# 2023–24 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by fifth-year head coach Darrin Horn, played their home games at Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League.
The Norse finished the season 18–15, 12–8 in Horizon League play, to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Wright State, before falling to Milwaukee in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament.

## Previous season

The Norse finished the 2022–23 season 22–13, 14–6 in Horizon League play, to finish in a three-way tie for second place. They defeated Oakland, Youngstown State and Cleveland State to win the Horizon League tournament, earning the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. In the NCAA tournament, they received the #16 seed in the Midwest Region. They lost to the region's top seed Houston in the first round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | Mount St. Joseph | W 85–31 | | Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2023* 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Middle Tennessee | L 57–74 | 0–1 | Murphy Center (3,505) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 9, 2023* 11:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington | L 67–75 | 0–2 | Alaska Airlines Arena (6,026) Seattle, WA |
| November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | DePauw | W 85–68 | 1–2 | Truist Arena (3,124) Highland Heights, KY |
| November 19, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cincinnati | L 66–90 | 1–3 | Fifth Third Arena (10,018) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 22, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi NKU Thanksgiving Tournament | W 88–73 | 2–3 | Truist Arena (2,395) Highland Heights, KY |
| November 25, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | LIU NKU Thanksgiving Tournament | W 72–64 | 3–3 | Truist Arena (2,340) Highland Heights, KY |
| November 29, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Robert Morris | W 77–59 | 4–3 (1–0) | Truist Arena (2,770) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 2, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at IUPUI | W 71–55 | 5–3 (2–0) | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (663) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 6, 2023* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | L 59–62 | 5–4 | CEFCU Arena (3,215) Normal, IL |
| December 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Akron | L 76–77 | 5–5 | Truist Arena (4,163) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cumberlands | W 94–59 | 6–5 | Truist Arena (2,475) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 17, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 85–75 | 7–5 | Baptist Health Arena (3,046) Richmond, KY |
| December 21, 2023* 10:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Mary's | L 56–92 | 7–6 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,877) Moraga, CA |
| December 29, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | L 60–73 | 7–7 (2–1) | Hilliard Gates Sports Center (1,107) Fort Wayne, IN |
| January 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Youngstown State | W 79–76 | 8–7 (3–1) | Alico Arena (3,105) Fort Myers, FL |
| January 7, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cleveland State | L 85–88 $^{OT}$ | 8–8 (3–2) | Wolstein Center (1,548) Cleveland, OH |
| January 10, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Oakland | L 65–70 | 8–9 (3–3) | OU Credit Union O'rena (2,683) Auburn Hills, MI |
| January 13, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Detroit Mercy | W 81–76 | 9–9 (4–3) | Calihan Hall (627) Detroit, MI |
| January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Milwaukee | W 90–72 | 10–9 (5–3) | Truist Arena (3,405) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 20, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Green Bay | W 74–52 | 11–9 (6–3) | Truist Arena (4,935) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 25, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Purdue Fort Wayne | L 58–63 | 11–10 (6–4) | Truist Arena (3,079) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 28, 2024 1:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Youngstown State | L 52–82 | 11–11 (6–5) | Beeghly Center (6,001) Youngstown, OH |
| February 4, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Wright State | L 78–85 | 11–12 (6–6) | Truist Arena (4,760) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Oakland | W 99–89 $^{OT}$ | 12–12 (7–6) | Truist Arena (2,702) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 10, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Detroit Mercy | W 79–67 | 13–12 (8–6) | Truist Arena (3,119) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 14, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Green Bay | W 58–57 | 14–12 (9–6) | Resch Center (2,425) Ashwaubenon, WI |
| February 17, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Milwaukee | L 72–73 | 14–13 (9–7) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (2,509) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cleveland State | W 75–73 | 15–13 (10–7) | Truist Arena (2,856) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 25, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | IUPUI | W 80–64 | 16–13 (11–7) | Truist Arena (3,824) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Robert Morris | W 70–60 | 17–13 (12–7) | UPMC Events Center (954) Moon Township, PA |
| March 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Wright State | L 88–94 | 17–14 (12–8) | Nutter Center (5,232) Fairborn, OH |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| March 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | at (4) Wright State Quarterfinals | W 99–97 $^{OT}$ | 18–14 | Nutter Center (4,725) Fairborn, OH |
| March 11, 2024 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (5) | vs. (6) Milwaukee Semifinals | L 75–82 | 18–15 | Indiana Farmers Coliseum Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Sources: