The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team had a remarkable turnaround in Doug Gottlieb’s second season as coach.
But there definitely remains work to be done.
UWGB’s run through the Horizon League tournament is over after one win, ending with a second-round thud in a 96-76 loss to Northern Kentucky on March 8 at the Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.
It was the second-most points allowed by the Phoenix (18-15) this season, only better than the 103 that Campbell put up Dec. 23.
NKU (20-13) isn’t playing like a No. 7 seed, beating No. 4 Oakland in the first round and No. 5 UWGB in the second.
It will face No. 1 seed Wright State in a semifinal, a team it lost to by a single point to end the regular season despite leading by 18 at halftime.
Gottlieb said earlier in the week that he believed the Norse are the most talented squad in the 11-team conference and that they have the best player in senior guard Donovan Oday.
While Oday had a good game against the Phoenix with 18 points in 32 minutes, there was plenty of help.
Senior forward and former Eau Claire Memorial standout LJ Wells had a game-high 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and shot 8-for-12.
Fellow senior forward Kael Robinson, who didn’t play in the second meeting against UWGB on Feb. 4 with an injury, finished with 22 points while shooting 5-for-10 from 3.
Senior guard Dan Gherezgher, who scored a combined 8 points and shot 3-for-15 in two losses to the Phoenix during the season, had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
NKU set a program record in a Horizon tournament game with 14 3-pointers, shooting 14-for-27.
UWGB can’t take advantage of NKU’s early struggles
None of it would have seemed possible with the way NKU started this one.
The Norse missed their first 14 shots, including nine from 3, and didn’t hit their first field goal until 10 minutes, 8 seconds remained in the opening half on a layup from Wells.
That was the good news for the Phoenix.
While UWGB scored the first 7 points of the game, it never led by more than that despite NKU’s dismal start, which looked much like its performance in the first half against Youngstown State on Feb. 22 in which it scored just 15 points.
UWGB could not take advantage in any significant way. Its six turnovers that led to 11 points didn’t help.
As cold as NKU was at the start, it ended the half and game just as hot.
It hit 12 of its final 18 shots of the first half, but it was a sequence coming out of the final media timeout with 3:26 remaining that put them in front for good at the break.
The Norse tied the score at 28 with a 3 from Robinson.
Oday followed with one from long range and Robinson hit another from beyond the arc.
Nine straight points by NKU and a 31-25 lead.
It was up 36-30 at halftime.
“That was a brutally slow start,” NKU coach Darrin Horn said. “The way we finished was really off the charts.”
Being down at half often isn’t good for any team, and UWGB is no exception. It entered the day 3-11 this season when trailing after 20 minutes.
Make it 3-12.
It only got worse for UWGB in the second half.
NKU hit 10 of its first 15 shots after the break to take a 60-43 lead with 11:41 left.
It was up by at least 15 points the rest of the way and by as many as 22 in the final minute, even though UWGB had a fine day on offense.
The Phoenix shot 50.9% overall (27-for-53), including 54.8% (17-for-31) in the second half. It was 18-for-19 from the line in the game.
Senior guard Justin Allen and sophomore guard C.J. O’Hara each had 18 points to lead the Phoenix. Senior point guard Preston Ruedinger chipped in 13 points to go with 10 assists.
But once the Norse got the lead and shots started to fall, they were unstoppable.
NKU hit 14 of its last 19 3-point attempts and went 8-for-12 in the second half, never letting UWGB threaten.
“I think what our guys have done a really nice job of the last several games is focus in on the things that are going to be important in that particular game, in terms of emphasis,” Horn said. “Obviously, we always want to move the ball well. But it’s really important against Green Bay. They do such a good job of getting into the gaps and shrinking the floor and staying inside the 3.
“They kind of force you to kick out and take some of those shots. One of the challenges in tournament play is guys get into the games, and they won’t step in and just let it fly. … Our guys did not do that tonight.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Northern Kentucky eliminates UWGB men from Horizon League tournament