Box Score

ROLLA, Mo. – After scoring on two of its first four possessions of the game Thursday night, the Missouri S&T men's basketball team was stifled by Northern Kentucky's defense for the remainder of the first half as the eighth-ranked Norse recorded a 62-36 win over S&T at Billy Key Court.

Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) threw down a dunk 27 seconds into the contest to put the Miners in front, then after the Norse got a three-pointer from Tony Rack, Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) knocked won a jumper to put S&T back into the lead.  But after Pelczynski's basket at the 16:54 mark, the Miners made only one more shot from the field over the balance of the half – going one-of-13 and committing 11 turnovers in that span.

Meanwhile, the Norse took the lead on a three-pointer by Jon Van Hoose at the 16:19 mark and never looked back, outscoring S&T 23-4 over the next 14-plus minutes before the Miners got their next field goal on a lay-in by Filmore Bouldes (Romulus, Mich./Romulus).

NKU would lead 29-8 at the half and saw its lead dip under 20 points only twice in the second half as its won for the 13^th consecutive time to match its best start in school history.

Jackson was the lone Miner in double figures with 10 points and he also finished with a game-high six rebounds.  The Miners (2-12, 1-5 Great Lakes Valley Conference) finished at 30 percent from the field after their struggles in the first 20 minutes.

Van Hoose led all scorers with 20 points for the Norse, who also got 10 points from DeAndre Nealy.

Missouri S&T, which is in a stretch of four consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 10 in the NABC/Division II national poll, will wrap up that run of contests Saturday when its hosts No. 3-ranked and defending NCAA Division II champion Bellarmine at 3 p.m.  The Knights beat Drury 84-65 Thursday in Springfield.