Sports

A season-opening trip to the west coast, a game against powerful Ohio State and a road encounter with two-time national champion San Francisco highlight Northern Kentucky University's 2012-13 men's basketball schedule as it tips off its inaugural year of NCAA Division I play.
In addition, NKU visits Lubbock, Texas, on December 4 to take on Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference. That will mark the Norse's first-ever trip to the state of Texas.
The Norse begin the season by traveling to California to participate in the four-game National Urea Cycle Disorders Foundation Challenge at the University of San Diego. NKU meets host San Diego (13-18 last season) on Nov. 14, followed by games against Tulsa (Nov. 15), Siena (Nov. 17) and Cal State Northridge (Nov. 18).

 
Florida’s status as 24-point pre-game favorites proved to be too conservative Saturday as the Gators sent UK to a 38-0 loss.
Despite assurances from UK head coach Joker Phillips on Thursday that sophomore quarterback Maxwell Smith had overcome a bruised shoulder, Smith did not play against the Gators due to the injury. He warmed up on the field prior to the start of the game but returned from the locker room after halftime with an ice pack on his shoulder.
In Smith’s place, senior quarterback Morgan Newton started. Newton threw three interceptions in the first half and finished the game with just 48 passing yards. UK averaged 322 passing yards in the season’s first three games with Smith at quarterback.
The game actually started well for UK with the Wildcat defense forcing three-and-outs on Florida’s first two drives. The Gators led just 3-0 after the first quarter.

This is article is courtesy of RCN partner KY Forward.
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The UK football team knows what an upset win can do for a program. t was just last week that they saw Western Kentucky pull off the feat at their own expense. Now the Wildcats are hoping for a little magic of their own when they travel to No. 14 Florida this weekend.
“I don’t know if it turns everything around just like that, but it definitely helps with momentum,” said UK head coach Joker Phillips. “We’re getting ready to go into a tough SEC grind, so it would definitely help in gaining momentum.”
For as surprising as Western Kentucky’s first win against a BCS-conference opponent was Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, a UK win in Gainesville would be even more shocking.

From our partners at KY Forward:
The first signs of trouble in the UK football team’s 2011 season came in the season opener against Western Kentucky.  The Hilltoppers actually gained 44 more yards of total offense that UK in the 14-3 Wildcat win. Perhaps more famously, Western Kentucky linebacker Andrew Jackson was caught by cameras with a frank description of the Wildcats.
“They’re supposed to be SEC,” Jackson said while shaking his head.
Jackson and his teammates will get another shot at UK on Saturday. The Wildcats are 3-0 all time against Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers have never beaten a Southeastern Conference team with their most recent loss coming in a 35-0 drubbing by No. 1 Alabama last week.

MOREHEAD, Ky. – While earning All-America honors during her playing days at Northern Kentucky University, Liz (Holmes) Hart would get everyone's attention with her thunderous attacks. Her powerful spikes resulted in 1,850 career kills, the most in Norse history.
Now the head coach at NKU, Hart is helping the unbeaten Norse make a lot of early-season noise in their inaugural campaign as an NCAA Division I member.

NKU improved to 7-0 Saturday by defeating Evansville, 26-24, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, in the Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational. Kelly Morrissey collected 18 kills and attacked at a .385 clip to spark the Norse. 

Morrissey also added 14 digs and four block assists to earn tournament most valuable player honors. During the two-day event, Morrissey collected 33 kills as NKU defeated host Morehead State, Alabama A&M and Evansville.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Mamadee Nyepon scored two goals to help lead the High Point University men's soccer team to a 6-0 win over Northern Kentucky University on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Flash Gordon Invitational.

The potent High Point offense was coming off a 3-1 win over Adelphi in the opening round of the invitational. After Nyepon scored the opening goal less than three minutes into the contest, Ryan Bennett put the Panthers ahead 2-0 with a goal in the 29th minute. Ben Burdon assisted on the play.

The Norse's hopes for a comeback grew much more difficult after senior midfielder Mohab El Tawila was shown a red card in the 32nd minute. Down to 10 men, High Point pushed one more goal across in the 42nd minute to take a 3-0 lead into the half.