# 2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by second-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 24–11, 13–6 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Wright State, Youngstown State, and Milwaukee to win the Horizon League tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the school's first year of eligibility after its transition to a Division I school. They lost in the first round to Kentucky.

## Previous season

The Norse finished the 2015–16 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.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Tyler White | 3 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Lima, OH | Graduated |
| Deontae Cole | 4 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Toledo, OH | Graduate transferred to Mount Vernon Nazarene |
| Jake Giesler | 20 | F | 6'7" | 235 | RS Senior | Fort Thomas, KY | Graduated |
| Jalen Billups | 21 | F/C | 6'6" | 245 | RS Senior | Cincinnati, OH | Graduated |
| Todd Johnson | 23 | G | 5'9" | 175 | Senior | Elkhart, IN | Graduated |
| Jared Bryant | 32 | F/C | 6'7" | 255 | RS Senior | Cincinnati, OH | Graduated |
| Skyler Kolli | 33 | G | 5'10" | 150 | Freshman | Indianapolis, IN | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Dean Danos | 44 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Junior | Oak Lawn, IL | Left the team for personal reasons |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Brandon Maxwell | 2 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Junior college transferred from Daytona State College |

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Carson Williams #53 SF | Owenton, KY | Owen County High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 26, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 73 ||||||
| Blake Spellman PG | Lee's Summit, MO | Lee's Summit High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Aug 10, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Mason Faulkner SG | Glasgow, KY | Caverna High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jalen Tate SF | Pickerington, OH | Pickerington Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Dantez Walton SF | Lima, OH | Lima Central Catholic High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2016* 8:00 pm | | Wilmington | W 102–54 | | BB&T Arena (1,750) Highland Heights, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | Earlham | W 95–56 | 1–0 | BB&T Arena (1,868) Highland Heights, KY |
| 11/13/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Illinois | L 64–79 | 1–1 | State Farm Center (10,888) Champaign, IL |
| 11/18/2016* 5:00 pm | | vs. Austin Peay Tarkett Sports Classic | L 69–77 | 1–2 | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| 11/19/2016* 1:30 pm | | vs. Delaware Tarkett Sports Classic | W 74–53 | 2–2 | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| 11/20/2016* 2:00 pm | | at Miami (OH) Tarkett Sports Classic | W 79–70 | 3–2 | Millett Hall (1,229) Oxford, OH |
| 11/26/2016* 7:00 pm | | North Carolina Central | L 74–82 | 3–3 | BB&T Arena (2,141) Highland Heights, KY |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Morehead State | W 84–79 | 4–3 | Ellis Johnson Arena (3,110) Morehead, KY |
| 12/03/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Norfolk State | W 72–61 | 5–3 | Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall (1,261) Norfolk, VA |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois | W 80–70 | 6–3 | BB&T Arena (1,965) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/10/2016* 3:00 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 80–66 | 7–3 | Show Me Center (1,379) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| 12/18/2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Eastern Washington | W 70–48 | 8–3 | BB&T Arena (2,026) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Brescia | W 97–73 | 9–3 | BB&T Arena (1,665) Highland Heights, KY |
| 12/23/2016* 4:00 pm, RTPT | | at No. 11 West Virginia | L 61–92 | 9–4 | WVU Coliseum (10,197) Morgantown, WV |
| Horizon League regular season ||||||
| 12/29/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 81–70 | 10–4 (1–0) | Calihan Hall (1,299) Detroit, MI |
| 12/31/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oakland | L 65–76 | 10–5 (1–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,417) Rochester, MI |
| 01/05/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 83–70 | 11–5 (2–1) | BB&T Arena (2,632) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/07/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | W 83–75 | 12–5 (3–1) | BB&T Arena (2,723) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/10/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | L 71–80 | 12–6 (3–2) | Resch Center (2,063) Green Bay, WI |
| 01/12/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee | L 58–68 | 12–7 (3–3) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,389) Milwaukee, WI |
| 01/20/2017 7:00 pm | | Oakland | W 79–70 | 12–8 (3–4) | BB&T Arena (4,784) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/22/2017 1:00 pm | | Detroit | W 101–87 | 13–8 (4–4) | BB&T Arena (2,083) Highland Heights, KY |
| 01/27/2017 8:00 pm | | at UIC | W 79–62 | 14–8 (5–4) | UIC Pavilion (2,898) Chicago, IL |
| 01/29/2017 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | L 58–65 | 14–9 (5–5) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,578) Valparaiso, IN |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm | | at Wright State | W 83–79 | 15–9 (6–5) | Nutter Center (5,993) Dayton, OH |
| 02/09/2017 7:30 pm | | Green Bay | W 69–67 | 16–9 (7–5) | BB&T Arena (3,416) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/11/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 69–63 | 17–9 (8–5) | BB&T Arena (4,963) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/16/2017 7:45 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 62–60 | 18–9 (9–5) | Wolstein Center (1,247) Cleveland, OH |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Youngstown State | L 77–81 | 18–10 (9–6) | Beeghly Center (4,609) Youngstown, OH |
| 02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | W 83–76 | 19–10 (10–6) | BB&T Arena (2,908) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/24/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | UIC | W 90–82 | 20–10 (11–6) | BB&T Arena (3,025) Highland Heights, KY |
| 02/26/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 82–78 | 21–10 (12–6) | BB&T Arena (3,304) Highland Heights, KY |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Wright State Quarterfinals | W 82–77 | 22–10 | Joe Louis Arena (5,654) Detroit, MI |
| 03/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (4) | vs. (9) Youngstown State Semifinals | W 84–74 | 23–10 | Joe Louis Arena (3,708) Detroit, MI |
| 03/07/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | vs. (10) Milwaukee Championship | W 59–53 | 24–10 | Joe Louis Arena (5,929) Detroit, MI |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/19/2017 10:07 pm, CBS | (15 S) | vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky First Round | L 70–79 | 24–11 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,269) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time Source:. ||||||