[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
Photo courtesy of Bailey Terry, HCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The No. 6-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team scored the first 19 points on Saturday night against NEO and held the Norsemen without a field goal for more than 9 1/2 minutes as the No. 6-ranked Blue Dragons rolled to a 90-57 victory on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.
The 33-point margin of victory over NEO was the second-largest in series history. Only 2014’s 105-67 Blue Dragon blowout (38 points) was larger.
Hutchinson improves to 3-0 to start the season. NEO falls to 2-1. Hutchinson will play its final non-conference matchup of the season on Tuesday against Hesston College at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson’s early defense swarmed the Norsemen. NEO’s first 16 possessions of the game resulted in 0 of 12 shooting with four turnovers. Over that same span, the Blue Dragons were 9 of 16 with two turnovers.
J.J. Rhymes’ 3-pointer with 12:24 to go gave Hutchinson a 19-0 lead. Pedro Lopes finally gave NEO its first points with a free throw with 12:12 to play to snap a scoreless drought of 7 minutes, 48 seconds. With Hutch leading 22-1, Lopes hit a 3-pointer with 10:22 remaining to give the Norsemen its first field goal of the game 9 minutes, 38 seconds into the contest.
Sophomore Shakur Juiston posted his second-straight double-double and 11th of his career with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Juiston was 9 of 11 shooting with three assists and two blocked shots.
Freshman Devonte Bandoo was 8 of 11 from the floor to score 18 points for Hutchinson. Samajae Haynes-Jones splashed four 3-point goals to finish with 14 points. Rhymes also scored 14 points. Kai Mitchell had eight points and nine rebounds.
Hutchinson shot better than 50 percent for the third-straight game shooting 36 of 68 overall (52.9 percent). The Dragons were 5 of 16 from 3-point range and 13 of 25 from the free-throw line. Hutch had a 47-35 rebounding advantage and had 19 assists. The Dragons trimmed their turnovers down dramatically from 21 Friday night to six on Saturday.
The Dragons held NEO to a frigid 22.6 percent in the opening half before the Norsemen settled at 31 of 60 for the game (35.0 percent). NEO was 8 of 19 from 3-point range and 7 of 20 from the foul line.
Curhone Baldwin led NEO with 16 points. Lopes finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. NEO had 14 turnovers.
After that fast start, the closest NEO got in the first half was 15 points at 33-18 with an Xavier Miller 3-pointer with 5:32 remaining. The Blue Dragons put any thought to a comeback to rest with a 15-0 run over the next 3 minutes, 45 seconds. When Mitchell scored with 1:47 to play in the half, Hutch led 48-18.
The Dragons hit 18 of 33 shots in the first half to build a 49-21 lead by halftime.