INDIANAPOLIS — Jalen Tate tied one piece of the online to his championship hat Tuesday and hung the remaining round his neck after incomes every other NCAA Tournament bid.
They would be the latest additions to the circle of relatives’s trophy case — and he hopes now not the final.
On Tuesday, Tate scored all of his 14 issues within the first part, spent the second one part doing the grimy paintings on protection whilst main Northern Kentucky previous UIC 71-62 for its moment directly Horizon League Tournament name.
“It feels good to be back in the (NCAA) tournament, man, and with these guys it feels great,” he informed the gang moments after being named the tourney MVP. “And we’re not done, either.”
Northern Kentucky (23-9) has now made the 68-team box for the 3rd time in 4 years.
For Tate, this victory is helping him pull even along with his father, Jermaine, and his older brother, Jae’Sean, with two NCAA appearances every. His brother and father each performed at Ohio State even though his dad sooner or later transferred to Cincinnati.
Jalen Tate wound up selecting the smaller faculty around the Ohio River, the place he has thrived.
In reality, successful the MVP Award and this 12 months’s convention defensive participant of the 12 months award may even give the redshirt junior circle of relatives bragging rights.
“I don’t think I’ll get too far into it, looking back,” he mentioned, regarding the circle of relatives pageant. “But getting beaten up, bloodied, upset when I couldn’t get my shot off at seven or eight or nine, really prepared me for this. I don’t back down from any challenge. It put the toughness in me that I have today.”
He made that completely transparent in Indianapolis, along with his father staring at each transfer.
Yes, Tate wanted assist in the second one part as he battled foul bother and he were given it from a competent supply — Tyler Sharpe, who scored 12 of his 16 issues in the second one part.
But when the second-seeded Norse wanted a defensive stopper after UIC trimmed a 15-point deficit to 42-38 with 14:03 to play, Tate got here thru. He performed a key position in forcing the Flames (18-17) to pass over 8 consecutive photographs and dedicate 3 turnovers over the following seven mins.
That gave Northern Kentucky simply sufficient time to attain 11 directly issues and rebuild a 53-40 lead. Fourth-seeded UIC by no means recovered.
“It was a high level game and it was a night some of our shots didn’t go down,” trainer Steve McClain mentioned. “Give NKU credit they played a great game.”
Tarkus Ferguson led UIC with 15 issues and Michael Diggins.
Now, as for Tate, he and his teammates have even larger plans.
“Nobody expects us to get this far and not finish it out,” Tate mentioned.
BIG PICTURE
UIC: Despite posting a fourth directly season with a minimum of 16 wins, the college’s longest run because the early 1990s, the Flames’ season most probably ended Tuesday. Even with two, 30-plus level wins at the street, their resume most probably isn’t sturdy sufficient to triumph over the 17 losses to make the NIT box.
Northern Kentucky: The Norse were essentially the most dominant group within the Horizon League over the last 3 seasons. But even with 23 wins, Northern Kentucky will most probably must play its manner out of a low seed to advance subsequent week.
STAT PACK
UIC: Lost in its first convention ultimate look since 2004, which may be the final time it made the NCAA Tourney. … The Flames had 18 turnovers and had been Three of 15 on 3-pointers. … Ferguson, who scored a season-high 25 issues in Monday’s semifinal victory over regular-season champion Wright State, additionally had seven rebounds and 3 assists. … Marcus Ottey had 12 issues and 6 rebounds whilst Jordan Blount had 10 issues and 5 rebounds.
Northern Kentucky: The Norse shot 50% from the sphere and had been 6 of 21 on 3s in opposition to the Horizon League’s most sensible protection in each classes. … Dantez Walton had 10 issues and 9 rebounds, turning into the 29th member of the college’s 1,000-point membership. He now has 1,008 issues. … Tate additionally had 4 rebounds and 4 assists sooner than fouling out. … Trevon…