Northern Kentucky extinguishes UIC Flames for Horizon League title and NCAA bid

Behind 14 points, four rebounds and four assists from junior Jalen Tate, the No. 2 Northern Kentucky Norse knocked off the No. 4 UIC Flames 71-62 to claim the 2020 Horizon League Championship in Indianapolis on Tuesday night. With the win comes NKU’s third trip in four years to the NCAA tournament.

When UIC knocked off top-seeded Wright State last night 73-56 to advance to the final, the double-bye format of the tournament was rendered useless. The Norse finish the regular season at 23-9, and will pay those that had them at +150 to win the championship before the tip-off of the 2020 event. They also covered the 4.5 point spread on offer this evening.

NKU projects as a team that should avoid Dayton and the First Four with their NET ranking of 152, but they’ll for sure be a No. 14 seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament.

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