the Crimson Tide as interim head coach in the NIT.
- NKU returns 60.9% of its scoring from last season, sixth best in #HLMBB.
- As a team, NKU shot 46% from the floor and 34.9% from three last season.
- Northern Kentucky won 13 games in 14-15, its third season as a Division I program, topping the 11 wins in 12-13 and nine in 13-14.
- F Jalen Billups was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference Second Team last year.
- According to ESPN, Billups led the nation in shooting at 69.6%, which set NKU’s single-season record.
- Billups ranks among NKU’s all-time leaders in FG % (2nd, .635), blocks (t-6th, 92) & blocks per game (t-12th, 1.0).
- Billups shot a blistering 74.5 percent in A-Sun only games, which led the league by nearly 20 percent.
- Billups and G Tyler White climbed NKU’s all-time scoring list. Billups ranks 39th w/ 819 points & White checks in at No. 44 (753).
- White led NKU in made 3’s (66) in 14-15 & is 13th in NKU’s record books with 142-career treys.
- White scored exactly 19 points in each of the final three games of the season.
- G Todd Johnson closed the year scoring in double-figures in the last four games and five of the last six.
- Johnson knocked down 54.6% (19-of-35) of his field-goal attempts in the final four games.
- G Cole Murray and F Deontae Cole each shot 39.5% from 3-pt land to lead the Norse last year.
Brannen Takes the Helm
In a formal ceremony on April 7, 2015, Northern Kentucky Director of Athletics Ken Bothof and President Geoffrey S. Mearns announced John Brannen as the fifth head coach in program history. In Brannen’s remarks, he stated “We’re coming with a style of play and an energy level that will excite you and make you want to be a part of the journey we are heading on. This is where I’ve always wanted to be, it’s a tremendous honor for me and my family. I can’t wait to get started. Norse up!”
Brannen came to NKU after serving on Anthony Grant’s staffs at both Alabama and VCU. He closed his career with the Crimson Tide with a 1-1 record after serving as the interim head coach during the NIT.
Brannen is a native of Covington, Kentucky, where he played prep basketball for Newport Central Catholic before going to Morehead State and settling at Marshall.
Scouting West Virginia
West Virginia enters the 2015-16 season on the heels of a Sweet 16 appearance in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers defeated Northern Kentucky’s new league foe Valparaiso, 65-62, in the second round before toppling Maryland, 69-59, in round No. 3. WVU fell to top seed Kentucky, 78-39, in the Sweet 16. Three starters return from that team, led by Devin Williams at 11.6 points and 8.1 rebounds. Jonathan Holton (7.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Daxter Miles, Jr. (7.3 ppg) were also starters.
WVU was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Texas and Baylor. The Mountaineers defeated Glenville State, 114-76, in its lone exhibition game. Miles Jr. led five players in double-figures with 20 points.
Series Stuff: West Virginia
Last season’s meeting at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky, was the first official meeting between the two schools. NKU held WVU to just 20 points headed into intermission, but the Mountaineers used a big second half to pull away for a 67-42 win. Devin Williams and Juwan Staten tallied 12 points each for West Virginia, while NKU recieved 12 points from Chad Jackson and 10 points from Jordan Jackson in the contest.
While last year’s meeting was the first that shows up in the win-loss column for either team, it isn’t the first meeting. The Norse traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia, for a preseason exhibition game against the Mountaineers in 2011. Eshaunté Jones drained a 25-foot 3-pointer with 1.1 ticks left on the clock to send Northern Kentucky away with a 77-74 win.
Billups Rewriting Career Marks
Last year, redshirt senior forward Jalen Billups went 142-of-204 from the floor for 69.6 percent, a total that led the nation (via ESPN) and Atlantic Sun. The field-goal percentage also established a new program record for the Norse, eclipsing the previous mark by nearly four percent. Billups now holds two of Northern Kentucky’s top-4 spots on the single-season shooting percentage chart. His 65.06 percent in the 2011-12 campaign ranks 4th all-time.
White Hot
Senior guard Tyler White ended last season on a tear, scoring 19 points in each of the final three games. In fact, he reached double-figures in 9 of the last 12 games and is the second-highest returning scorer at 10.2 points per game.
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