Blue Knights' 97 Points Not Enough Against Top-Ranked 'Toppers

WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. - No. 1 West Liberty shot lights out to cruise past Urbana men's basketball 132-97 on Monday night in the ASRC in West Liberty, West Virginia.

The Blue Knights, who battled a top-10 ranked team for the second time in three days, fell under .500 on the year to 2-3 overall and 0-2 against Mountain East Conference teams. West Liberty remained unbeaten at 5-0.

UU put up the most points against the Hilltoppers this season, but the WLU squad was extremely efficient on the offensive end. The 'Toppers tied their own league record for most field goals in a MEC game with 48, which they set against Urbana in 2014.

Carlas Jackson led four Blue Knights in double digits with 16 points. He knocked down four 3-pointers and shot a team-best 6 of 11 from the field. Jahmere Howze (15 pts), DeQuan Abrom (15 pts/career high), and Charles Sweatt-Washington (14 pts) were the other contributors.

As a team, UU shot at a decent clip (45.8%) with 33 made field goals. The Blue Knights hit 14 three's, which tied for the team's second-highest total in five years.

West Liberty had eight players score double figures, led by Purdue transfer Dan Monteroso's 10-of-11 shooting for 25 points in 29 minutes. The Hilltoppers shot a blazing 64 percent and drilled 17 three's.

The Blue Knights stayed within striking distance early as Howze's jumper at the 15:12 mark made it a seven-point game, 17-10. But, the Hilltoppers got going and burst out to a 31-10 margin thanks to a quick 14-0 spurt.

WLU made 15 of its first 20 shot attempts, and shot 71 percent overall in the first 20 minutes.

A Sweatt-Washington 3-pointer made it 37-18 midway through the half, and Jackson finished with 13 as the Blue Knights trailed 70-44 at intermission.

UU was only outscored by nine in the second half (63-55) and held a 19-15 advantage on second-chance points.

The Blue Knights will take an extended Thanksgiving break before returning to game action next week. UU will host Charleston at the Grimes Center on Thursday, Dec. 1 for a 7:30 tipoff in MEC action.

​Courtesy of the Urbana University Media Department and posted with their permission