OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce forced 19 turnovers, piled up 18 steals and pulled away in the second half for a 73-52 win over Bentley on Friday. The win was the Jayhawks' third in a row and improved their record to 18-13.
Bentley scored first on a second-chance 3-pointer, and that 3-0 edge was its only lead of the game. Head-Royce answered with nine straight points. Bryce Clepper scored on a feed from Micah Riebel, Micah Nyamuzuwe scored on a second chance to put the Jayhawks ahead for good at 4-3, and Nyamuzuwe added a 3-pointer off a turnover before Nick Taubes made it 9-3. Ezra Goldfarb followed with a basket off a turnover and a 3-pointer, and Jack Peay scored twice in a row to stretch the margin to 25-16.
Bentley responded with seven straight points to pull within 25-23 and later got to 27-26 on a 3-pointer. Nyamuzuwe made two free throws and added a basket during that stretch, and Mikael Akpala and Clepper each scored as Head-Royce took a 33-29 lead into halftime.
The Jayhawks outscored Bentley 40-23 after the break. A Riebel free throw and a Taubes 3-pointer opened the second half, and after a Bentley basket, Head-Royce scored eight straight on a basket by Akpala and back-to-back 3-pointers from Nyamuzuwe and Taubes for a 45-31 lead. Bentley scored the next seven points to get within 45-38, but Jonah Greenberg scored twice on assists from Clepper and Akpala added a basket to push the lead back to 52-41. Riebel scored and Clepper hit a 3-pointer off a turnover, assisted by Sam Gulaid, for a 59-47 lead. After a Bentley second-chance basket made it 59-49, Head-Royce put the game away with an 11-0 run. Taubes and Greenberg each scored off turnovers, Nyamuzuwe hit a 3-pointer off another turnover, Jackson Benson scored on a pass from Sanjay Ernst, and Greenberg's basket made it 70-49. Luke Silva answered Bentley's final 3-pointer with one of his own, assisted by Benson, to close the scoring.
Nyamuzuwe led Head-Royce with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and added seven rebounds and four assists. Taubes scored 13 points with three 3-pointers, four steals, three assists and no turnovers. Clepper finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four assists and two steals, and Riebel had four assists. Off the bench, Greenberg scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with four steals, and Peay had four points, four rebounds and three steals.
Head-Royce shot 53 percent (30-of-57) from the field and assisted on 20 of its 30 field goals. Bentley shot 31 percent (18-of-58), including 7-of-27 from 3-point range. The Jayhawks held a 17-4 edge in points off turnovers, won the rebounding battle 32-24 and got 22 points from their bench.
Head-Royce is now 18-13 on the season and has won three straight games.