Pat Cary

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will play host to Southern Indiana this Thursday night at 7:45 p.m. in Regents Hall.

NKU is 9-10 overall, 5-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Southern Indiana owns a 15-4 overall record, and the Screaming Eagles are tied with Southern Illinois at Edwardsville for first place in the GLVC with a 10-2 mark. Southern Indiana is ranked 19th nationally in the NCAA Division II poll.

NKU will also meet Kentucky Wesleyan at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Regents Hall. The Norse are in seventh place in the GLVC entering this week’s games.

NKU is coming off a last-second 75-74 loss at Quincy on Saturday. NKU, which owned a 12-point lead with five minutes remaining, held a 74-73 advantage with 10.1 seconds left and had possession of the ball.

KELSEY NEARS 10TH PLACE: Mike Kelsey enters Thursday with 1,406 career points, and he is five shy of passing Jeff Stowers (1,410 points) for 10th place on the NKU all-time scoring list. Kelsey leads NKU in scoring at 14.5 points per game and he is tied for sixth in the GLVC in three-pointers made per game at 2.32.

CARY ON TARGET: NKU senior center Pat Cary is No. 2 in the GLVC in free-throw percentage at .830. Cary averages 9.7 ppg for the Norse. He is No. 5 in the GLVC in blocked shots at 1.05 bpg.

ROWLAND, STOWERS RANK IN TOP 3: NKU senior point guards Jordan Stowers and Sean Rowland both rank among the GLVC leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio. Stowers is No. 2 in the GLVC in that category at 3.42, while Rowland is No. 3 at 2.48. Rowland is also No. 8 in the GLVC in assists per game at 4.24.

IN REGENTS HALL THIS SEASON: NKU owns a 6-3 home record this season. The Norse are 2-3 against GLVC opponents in Regents Hall. In its last home game, NKU posted a 101-86 win over Wisconsin-Parkside.

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA: The Screaming Eagles are led by senior center/forward Randy Holbrook, who averages 16.1 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Junior forward Chris Thompson averages 12.6 ppg and a team-leading 9.5 rebounds per contest.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTHERN INDIANA: Earlier this season on Jan. 8 at Evansville, Ind., Randy Holbrook scored 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and made a pair of key free throws late in overtime as Southern Indiana posted an 87-82 win over NKU at the PAC Arena.

Southern Indiana used 7-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line in overtime to hold off NKU. Holbrook, who scored five points in overtime, made two free throws with 11.7 seconds left to give the Screaming Eagles an 87-82 cushion.