Hutchinson CC Sports Information
ARKANSAS CITY – The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team never recovered from a fast start by the No. 8-ranked Cowley Tigers on Wednesday night at Scott Auditorium.
Cowley built a double-figure lead just 6 minutes into Wednesday night's KJCCC matchup with the Blue Dragons. Hutchinson got the deficit back to single figures only once as the Jayhawk Conference-leading Tigers rolled to an 87-71 victory.
The Blue Dragons fell to 16-10 overall and 12-8 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson plays host to the Butler Grizzles for the Dragons' annual Pink-Out Game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Sports Arena. Cowley's magic number to clinching the KJCCC title dropped to two. The Tigers are now 24-3 overall and 19-2 in league play.
The Dragons trailed Cowley 18-8 with 14:02 to go in the first half on Wednesday night. That deficit crew to 16 at 26-10 before the Blue Dragons scored seven unanswered points from Isaiah Jackson, Khalil Arnold and a three-point play from Bo Aldridge to cut the lead to 26-17 with 7:18 to play in the half. Cowley answered the Hutchinson challenge with an 8-2 run and pulled away from there.
Cowley led 37-25 at halftime after shooting 57.7 percent in the first half. The Tigers upped their shot percentage to 60.0 percent in the final 20 minutes, outscoring Hutchinson 50-46.
Arnold led the Blue Dragons with a team-high 15 points, hitting 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
D.J. Dudley had 14 points with seven assists and three rebounds. Dudley scored all 14 points in the second half.
Jackson finished with 10 points, two rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots. Bobby Cannon closed with eight bounds and nine rebounds.
Hutchinson shot 40.3 percent (25 of 62), going 5 of 22 from 3-point range and 16 of 19 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were outrebounded 25-28 and turned the ball over 15 times.
Shamarrie Hugie had a game-high 24 points with seven rebounds to lead the Tigers. Hugie was 10 of 14 shooting, including 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Marcus Whitlock scored 17 points while Avante Nichols had 12 points and Emarquis Jones closed with 11 points.
Cowley shot an opponent season-high 59.3 percent (35 of 59), hitting 6 of 18 from 3-point range and 11 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Tigers committed 16 turnovers.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 61-49 all-time against Cowley, including 36-32 in games played at Arkansas City. … The Dragons are 7-4 in true road games this season. … D.J. Dudley surpassed the career 500-point mark on Wednesday. Dudley has 509 career points between Hutchinson and Rider University. … Mikhail Abdul-Hamid hit a 3-point goal in his 15th consecutive game.