Head-Royce turned a six-point halftime lead into a 75-46 road win over Bentley on Saturday, Feb. 3, as the Jayhawks controlled the glass and outscored the hosts 27-6 in second-chance points. The victory was the third straight for Head-Royce, which improved to 26-2.
The Jayhawks never trailed. Sanil Saxena opened the scoring with a 3-pointer off an assist from Marcel Pierre-Louis, and Zach Gottschalk followed with a 3 of his own for a 6-0 start. Saxena added another 3 for a 9-2 lead. Jaden Recker hit two 3-pointers in the first half, the second a putback 3 that made it 21-11. Bentley kept answering, though, and got within 25-21 before Recker scored five straight points. Bentley made the last basket before the break, and Head-Royce led 29-23 at halftime.
Bentley opened the second half with a basket to cut the lead to 29-25, but that was as close as it got. Johnny Williams scored twice, Topher Sah added two baskets, Marcus Lefkovits scored and Pierre-Louis finished the 12-0 run with a putback for a 41-25 lead. Later, trailing 44-29, Bentley gave up a 13-0 run. Lefkovits hit a 3, Nick Taubes added a second-chance 3 and Pierre-Louis scored three times, the last on a feed from Mikael Akpala, to make it 57-29. An 8-0 run by the Jayhawks pushed the score from 59-34 to 67-34. Gottschalk's second-chance 3 and putback late in the game helped the lead reach 33 points at 75-42, and Bentley scored the game's final four points.
Recker led Head-Royce with 14 points off the bench. He shot 4 of 8 from the field, made two 3-pointers and went 4 of 6 at the free-throw line, and he added three steals. Pierre-Louis posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, four of them offensive, and he added four assists without a turnover. Williams had nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Lefkovits also scored nine points and added five steals, four rebounds and three assists.
Gottschalk scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. Saxena had six points on a pair of 3-pointers. Sah scored six points with six rebounds and two blocks. Taubes, a freshman, added five points.
Head-Royce shot 41 percent from the field (31 of 76) and held Bentley to 31 percent (18 of 59). The Jayhawks outrebounded Bentley 46-34, and their 19 offensive rebounds fueled the second-chance edge. Head-Royce also had an 18-10 edge in assists and got 33 points from its bench.
The win was the second for Head-Royce over Bentley this season, after a 79-32 road victory on Tuesday, Jan. 9. The Jayhawks are now 26-2 and have won three games in a row.