Looking to truly build off of their competitive 9-15 finish a year ago, second-year skipper Melvin Brown and University Heights Academy got off to a great start Tuesday night — coming away with a sterling 60-53 road win against Murray.
Though the Tigers (3-1) were without Bellarmine signee and elite combo guard Grant Whitaker for a fourth straight contest, the Blazers (1-0) blitzed the First Region contenders from the very beginning — quickly getting to a 9-3 lead they would never surrender.
Tied 14-all after the first frame, UHA would outscore Murray 27-11 in the second quarter — using an impressive 16-4 run for a 33-18 advantage. It’s here where the Blazer defense truly shined, forcing six of the Tigers’ 17 turnovers.
UHA finished with 15 points off of those turnovers, too: all in the first half. A Lemar Northington curl made it 21-16. On the next possession, he’d pull up for three on his defender, and bury it. A Preston Thomas triple made it 29-18. Blink, Gavin Grubbs scores. Blink again, Cameron Brown scores. Thomas scores again. A Grubbs three-ball made it 36-20.
A bit of an avalanche for the Tigers. A bit of a boon for the Blazers.
“I told the guys we had to come out with energy,” Brown said of the stretch. “We had to rebound the ball. We had to play physical, and try to take them off of some things they were doing. We came out a little stagnant, but we did pick that back up.
“We really wanted to crowd their space. Try to make them put the ball on the floor. Not just sit there and let them in the halfcourt and run their sets like they do. Disrupt a little bit, that type of thing. And it actually worked for a little bit.”
The Tigers, meanwhile, got a game-best 14 points from quarterback Collin Wilson and 16 rebounds from forward Zavion Carman, but shot a shade above 33% for the game and just 66.7% from the charity stripe (20-for-30). Not typical numbers for Murray, with Lincoln English (17.0 ppg) and Kobe Watson (14.7 ppg) both cooled from their hot starts.
Murray did not go quietly into that good night, however, employing a fierce 2-1-2 trap after halftime that often came directly after the inbound. It helped the Tigers get back into the game, as back-to-back triples from Watson and Wilson late in the fourth cut it to 56-50 with under four minutes to go.
Brown, however, said they expected Murray’s imminent pressure. In the fourth quarter, his guys were able to thrice pass it around the halfcourt effectively for underneath buckets — stealing almost two minutes from the clock in the process.
“And they play it real well,” Brown added. “They get good rotations out of it. Collapse on it. We just got a little stagnant on the offensive end, as well. Slowing the ball down a little bit. Letting the trappers come, and that type of thing. I told them to fake, move it and get down the side. And that’s how we scored later on in the fourth, and at the end of the third, as well.”
Unofficially, UHA finished with five blocks.
Next up: another First Region opponent and contender in McCracken County, a 7:30 PM December 8 home-opener. First-year coach and long-time McCracken assistant Dustin Roberts has the helm following Burlin Brower’s retirement, and the Mustangs are already off on a 2-0 start.
Returning from injury, Ian Hart is averaging a team-best 21.5 ppg through two contests. Jack McCune is averaging 19.0 ppg, and Connor Miller is averaging 13.5 ppg. Hart is 6-for-10 from three, and as a team, the Mustangs are 30-for-39 from the stripe.
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS 60, MURRAY 53
Blazers (1-0) 14 27 9 10 — 60
Tigers (3-1) 14 11 11 17 — 53
STATISTICS
UHA: Lemar Northington II 13, Cameron Brown 12, Quinton Quarles 9, Javion Brown 7, Gavin Grubbs 7, Preston Thomas 5, Bryson Northington 3, Elijah Walton 2, Tre Bell 2.
FG: 24. 3PT: 5 (L. Northington 3, Quarles, Thomas, Grubbs). FT: 7-10. PF: 21.
MURRAY: Collin Wilson 14, Drew May 9, Jeremiah Jones 9, Kobe Watson 7, Zavion Carman 7, Lincoln English 5, Kameron Murphy 2.
FG: 15-44. 3PT: 3-9 (Wilson, Watson, Jones). FT: 20-30. PF: 17. TO: 17. Reb: 29. Ast: 9. Stl: 6.
