RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior K.J. Bluford came off the bench in the first half to knock down four three-pointers on four straight possessions, giving the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team a cushion it would never relinquish in a 98-85 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
EKU (6-1) trailed in the first half, 12-11, until junior Jaylen Babb-Harrison connected on a three that put the Colonels up 14-12 with 12:47 showing on the clock. With Eastern still clinging to a 19-17 lead, Bluford blew the game open by sinking four consecutive three-pointers to extend the margin to 31-19 at the 7:29 mark.
The Colonels had a nine point lead at halftime, 42-33. Freshman Nick Mayo scored the first basket of the second half to extend the margin to 11 points. EKU maintained a double digit lead the rest of the game.
Senior Jarelle Reischel’s offensive rebound and put-back with 8:11 left in the game gave Eastern Kentucky its largest lead of 19 points, 78-59.
Junior JaVontae Hawkins led Eastern in scoring with 20 points. He also grabbed six boards, dished three assists and came up with three steals. Reischel was close behind with 19 points, followed by Mayo at 18. Bluford went 4-for-7 from three-point range and finished with 14 points.
EKU entered the game ninth in the nation in scoring at 93 points-per-game. The Colonels ranked sixth in the country in field goal percentage (54.1 percent) and three-point percentage (44.4 percent). The team shot 58 percent from the field against Southern Utah and made 50 percent of its three-pointers.
Sophomore Paul Jackson contributed 11 points and eight assists in the victory.
Southern Utah was led in scoring by Trey Kennedy, who had 20 points in addition to seven assists. Travon Langston also put up 15 for the Thunderbirds.
EKU’s defense forced the Thunderbirds into 19 turnovers and the Colonels scored 30 points off those turnovers
Eastern will play at rival Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
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