Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 14)
Youngstown State 104, Warren Wilson 58
No. 19/20 Connecticut 101, Detroit 55
It was a tale of two games for Horizon League men’s basketball teams on Thursday night. Youngstown State cruised to a 46-point win in its home opener, while Detroit suffered through a 46-point defeat to open the 2k Sports Classic.
Youngstown State 104, Warren Wilson 58
Youngstown State scored 62 second-half points on Thursday night in its home opener to dispatch of a Warren Wilson College, 104-58, at the Beeghly Center.
After taking 20 minutes to get their legs under them from a spell of playing three games in three days, the Penguins played an impressive second half. With the win, YSU is off to a 4-0 start to the campaign, its best run to open a year since 2000-01.
Bobby Hain scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his third career double-double. Kendrick Perry also scored 18 points while Kamren Belin had 17 points as well for the Guins. Coming off the bench, Shawn Amiker had a dozen for YSU.
The 104-point performance was the most by the program since scoring 106 vs. Slippery Rock on Dec. 3, 2003. YSU reached the 100-point mark when Amiker knocked down two free throws with 1:44 left.
Hain was 7-of-11 on the night and was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line in 22 minutes of action.
YSU shot a blistering 73.5 percent in the second half making 25-of-34 shots. For the game, the Guins were 37-of-68 (54.4 percent) while the Owls made 21-of-49 (42.9 percent). YSU outrebounded the Owls 46-27. From behind the 3-point arc, the Guins made 10-of-26 shots. YSU only had five turnovers for the night.
On the night, 13 Penguins scored and 10 had one rebound. Freshman Marcus Keene had seven points, six assists and four rebounds in his home debut.
In the first half, Warren Wilson hung tough with the Penguins from the outset, making their first four field goals and leading the Penguins, 10-9, at the 17:38 mark after a jumper by Ty Johnson.
Perry scored the next seven points to pace a 9-0 YSU run and an 18-10 lead. Perry hit two three-throws, a 3-pointer and had an acrobatic, left-handed alley-oop dunk to spur the run.
After the Owls chipped the lead down to 24-19 at the 8:13 mark, the Guins outscored Warren Wilson 16-7 over the next seven minutes pushing the lead to 40-26.
Hain scored seven of his 13 first-half points during that stretch and added two more free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Penguins a 42-28 lead.
Johnson hit a jumper with three seconds left before halftime to cut the YSU advantage to 42-30 at halftime.
The Penguins struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 35.3 percent overall and 21.4 percent from behind the 3-point line.
No. 19/20 Connecticut 101, Detroit 55
Detroit led early at No. 19/20 Connecticut, but the Huskies erupted with a 35-9 closing run to the first half, eventually rolling past the visiting Titans, 101-55, at Gampel Pavilion.
Detroit (1-2) opened a 14-8 edge behind Juwan Howard Jr., and Matthew Grant, as the duo scored all of the Titans’ points in the first 6:18. Three more Grant free throws stake Detroit to a 17-13 edge, but Connecticut controlled the game from that point on.
Coming out of the media timeout, Omar Calhoun connected from 3-point range and Niels Giffey put the Huskies ahead for good. Giffey sparked the decisive run, hitting his first five shots of the game.
Omar Calhoun led six Connecticut players in double figures with 17 points, while Giffey tied the career high he set against Yale on Monday with 15 points, all in the first half.
Ryan Boatright had 12 points and seven assists for UConn and Shabazz Napier added 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, three days after recording the second triple-double of his career.
All 14 Huskies played, and 13 scored. UConn scored 100 points for the first time since March 2009, when the school put up 103 on Chattanooga.
Grant finished with a career-high 15 points to lead Detroit, while Howard Jr. had 14.
Three Horizon League teams will be in action on Friday night, beginning with Milwaukee versus San Jose State in the NIU Invitational. The teams will tip at 6:30 p.m. ET. Cleveland State will open the Keightly Classic at Texas Arlington at 8:30 p.m., while Oakland begins the Maui Invitational against California at 11 p.m. ET.
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · Youngstown State - Men's Basketball
