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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Drew McDonald scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and ignited a 19-0 NKU run late in the first half as the reigning champion Norse defeated IUPUI both teams' league opener on Thursday night (Dec. 28), 77-59. 

D.J. McCall led IUPUI (3-9, 0-1 Horizon) with 11 points and seven rebounds and junior Evan Hall added nine points in a small sample size as his evening was plagued by foul trouble. Senior Ron Patterson also finished with nine points. 

The Jags were spirited from the outset, taking a quick 8-2 lead on four points each from Hall and McCall. McCall energized the guests with a two-handed dunk in transition. Despite not shooting well, IUPUI accelerated to a 19-12 lead at the 10:48 mark when T.J. Henderson canned a three off a Jaylen Minnett feed. The lead grew to 21-12 when Nick Rogers hit a pair of free throws after knifing his way through the entire NKU defense to draw a foul. 

Then it was all NKU (8-5, 1-0 Horizon). 

The hosts scored the game's next 19 points and held IUPUI to just a single McCall free throw with 3.7 seconds left to take a 31-22 halftime lead. McDonald scored eight of his 10 first half points during the burst and did so in a number of ways. He drilled a three from the top of the key and followed with a putback after ripping a rebound away from an IUPUI player under the basket. Moments later, he led a one-man fast break and completed an and-1 opportunity, scoring over the retreating Henderson. 

IUPUI hung around in the second half and was down 46-38 with 14:14 left when Patterson drained a three, but NKU scored eight straight points to extend out to a 16-point advantage. IUPUI never cut the lead to single-digits from there. 

"I thought we came out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm at both ends of the floor," head coach Jason Gardner said. "We got stops and ran our stuff and got some great looks in the early going. For whatever reason, we got away from that and the whole game changed. Part of it was their defensive pressure and part of it was just a lack of execution on our part.

"It kind of snowballed from there. It's hard to win on the road, especially against a good team, if you don't execute and play your game and make the most of every possession at both ends. We had too many careless turnovers and gave them way too many easy baskets."

Northern Kentucky shot 57.4 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep while IUPUI was limited to just 33.9 percent shooting for the game. Hall and McCall combined to hit 8-of-11 shots while the rest of the squad made just 13-of-41 attempts. 

McDonald hit 11-of-16 shots after struggling in the early going. He did the bulk of his damage in close, dropping in a bevy of right-handed jump hooks and short-range jumpers. Carson Williams joined him in double-digits with 11 points and six boards and Lavone Holland II had eight assists, seven rebounds and five points on a 2-of-10 shooting night. 

IUPUI remained winless on the road for the season. 

"This was good for us to get a taste of Horizon League road basketball right off the bat," Gardner said. "It was a good atmosphere for a college basketball game and kind of showed us what this league is all about. It doesn't get any easier with trips to Wright State and Green Bay coming up, but we've got to regroup and focus on the next game on the schedule."

The loss dropped IUPUI to 1-5 all-time against NKU and marked the first league opening loss for the Jags in Gardner's four seasons. 

IUPUI will continue the two-game trip at Wright State on Saturday afternoon when the Jaguars take on the Raiders inside the Nutter Center at 4:00 p.m.. That game will be aired on ESPN3 and can be heard on iHeartRadio or Fox Sports 97.5 as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.