OAKLAND, Calif. Arsenal owned the glass from the opening minutes and handed Head-Royce its first loss of the summer, a 77-27 decision on Wednesday, June 17. Arsenal outrebounded the Jayhawks 40-18, pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and turned them into 24 second-chance points as Head-Royce fell to 2-1.
Arsenal scored the first two baskets before Azaan answered with a second-chance 3-pointer off a feed from Makaio to pull Head-Royce within 4-3. That was as close as the Jayhawks got. Arsenal scored four straight second-chance baskets in an 8-0 run to go up 12-3. Owen made two free throws and Azaan scored on an assist from Owen to make it 14-7, but Arsenal closed the first quarter with another 8-0 run, the last two baskets coming off turnovers, for a 22-7 lead.
Arjun opened the Head-Royce scoring in the second quarter with a second-chance basket, but Arsenal answered with seven straight points, including two 3-pointers, to go up 30-9. Makaio scored on a pass from Owen and Azaan added a basket to cut the gap to 30-13. After Arsenal pushed the margin to 37-13, Naz knocked down a 3-pointer on an assist from John. Arsenal scored the final six points of the half and led 43-16 at the break.
Micah finished a feed from Jalen early in the third quarter, and Jalen later scored to make it 50-20. Arsenal then put the game away with an 11-0 run that began with four straight free throws and carried into the fourth quarter. Arsenal led 58-20 after three quarters and pushed the lead to 61-20 on a 3-pointer off a turnover. Arjun scored on a pass from Makaio, Jalen hit a 3-pointer and Azaan made two free throws, but Arsenal closed with a 9-0 run built on three straight 3-pointers, the last a second-chance shot that set the final 50-point margin.
Azaan led Head-Royce with 9 points on 3-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and went 2-of-5 at the free throw line. Jalen added 5 points off the bench on 2-of-4 shooting with a 3-pointer and an assist. Arjun scored 4 points and led the team with 5 rebounds, 3 of them on the offensive end. Naz hit a 3-pointer for 3 points, and Micah went 1-for-1 from the floor for 2 points. Makaio finished with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block, and Owen scored 2 points with 2 assists. The bench accounted for 11 of Head-Royce's 27 points.
Ball security and rebounding decided it. Head-Royce committed 20 turnovers, and Arsenal came up with 8 steals and scored 11 points off turnovers. Arsenal committed only 4 turnovers, and Head-Royce did not score off any of them. The Jayhawks shot 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) from the floor, 3-of-11 from 3-point range and 4-of-8 at the line. Arsenal shot 32-of-68 (47.1 percent), made 8 of 28 attempts from beyond the arc and had 12 assists to Head-Royce's 6.
Head-Royce is now 2-1 this summer.