# 2015–16 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by first head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena and were first year members of the Horizon League. Due to their transition to Division I, the Norse were ineligible to participate in NCAA-operated postseason play, specifically the NCAA tournament and NIT, and will remain ineligible for those tournaments until the 2016–17 season. They finished the season 9–21, 5–13 in Horizon League play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Horizon League tournament to Milwaukee.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/07/15* 1:00 pm | Ohio Northern | W 81–76 | | BB&T Arena (1,384) Highland Heights, KY |
| Regular season |||||
| 11/13/15* 7:00 pm | at West Virginia | L 61–107 | 0–1 | WVU Coliseum (10,120) Morgantown, WV |
| 11/17/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Tiffin | W 83–71 | 1–1 | BB&T Arena (1,794) Highland Heights, KY |
| 11/21/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Morehead State | L 56–64 | 1–2 | BB&T Arena (2,798) Highland Heights, KY |
| 11/23/15* 8:30 pm, FS1 | at No. 23 Xavier | L 66–78 | 1–3 | Cintas Center (9,688) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/30/15* 7:00 pm | at North Carolina A&T | L 63–74 | 1–4 | Corbett Sports Center (546) Greensboro, NC |
| 12/05/15* 8:00 pm | at Eastern Illinois | L 73–79 | 1–5 | Lantz Arena (1,021) Charleston, IL |
| 12/13/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Norfolk State | W 81–60 | 2–5 | BB&T Arena (2,351) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/15/15* 7:00 pm, BTN | at Michigan | L 62–77 | 2–6 | Crisler Center (10,424) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 12/19/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Southeast Missouri State | W 79–69 | 3–6 | BB&T Arena (2,096) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/23/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | IU–Kokomo | W 88–44 | 4–6 | BB&T Arena (1,638) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/30/15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Toledo | L 73–90 | 4–7 | Savage Arena (4,609) Toledo, OH |
| Horizon League regular season |||||
| 01/02/16 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Green Bay | L 70–86 | 4–8 (0–1) | Resch Center (3,560) Green Bay, WI |
| 01/04/16 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Milwaukee | L 67–76 | 4–9 (0–2) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,813) Milwaukee, WI |
| 01/09/16 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | Wright State | L 46–60 | 4–10 (0–3) | BB&T Arena (2,804) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/14/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Youngstown State | W 84–64 | 5–10 (1–3) | BB&T Arena (1,866) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/16/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Cleveland State | L 65–70 | 5–11 (1–4) | BB&T Arena (2,615) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/19/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Oakland | W 90–73 | 6–11 (2–4) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,533) Rochester, MI |
| 01/22/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | UIC | W 82–69 $^{OT}$ | 7–11 (3–4) | BB&T Arena (1,755) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/24/16 1:00 pm, ASN | Valparaiso | L 46–71 | 7–12 (3–5) | BB&T Arena (2,079) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/29/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Detroit | W 91–83 | 8–12 (4–5) | Calihan Hall (2,025) Detroit, MI |
| 02/01/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Oakland | L 74–85 | 8–13 (4–6) | BB&T Arena (1,746) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/04/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Green Bay | L 78–85 | 8–14 (4–7) | BB&T Arena (2,171) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/06/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Milwaukee | W 75–71 | 9–14 (5–7) | BB&T Arena (4,084) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/11/16 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Valparaiso | L 52–64 | 9–15 (5–8) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,312) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/13/16 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | at UIC | L 77–79 | 9–16 (5–9) | UIC Pavilion (2,666) Chicago, IL |
| 02/16/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Detroit | L 68–74 | 9–17 (5–10) | BB&T Arena (2,357) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/20/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Wright State | L 64–67 | 9–18 (5–11) | Nutter Center (7,825) Fairborn, OH |
| 02/25/16 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Cleveland State | L 58–63 | 9–19 (5–12) | Nutter Center (1,333) Fairborn, OH |
| 02/27/16 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Youngstown State | L 75–94 | 9–20 (5–13) | Beeghly Center (3,349) Youngstown, OH |
| Horizon League tournament |||||
| 03/05/16 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Milwaukee First round | L 69–86 | 9–21 | Joe Louis Arena (5,247) Detroit, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||