HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Wilmington College men’s basketball team traveled to Division I Northern Kentucky Friday and suffered a 102-54 loss in an exhibition game at BB&T Arena.
“The biggest thing we achieved today was film on what we need to get better at, and there is a ton of it,” said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. “The thing I am disappointed with is I don’t think we played with confidence or swagger. That is something that has to be in our DNA every night.”
The Norse used their immense size to pull away from the Fightin’ Quakers. Northern Kentucky went on a 23-4 run midway through the first half with 17 of the 23 points coming in the paint or the free throw line.
Northern Kentucky owned a plus-14 advantage on the glass and tallied more than half of the 102 points in the paint. The Norse owned a plus-42 edge in the paint and a plus-28 edge in points off turnovers.
“We didn’t rebound the ball real well; their length and physicality bothered us,” said Hunt. “I am more disappointed with our 24 turnovers. We have too many skilled players to be just throwing the ball around the gym and not meeting passes; just being careless with the basketball. We have to get better and this is an unbelievably great learning experience for this team.”
Junior Christian Jones did his best to keep the team in the game with 15 first-half points. The 6-2 guard finished with 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc and 11-of-13 from the foul line.
“Christian is going to have a phenomenal year,” said Hunt. “I think our group is going to have a phenomenal year. He has taken a huge step forward and I think he is going to be an all-league type player all year for us.”
Sophomore Will Patrick added eight points on 2-of-7 shooting with a team-high three rebounds. Freshman Noah Chatman also had three boards, two offensive, for the Fightin’ Quakers.
Wilmington travels to Campbellsville 7 p.m. Wednesday for its second exhibition game and will officially tip-off the season 8 p.m. Nov. 15 hosting Mount St. Joseph in non-conference action.
