HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team tried to climb out of a double-digit hole in the second half, but ultimately fell short on the road at Northern Kentucky in a 71-67 loss. Junior Sean Craig tallied a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds and Paul Zilinskas added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Alec Millender rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points and seven assists. 

Josh Dilling paced Northern Kentucky (14-15, 9-9 HL) with 28 points, including seven treys. Dan Gherezgher added 15 and Trey Robinson closed with 13. 

"We're right there," head coach Paul Corsaro said. "I liked our fight, especially on the road against a well coached team. The last four minutes of the first half and first four (minutes) of the second half killed us."

The game started as a rock fight as neither team could find the range from the floor. NKU took an early 8-3 lead before the Jaguars flipped the score into an 18-11 advantage, largely behind Craig. Both Millender and Jarvis Walker contributed threes during the run while Craig shouldered the load. 

The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes, the final coming when the Jags took a 32-31 lead on a Craig triple. However, NKU closed the half with the final four points on a Gherezgher drive and a Dilling floater. NKU pushed the lead out to 47-35 with 15:33 to play with a 9-0 run. 

IU Indy (9-20, 5-13 HL) pulled within five late on a Zilinskas corner three with 4:03 to play, but Dilling fired back with back-to-back threes when the Jags needed defensive stops. Zilinskas cut it back to four with just over a minute to play, but came up empty on their final three offensive trips of the game. 

The Jags finished the game winning the glass 37-33 and having committed just nine turnovers. However, NKU shot 58 percent in the second half to warm to 44.4 percent overall, including hitting 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from three. Both teams grabbed 10 offensive boards, but NKU closed with a 15-6 margin in second chance points. 

Walker finished with nine points and freshman DeSean Goode had six points and nine rebounds. 

The Jaguars will return to Indy for the final week of the regular season with a pair of home games. IU Indy will host Robert Morris inside the Jungle on Thursday (Feb. 27) at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.