Down 46-42 with 10 minutes left to play, Kael Robinson hit a huge three-pointer to cut the deficit to one to start the run. A quick defensive stop gave the Norse possession once again.
A missed shot from Dan Gherezgher gave Tae Dozier the chance to snatch the offensive rebound. He slipped it under the basket to Donovan Rakotonanahary, who laid it in through contact and drew the foul for the and-one, giving NKU the 48-46 lead. The Norse never looked back from there.
NKU maintained the lead for the rest of the game, winning their fifth game in a row as they defeated Boston University 74-65.
NKU could not get anything going on offense in the first half, shooting just 8-27 (29.6%) from the floor as they trailed 29-24 at the half. NKU flipped the script in the second half, improving their shot to 15-33 (45.5%).
Dan Gherezgher led the Norse with 23 points, knocking down four triples, accounting for half of NKU’s total made threes.
Donovan Oday had an all-around performance, putting up 16 points, going 10-13 from the free-throw line, grabbing three rebounds and adding three assists and three steals.
The Norse defense struggled to contain the Terriers’ efficient shooting, allowing them to shoot 56.1% from the floor and 38.5% from three. Per KenPom, Boston University is 34th in the country from deep, shooting 38.6% on the year and 70th in the country from two, shooting 56.6%.
NKU controlled the glass 33-24, pulling down 18 offensive rebounds that they converted to 25 second-chance points compared to the Terriers’ six offensive rebounds.
Head Coach Darrin Horn emphasized how important these offensive rebounds were to secure the win.
“I told the guys several times during timeouts tonight, this is the kind of game, especially where you got to make some plays on both ends. You know, it’s not going to be perfect or look pretty. You got to go create some stuff on the offensive end and I think there’s no example of that that’s better when you look at the stat sheet than 18 offensive rebounds,” Horn said.
“That’s how you get to the foul line, you get on the glass and that’s how you win the game when you score 20 something points in the first half,” Horn said.