RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team jumped out to a 21-1 lead and never looked back in a 115-35 victory over visiting Kentucky Christian University on Tuesday at McBrayer Arena.
The 80-point margin broke the previous school record of 73 set in 1990. The 115 points were the most ever scored by a Jeff Neubauer coached team.
Twenty-four of Eastern’s first 29 points were scored off lay-ups or dunks. The other five points came off a jumper in the paint and a three-pointer from the right wing by Ja’Mill Powell. The triple by Powell gave the Colonels a 21-1 lead with 10:32 remaining in the first half. Eastern led 51-10 at the break.
EKU (2-0) finished with a 54-10 advantage in the paint.
Seven players scored in double figures led by Jaylen Babb-Harrison’s career-best 28 points. The redshirt sophomore hit 10-of-16 shot attempts, including 6-of-7 from three-point range. He also had seven rebounds and two steals.
All but one of the 11 players that were available to play scored at least two points. Ten of the 11 had at least one rebound and nine had at least one assist.
Newcomer Denzel Richardson scored 18 points. Timmy Knipp had 12 points and eight rebounds. Eric Stutz finished with 13 points and six boards. Corey Walden contributed 11 points, six assists and three steals.
Eastern totaled 20 steals and turned 36 Kentucky Christian turnovers into 56 points.
Caleb Ford had a team-best 10 points and seven rebounds for the Knights (1-5).
Eastern Kentucky shot 51 percent in the first half and made just 25 percent from behind the arc. In the second half, EKU scorched the nets for 74 percent from the field and made 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from deep.
The Colonels conclude their three-game season-opening home stand on Saturday against the University of Cincinnati Clermont College. Tip-off at McBrayer Arena is set for 7 p.m.
[adsenseyu2]
NOTES
Eastern’s previous largest margin of victory was a 73 points in a 121-48 win over Wilberforce on Dec. 1, 1990.
The previous scoring high for a Jeff Neubauer coached team was 114 set on Nov. 13, 2013 in a 114-45 victory over Warren Wilson College.
After Florida’s loss to future Colonel opponent Miami (Fla.) on Monday, Eastern Kentucky entered the game with the 14th longest home court non-conference winning streak in the nation. That streak is now at 24 straight games.
Eastern Kentucky is 30-3 in its last 33 home games.
The most points ever scored by an EKU team was 122 against Akron on Jan. 19, 1980.
Kentucky Christian entered the game averaging 80 points per game but was held to 35 by the Colonels.
KCU’s Caleb Ford entered the game averaging 24 points per game, but was held to 10 points.
Six Colonels scored in double figures in the same game for the first time since EKU beat Crowley’s Ridge College, 97-31, on Feb. 5, 2013.
Corey Walden is 45 points away from becoming the 33rd player to score 1,000 points as a Colonel. He now needs 74 more steals to break the EKU career record of 221.
Eric Stutz is 135 points and 22 rebounds away from becoming the 13th player in Eastern Kentucky to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.
EKU now leads the all-time series with Kentucky Christian, 3-0.
Comments
