The Youngstown State men's basketball team went on a 19-6 run in the first half and went on to post a convincing 74-56 win over Northern Kentucky on Saturday night at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins are now alone in first place in the Horizon League standings with an 11-3 mark against the conference. They lead Milwaukee, which plays Monday, by a half-game, and they are now one game ahead of NKU. Youngstown State is 19-6 overall and 11-3 in league play, and NKU dropped to 15-10 overall and 10-4 in the league.
Adrian Nelson recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and three of his Penguins teammates joined him in double figures. Brandon Rush tied for game-high honors with 18 points while making four 3-pointers, Dwayne Cohill scored 15, and Malek Green added 13.
Youngstown State shot 58.8% for the game, and it made better than 58% in both halves. Defensively, the Penguins held the Norse to 32.2% from the field overall and 25.8% in the second half as they pulled away in front of 3,531 fans.
Sam Vinson led NKU with 18 points to match Rush, and Trey Robinson scored 11.
Northern Kentucky led 16-11 on a Marques Warrick jumper with 12:18 on the clock in the first half, and that was the largest margin for either team in the first 14 minutes of the contest. After that Warrick bucket, YSU went on a 19-6 run and never looked back.
Cohill's reverse scoop started an 8-0 run that continued with 3s by John Lovelace Jr. and Rush to put the Penguins up 19-16 with 9:57 left. NKU reclaimed the lead at 22-21 on a 3-pointer by Vinson two minutes later, but that was the final time the Penguins trailed all night. YSU held the Norse scoreless for the next three minutes and scored nine straight points as part of the larger 19-6 spurt.
Nelson had four points during that 9-0 sprint, and Rush capped it with a 3-pointer with 5:27 remaining on the clock to put YSU ahead 30-22. The Penguins matched that eight-point cushion at 32-24 before NKU closed the half on an 8-4 run to trim the deficit in half at 36-32.
NKU shot 39.3% from the field in the first half, but it stayed in the game by making five 3-pointers and going 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. The Penguins made 59.3% of their attempts in the half, and Nelson was 4-for-5 while scoring nine points.
YSU scored the first five points as part of a 9-2 run to start the second half that created the game's first double-digit margin. Rush hit a 3 and made a layup in the middle of it, and Green drove to the left block for a layup at the 16:31 mark to make the score 45-34.
Green's 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock at the 14:06 mark gave YSU a 50-38 lead, and Cohill passed ahead to Nelson in transition for an alley-oop dunk to make it a 14-point cushion. Youngstown State led by double digits the rest of the game.
Youngstown State built the advantage to 20 for the first time at 68-47 when Cohill had a highlight-reel crossover into a three-point play with 6:31 left, and the largest margin was 70-47 when Rush converted a layup with 5:58 remaining.
Youngstown State hits the road to take on Purdue Fort Wayne, Friday, Feb. 10. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. and will be broadcast on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
