Gavin Ludgood

PROVO, Utah - Northern Kentucky University was unable to overcome a slow start against Brigham Young during a 65-46 loss on Saturday night.

Keena Young scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead BYU, which improved to 5-2. The Cougars shot 55.1 percent from the field to hand NKU (6-1) its first loss of the season in front of a crowd of 7,205 in the Marriott Center.

Gavin Ludgood led NKU with 17 points and eight rebounds. Ludgood, a 6-foot-8 senior center, used 8-for-11 shooting from the field to keep the Norse in the game against the taller Cougars.

NKU missed its first seven shots from the field and fell behind by 17 points (22-5) with 9:12 remaining in the first half. The Norse countered with a 14-2 run to cut the BYU lead to 24-19 on a jumper by Mike Kimmey with 4:03 left before the break.

Vincent Humphrey and Kevin Schappell each connected on 3-point shots to spark the 10-0 run.

BYU, however, closed the half with an 11-4 run to take a 35-23 advantage into the locker room. Young scored eight points during the first half for the Cougars, who shot 65.2 percent from the field before the break.

“I thought we came out well, especially dealing with their game plan to slow things down,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “We did a great job guarding them for the first 10 minutes, then we let up a little and they scored some points.”

BYU extended its lead to 44-24 on a 3-pointer by Jackson Emery with 14:27 left in the game, but NKU responded with a 6-0 run. Ludgood powered in for a dunk to begin the spurt, and Harrison Morton added a jumper and two free throws to make it 44-30 with 10:43 left in the game.

The Norse, however, were unable to cut the BYU lead under double digits and lost in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

“This always happens when you go up a level, or two or three levels. You have to make shots early. We didn’t,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Gavin Ludgood and Kevin Schappell played well. They got things done without speeding it up.”

Humphrey and Morton each finished with nine points for NKU, which had not played a Division I opponent in a regular-season game since the 1994-95 campaign. Schappell added eight points, three assists and three rebounds for the Norse.

NKU won the rebounding battle by a 30-28 margin, but the taller Cougars finished with a 33-16 edge in points in the paint.

Derek Dawes added 10 points off the bench for BYU, which led the entire game. NKU held 6-11 freshman Trent Plaisted - BYU’s leading scorer at 14.7 points per game - to eight points and three rebounds.

NKU will next be in action Dec. 20 with a road game at Grand Valley State.

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