HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KENTUCKY---Defeated for the first time in 2016 at Wright State, the Valparaiso Crusaders looked to make a swift and quick rebound with their first ever meeting with Horizon League newcomer Northern Kentucky. 

Bounce back they did! 

Weathering a hot start from the Norse and a terrific performance from "star senior" Jalen Billups (17 points and 8 rebounds), Valparaiso eventually took control before routing NKU 71-46.

As mentioned, Northern Kentucky immediately seized momentum in addition to a 12-5 advantage thanks to the inside presence of Billups, and back-to-back triples, one by each Tyler White and Dean Danos. In fact, the accurate shooting from the Norse propelled Valparaiso head coach Bryce Drew to burn an early timeout with the hope of stopping the run. Thankfully for him, it served its purpose.

Finally waking up on defense, the Crusaders put a stop to Northern Kentucky's early success by holding them to one basket, two points, over the next five minutes. However, Drew's offense was still slow to the jump as it took all five of those minutes to net ten points and steal a three-point edge (VALPO 18-15). Though, when they took the lead, they didn't waste it.

Initially pulling ahead with a pair of made free throws from Vashil Fernandez, Valparaiso started a 20-7 half-ending run that was propelled by 8 of Keith Carter's game-high 16 points (34-22 VALPO).

Coming out of the intermission, "jazzy junior" and the Crusaders' best player Alec Peters, like versus Wright State, broke out of a first twenty minutes lull by knocking down his first two attempts, a deuce and a trey. Yet, Jalen Billups, similar to his first half, was on target to begin the second, for he matched the production of his opponent's biggest threat while single handedly keeping the Norse in the contest. 

Unfortunately though, one man can only do so much and when Valparaiso's Carter re-found the bottom of the net with a triple at the 16:04 mark, ultimately re-emerging as a scoring option, this one was firmly in the Crusaders' grasp. (44-26 VALPO). 

In the final 16 minutes, Valparaiso would continue to thrash the opposition with a  27-20 segment that sent the Crusaders to 7-1 in conference play.

A Luxury Nonetheless

When Alec Peters posted a pair of career-highs of 39 points and 14 rebounds, mid-major fans around the nation were awe-struck. Obviously, we all knew the 6'9" multi-talented forward was a great player, but to have the aforementioned numbers was phenomenal. Therefore, maybe fans started looking for him to have 30+ points and 10+ rebounds every night (which is unrealistic and unfair). So, when Peters had only 12 points and 4 rebounds this afternoon, it came as a bit of a shock. Though, it has to invoke a sigh of a relief from head coach Bryce Drew since his team comfortably won with their best player contributing less than his season averages. 17-4 (7-1) Valparaiso hosts Cleveland State Thursday.

As Tight as a Noose

Already near the bottom in points per game in comparison to other Horizon League teams, scoring points does not always come easy for the Northern Kentucky Norse. And today, it came extremely hard. Although they scored 12 points in the first 7 minutes, the Norse's basket soon became the size of a pea as Valparaiso held them to 10 in the final 13 minutes of the first half. In the second twenty minutes, baskets and scores didn't come any easier for NKU, for they continued to be frustrated while finishing the game with a season-low 46 points (tied with another instance) and shooting just 30.0%! 7-12 (3-5) Northern Kentucky will travel to Detroit for a meeting with the Titans on Friday.