OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce never trailed in a 57-28 win over Gut Fitness on Saturday, improving to 2-0 on the season behind a defense that held the visitors to 17.6 percent shooting. Freshman Jack Peay grabbed 23 rebounds, and the Jayhawks won the battle of the boards 48-24.
Peay scored the game's first basket, and freshman Nick Taubes followed with a 3-pointer off a turnover, assisted by sophomore Max Roston-Saul, for a 5-0 lead. Gut Fitness made two free throws, and Head-Royce answered with an 8-0 run. Peay made two free throws and Alex Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 13-2. Jones added his third 3-pointer moments later for a 16-4 advantage.
Gut Fitness cut the deficit to 16-9, but Peay scored on a second-chance basket and Sanjay Ernst hit a 3-pointer on an assist from sophomore Greydon Ting to push the lead to 21-9. Gut Fitness then had its best stretch of the day, a 6-0 run built on four free throws and a basket that made it 21-15. The visitors never got closer.
Head-Royce took control with a 17-0 run. Taubes started it with a 3-pointer set up by Roston-Saul and a basket off a Peay assist. Ernst scored on a second-chance basket, Roston-Saul hit a 3-pointer from Taubes, and Ernst connected from deep again on another Ting assist. Peay and Taubes added baskets, the last on a Peay feed, to make it 38-15. Later, with the Jayhawks up 49-26, they scored six straight: Peay finished a Taubes assist and Taubes followed with two baskets, one off a turnover. Ernst scored the final points on a second-chance basket, making the final margin of 29 the largest of the game.
Taubes led Head-Royce with 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range, and added five assists, three steals and a block. Peay posted a double-double with 12 points and 23 rebounds, seven of them offensive, plus three assists. Off the bench, Ernst scored 13 points, made 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and pulled down nine rebounds, six of them offensive. Jones scored all nine of his points on 3-pointers and had three steals. Roston-Saul added seven points, five rebounds and three assists without a turnover, and Ting had nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Head-Royce shot 23 of 65 (35.4 percent) from the field and 9 of 28 from 3-point range. Gut Fitness made 9 of 51 shots and 2 of 16 from beyond the arc, and eight of its 28 points came at the free-throw line. The Jayhawks had a 16-4 edge on the offensive glass and outscored Gut Fitness 8-2 on second-chance points and 7-2 on points off turnovers. Head-Royce also had 13 assists to the visitors' two, and its bench outscored the Gut Fitness team 22-28 only in the sense that Ernst and Jones combined for 22 points.
Head-Royce (2-0) has won two straight and hosts Bentley JV on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.