HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team stayed red-hot, starting the season 4-0 for the third consecutive season after an 88-59 win over Big Sky Conference opponent Southern Utah in the Qubein Center on Thursday night. Four players finished in double figures, led by Jason Rivera-Torres' 19 points, five rebounds and three steals.
CJ Brown recorded 15 points, and
Isaac Garrett finished with an impressive stat line of 12 points (season-high), 10 rebounds (five offensive rebounds) and five steals for his first double-double of the season.
Trey Pearson tallied 11 points, five assists, five rebounds (three offensive) and two steals.
It was a full-circle moment for head coach
Flynn Clayman, who spent six seasons before HPU at Southern Utah moving through the coaching ranks, including serving as the associate head coach.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 88, Southern Utah 59
Records: High Point (4-0), Southern Utah (3-1)
Head Coach Flynn Clayman: "First of all, I'd like to give thanks for Southern Utah for coming. It's a special place to me. I met my wife there. Spent six years there. Learned how to coach college basketball there. It's a great university, and I thank them for coming. Beyond that, I mean, we don't want to be a make-or-miss team by the sense of we want to be able to win games that we don't make shots, so I guess that's the positive."
It was a Pearson takeover early in the game, scoring two tough baskets inside the paint, including a bucket off a second-chance rebound he snagged, pulling HPU within two points, 12-10, with 11:27 remaining in the first half.
"He's [Pearson] phenomenal. He's doing what real players do," said Clayman. "We've got three good point guards. He's the freshman in the mix. What he's been doing is building trust over these games... I can't say enough great things about him. We needed his energy and he brought it."
With the Panthers continuing to trail, Rivera-Torres took matters into his own hands, scoring back-to-back baskets, including a contested turnaround jumper inside the paint, to help HPU claw into Southern Utah's lead, 27-23, with 5:03 until halftime.
Cam'ron Fletcher's spark gave HPU its first lead since the 17:47 mark of the first half, after scoring back-to-back baskets. Fletcher converted a reverse layup, and then on the next possession threw down a two-handed jam, which was set up by a Rivera-Torres steal and a Pearson assist, to give the Panthers a 31-28 lead with 2:25 remaining in the half.
Fletcher's scoring boost helped the Panthers go on a 13-1 run, capped off by a
Conrad Martinez 3-pointer from the top of the key, as HPU jumped out to its largest lead of the game, eight points, 36-28.
A Rivera-Torres second-chance opportunity that resulted in a reverse layup with three seconds left in the half gave the Panthers a 38-31 lead going into halftime. Rivera-Torres led all scorers after 20 minutes with eight points, while Pearson tallied seven and Brown recorded five. HPU shot 42.1% from the field, while holding Southern Utah to 23.1% shooting from beyond the arc and 42.9% shooting at the free-throw line.
HPU jumped out of the gates in the opening three minutes of the second half with energy after a Southern Utah turnover resulted in
Braden Hausen throwing an alley-oop to Fletcher for the jam. Then, Brown finished a layup, and Garrett forced back-to-back steals, one resulting in an and-one, three-point play as HPU jumped out to its first double-digit lead of the game, 47-31.
Brown, Garrett, Pearson and Rivera-Torres led the scoring surge for HPU, combining to score 20 of the Panthers next 22 points, as all three earned their way into double-figure scoring, helping HPU take a 69-48 lead with 6:58 left to play.
Rivera-Torres stayed hot, being responsible for eight consecutive points for the Panthers, including a steal and a thunderous slam on the other end of the court, giving HPU an 80-57 lead with 2:34 remaining in the game. Rivera-Torres finished 8-14 from the field.
The Panthers closed the game on an 8-2 run to seal the 88-59 win in the first-ever meeting against Southern Utah. HPU outscored Southern Utah in the paint 64-30, points from turnovers 28-14, fast-break points 29-6, and bench points 50-23. Defensively, the Panthers were stout, holding Southern Utah to 38.6% shooting from the field, 26.1% from the 3-point line and 47.4% at the free-throw line, while forcing 25 turnovers and 12 steals, compared to HPU's 14 turnovers, including only four in the second half.
UP NEXT: The Panthers hit the road to Saint Louis, Missouri for their first away game against Atlantic 10 Conference opponent St. Louis on Sunday, November 15, at 3 p.m. on ESPN 2.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
