PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Senior
Deshaw Andrews poured in a career-high 30 points in a lopsided 82-54 victory for the Alcorn State University men's basketball program over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
The game turned late in the first half when the Braves (8-9, 4-2 SWAC) closed out the half on a 9-0 run. Alcorn then turned it into a 17-0 spurt by scoring the first eight points of the second half on the Golden Lions (3-14, 2-3 SWAC).
Alcorn won its third consecutive game and also its third straight road contest.
Andrews was a scorching hot 9-for-11 from the field, a perfect 5-for-5 from three and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Andrews was one of three double-figure scorers for the Braves. Senior
Maurice Howard netted 13 points and senior
Corey Tillery ended with 10. Junior
Troymain Crosby pulled down 11 rebounds to match his career-high and scored nine.
As a team, Alcorn put together another hot night from long-range where it was 10-for-15 (.667). The Braves also outrebounded the Golden Lions 36-28.
The Braves shut down UAPB for the most part. UAPB's leading scorer was Artavious McDyess with 12 points off the bench.
Both teams started slow offensively, as Alcorn trailed 4-3 after a dunk by junior
Anthony Fairley at the 15:12 mark. A three-pointer and mid-range shot by Andrews kept the Braves down 9-8 with 9:25 left.
After UAPB pushed its lead up to 13-8, Howard drilled back-to-back threes to give Alcorn a 14-13 edge with 7:54 to go.
The Golden Lions led 20-19 when the Braves used a 7-0 run, capped by a jumper by Howard to put the team in front 26-20 with 3:22 remaining. Alcorn created separation by scoring the final nine points of the half, including a three by Andrews and a monster dunk by Fairley to carry a 37-25 edge into the break.
The Braves opened the second half on fire with an old-fashion three-point play by senior
Alonzo Campbell, a long-range shot by Andrews and a jumper by Tillery to extend it to 45-25. A drive and jumper by Crosby kept Alcorn ahead 57-36 midway through the half.
The Braves were on top 66-40 came after a pair of free throws by Crosby at the 7:38 mark. Alcorn's largest lead was 76-47 after a jumper by Crosby with 2:40 remaining.
Alcorn will look to keep rolling Saturday when it hosts Alabama A&M at 5:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Alcorn is 23-20 all-time against AAMU, and 7-1 under head coach
Montez Robinson.
NOTES
- The Braves improved to 43-24 all-time against UAPB and 7-2 under Robinson.
- Robinson is in his fifth season at the helm. He carries a 43-35 SWAC record.
- The Braves rank top-10 in the nation in threes made per game (10.3) and were right on par with 10 threes made.
- Alcorn outscored UAPB 45-29 in the second half. The Braves have now outscored the opposition 706-619 in the second half this year.
- The Braves have outrebounded all six of their opponents in conference.
- Andrews topped his previous career-high of 26 points set at Mississippi State on Nov. 26, 2018. It was his 24th career double-figure scoring game and 12th this year. Andrews scored over 20 points for the fifth time in his career. His five three-pointers made were also a career-high.
- Howard notched his 57th career double-figure scoring game and 13th in a row. He also grabbed six rebounds in the contest. He's up to 1,215 career points with a school-record 260 threes made. Howard has dished out 290 career assists, which are the fifth-most in school history.
- Tillery posted his 13th double-digit scoring performance of the season. He nailed a pair of threes and played 34 minutes.
- Crosby secured 10 rebounds for the sixth time in his career. He was one-point shy of his fifth career double-double. It was the third time in his career that he grabbed 11 rebounds.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
Opening Statement
"All the credit goes to the guys tonight. They were locked-in at practice yesterday, and locked-in again at shoot around this morning. Coach [Evans] Davis did a great job of putting together the scout and our guys were prepared for their 2-3 zone. UAPB is a good team and it took us a while in the first half to figure it out. We had turnovers early because we were trying to force the ball into the gaps instead of just rotating it. But once we got a good feel for it, we found the open spots in the zone and
Deshaw Andrews got it going. He was as hot as a firecracker and our guys kept feeding him."
On what it was about Deshaw that led to a big night
"It was one of those situations where UAPB had to decide who they wanted to pressure up on. They could pressure up on
Maurice Howard or
Corey Tillery outside, or they can pressure up on
Troymain Crosby but he'll blow by you. It just seemed like the spots were open for Deshaw on each possession and this was his night. He was left open a few times and he made them pay for it."
On the defensive effort
"We just stayed aggressive and understood the scouting report. I feel that we're really starting to click, and pin-point what the other team's players can do. We're aware of who the drivers and who the shooters are on the court. Our guys are really doing a great job of buying in and giving the other team just one attempt at the glass. UAPB only had five offensive rebounds and they normally average in double-figures. We did a great job of not allowing second-chance buckets, and our guys really followed the game plan."
On the three-game winning-streak
"It feels good right now. When you're not winning games, everyone has an opinion as to what's going wrong and what we should be doing. When you're winning, guys listen more and we don't have to change as much. It's always good to win and we wanted to continue the road winning streak. The road team won every game in the SWAC this weekend and I'm glad we could be a part of it. Our guys are competing and we've given ourselves a chance to keep rolling back at home."
#FearTheBrave
