St. Edward’s men’s basketball faced off against the UT Dallas Comets in preparation for the exhibition game against UT Austin this upcoming Monday.
The Hilltoppers won the jump, and junior Blake Nielson scored the first points through a backdoor layup. Instantly, St. Edward’s utilized an almost constant full court press that rattled the Comets, culminating in multiple turnovers. Sophomore Sean Elkinton was fouled shortly after yet missed both free throws. Soon after, he was fouled again on a layup and converted to go up 4-0. With the first timeout called with less than 15 minutes in the first period left, St. Edward’s led 13-7. Junior Bennet Mohn was later fouled on a layup and converted the free throw, lengthening St. Edward’s advantage up to 22-11. At halftime, the Hilltoppers led 53-20.
In the second half, St. Edward’s started strong with multiple takeaways. With less than 14 minutes left, the Hilltoppers were up 17-11. Junior Gavino Ramos had a massive block that led the stands to jump to their feet in excitement. However, St. Edward’s struggled to put points on the board for a couple minutes, causing the Comets to almost close the gap between points. With under 12 minutes left, senior Jeff Gary shot a three point to go 20-13. UT Dallas almost immediately responded with a three pointer of their own to be within four points of St. Edward’s lead.
A few plays later, Nielson was shooting free throws, and although he missed the first one, Comets’ Matthew Soto crossed the top of the key. This allowed Nielson to reshoot his free throw, and he made both attempts. With less than four minutes left in the second period, St. Edward’s led 40-30. The Hilltoppers secured multiple last-minute steals that were converted into layups, pushing the score up to 46-33. Senior Aleu Aleu was fouled on a layup, which he converted into a three-point play. In the final seconds, freshman Garrett Smith scored a floater to lock in the final score at 51-35.
After the game, an extra 10 minutes was put on the clock for the benches of both teams to get some play time. St. Edward’s took an early 10-0 lead with seven minutes left. Senior Jaylen Gordon made a few big-time plays, including a two-point shot and two successful free throws that pushed St. Edward’s lead. The final score was locked in at 25-8. Elkinton led the game with 18 total points, making eight of his 12 attempted shots. The final overall score, including the extra play time, was 128-53.
St. Edward’s utilized the full court press this game on almost every defensive play, which gave them an edge in stealing turnovers against the Comets.
“We’re trying to be, have constant pressure,” Head Coach Andre Cook said. “Offensive pressure, defensive pressure, that’s who we’re trying to be. We’ve worked on that since we started practicing Sept. 1. And that’s who we are, we’ve committed to it. With that, you have to have some guys off the bench who can play and I think that we really are gaining more and more depth, which is a good thing.”
