Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Freshman Kieran Carr scored a career-high 24 points and the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team erupted for a 37-point halftime lead and cruised to a Jayhawk Conference victory over Northwest Tech on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
Playing in front of the 1994 national champion Blue Dragons for Hall of Fame Day, the 2023 Blue Dragons rolled to their second-biggest victory of the season after a 115-74 victory over Northwest Tech.
The Blue Dragons improved to 17-11 overall and reached .500 in conference play at 11-11. Hutchinson travels to play at Seward County on Wednesday in Liberal. Northwest Tech fell to 10-17 overall and 5-16 in league play.
Hutchinson shot a sizzling 73.5 percent (25 of 34) in the first half as Hutchinson outscored Northwest Tech 64-27. The Blue Dragons sank nine 3-pointers in the first half.
The Blue Dragons tied a single-season record for 100-point games with their 12th of the season. That tied the mark of 12 100-point games set last season. This was Hutchinson's first 100-point game in the last eight games played.
Carr was 11 of 12 shooting to finish with 24 points. Carr scored 11 points in Hutchinson's first-half eruption.
Hutchinson had six players score in double figures.
Aaron Franklin finished with 15 points, hitting 3 of 7 3-point goals. Franklin added six rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Dre Weathers came off the bench to tie a career-high 13 points. Aaron Potter added 13 points, while Antonio Green had 12 points and Ra'Sean Frederick had 10 points with five rebounds and a career-high six assists.
The Blue Dragons shot a season-high 64.5 percent (42 of 65), marking the first time the Dragons shot 60 percent in a game since November 8, 2017 when the shot a school-record 67.6 percent against the Tabor College JV. Hutchinson was 14 of 27 from 3-point range and 17 of 21 from the foul line.
The Dragons also tied a season high and tied for the second-most assists in a game with 33 assists. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Tech 36-29.
Youssef Timera led Northwest Tech with 16 points. Zaire Hayes had 15 for the Mavericks.
Tech shot 46.0 percent (29 of 63) for the game, hitting 3 of 14 from 3-point range and 13 of 23 from the foul line. Tech had 18 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons jumped out to leads of 8-2 and 14-8 in the early stages of the game. Hutchinson's first surge started with a Weathers inside hoop. That started a 12-2 run that was capped by a Kernan Bundy jumper for a 26-10 lead with 14:24 remaining in the half.
A Landon Wagler 3-pointer and Justin Shorts layup upped the Dragon lead to 20 points for the first time at 36-15 with 8:50 to go. Potter and Wagler added back-to-back treys to extend the lead to 27 at 42:15 with 8 minutes to play.
Green knocked down a 3-pointer to push the Dragon lead to 30 point at 49-19 with 5:17 left. Jayden Garrison hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left for a 64-25 lead. Hutchinson led 64-27 at halftime.
Hutchinson's lead reached 40 points for the first time at 75-35 after a Frederick three-point play with 16:35 to play. The Dragons' largest lead was 45 points at 112-67 lead after a Trey McClure 3-pointer.
GAME NOTES – Aaron Franklin moved into sixth place on the Blue Dragon single-season 3-point chart with 74 3-pointers. … The 64 points in the first half was the 13th time in the Tommy DeSalme era to score 60 points in a half. … The 115 points scored tied for 10th most in the DeSalme era. Trey McClure had a career-high six points and two 3-point goals. … Potter tied a season high with five steals. … The 14 3-point goals are the 30th time in the DeSalme era to have 10 or more treys. … The 2022-23 Blue Dragons surpassed the 300 3-point mark for the season, second most in program history with 313. … Carr is the fifth Blue Dragon this season to have a 20-point game.