BlueHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – It’s quite obvious that Indianapolis senior guard David Logan feels at home in Regents Hall. Just look at his stat sheets from the past two seasons for confirmation.
Logan, the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s leading scorer going into the game Feb. 12 at 28.0 points per game, poured in 42 points to lead Indianapolis to an 87-74 win over Northern Kentucky University. The 6-foot-1 Logan scored 26 points in the second half as Indianapolis upped its record to 17-6 overall, 12-4 in the GLVC.
Logan hit seven three-point shots as Indianapolis spoiled the NKU homecoming for the 1,622 in attendance. A year ago in Regents Hall, Logan tossed in 44 points as the Greyhounds posted a 95-92 overtime win over NKU.
“He may be the best guard I’ve ever seen in this league,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said of Logan. “He can create any shot for himself at any time. He can also create any shot for other people.
“We defended him in such a way that we didn’t want him to drive and kick it to other guys with wide open looks. So, he did what he is. He’s a great player, and he made the plays.”
NKU (10-12 overall, 6-10 in the GLVC) jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in the game as Mike Kelsey and Pat Cary combined for eight points. The Norse, however, committed 12 turnovers in the first half and trailed by a 39-36 score at the break.
Lawrence Barnes scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half for Indianapolis, and the Greyhounds built a 70-53 lead when Logan made three consecutive three-point shots.
“It takes a team effort to stop him, and obviously we didn’t do it,” NKU guard Sean Rowland said. “You need one guy guarding him and then everyone else helping him. Sometimes players get on a roll, and no matter what you do you can’t stop them. It was one of those nights for him, and he hit some tough shots. Then other times we fell asleep.”
NKU battled back and pulled within 77-70 on two Derek Smith free throws with 2:41 left in the game, but a tip-in basket by Logan and an alley-oop dunk by Barnes sealed the victory for Indianapolis.
Smith led NKU with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Courtney Fergerson added 15 points and four assists. Cary finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Kelsey scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Kelsey, who scored a school-record 50 points against Indianapolis in Regents Hall last season, hit just one three-pointer in nine attempts on Saturday. A year ago, Kelsey and Logan combined for 94 points in the Regents Hall shootout.
“They just have great perimeter defense,” Bezold said of Indianapolis. “When you don’t have a speed advantage or a quickness advantage or an athletic advantage, they were capable of doing it. They did a great job off the screens and switching up on (Kelsey) and not letting him get good looks.”
In addition to his 42 points, Logan also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists. The Greyhounds used 12-for-24 shooting from three-point range to hold off NKU.
Rowland scored six points, dished out six assists and grabbed six rebounds for NKU, which shot 41.3 percent from the field. The Norse were 7-for-27 from three-point range and lost despite owning a 47-31 rebounding advantage.
“I was really happy with our inside guys in (Travis) Rasso, Cary and Smith. They played great,” Bezold said. “They gave us probably the best inside performance of the year, and we just have to figure out a way to get more perimeter shooting from people other than Kelsey.”
NKU will play at Wisconsin-Parkside at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 17. The Norse are in seventh place in the GLVC standings, but with Kentucky Wesleyan ineligible for the GLVC Tournament, NKU is currently sixth as far as seeding for that event.
Lewis and Bellarmine both trail NKU by two games, while Wisconsin-Parkside and Missouri-St. Louis are 2 1/2 games behind the Norse.
*Article by Sports Information