Hot shooting sparks HPU men in opener

HIGH POINT — High Point University quickly outpaced Coppin State in its season opener.

The Panthers shot better than 50% in each half, pushed their lead past 10 and 20 in the first half and 30 and 40 in the second, and raced to a 93-51 victory in nonconference men’s basketball Wednesday evening in the Qubein Center.

“It always helps when you make shots early in the game — gets your mojo going,” High Point coach Alan Huss said. “Chase threw in nine tonight. We talked a little bit with our team about him maybe not making nine every single game. So, we’re still trying to improve on the details that we were lackadaisical in tonight.

“But we did some good things. We guarded pretty well. We had just a few breakdowns defensively. But we did some nice things tonight. I thought we shared the ball pretty well. We’ve got to get ready — quick games in nonconference and we’ve got another coming up Saturday.”

Five Panthers scored in double figures — led by Chase Johnston with 31 points. He made 11 of 13 shots from the field, including 9 of 11 from 3-point range. High Point totaled 14 makes from beyond the 3-point arc.

Johnston’s nine 3s were the most by a High Point player against a Division-I opponent. Nick Barbour owns the overall program record with 10 against UNC Pembroke.

“It felt good,” said Johnston, a graduate transfer from Florida Gulf Coast. “I’m coming off an injury, so it’s my first game in a while — like six, seven months in a real game. So, it felt really good. All the credit goes to my teammates and Coach having trust in me to be able to hit shots.

“Once I see one go in, the hoop looks ginormous. And when I miss, it’s just ‘next shot’ mentality and trusting in my work. Like I said, it goes back to my teammates feeding me the ball. I trust in them and I trust in my coach, for sure. And that helps so much.”

Kezza Giffa followed with 16 points, making 8 of 11 from the foul line. D’Maurian Williams added 11 points, four assists and…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hot-shooting-sparks-hpu-men-045900173.html

Author : The High Point Enterprise, N.C.

Publish date : 2024-11-08 04:59:00

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