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INSTITUTE, W. Va. – Urbana's
Malik Jacobs scored a game-high 27 points, but the Blue Knights came up short on the road Monday against West Virginia State, 87-70.
The Blue Knights dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-5 against MEC foes while the host Yellow Jackets improved to 3-6 (2-4 MEC). UU's struggles at WVSU continued as the program remains winless in games played inside the Walker Convocation Center. The Blue Knights never led in Monday's setback.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively as the Blue Knights trailed 16-12 following
Ethan Snapp's trey with nine minutes left in the opening half. Snapp, who was coming off a career-high 36 points the last time out, was limited to seven points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Then, WVSU caught fire and never looked back.
The Yellow Jackets built a 20-point lead with a back-breaking 16-0 run, keeping the Blue Knights without a made field goal for nearly six minutes. UU trailed 41-21 at halftime, and despite outscoring WVSU in the second half, couldn't overcome the poor offensive display in the first 20 minutes.
After the Yellow Jackets went up by 26 in the second half, the Blue Knights responded to make things interesting. UU put together an 11-0 run as
Matt Treacy's layup at 6:54 made it 71-56. Then, the momentum continued when Jacobs' layup with 2:19 left cut the deficit to nine, 78-69, but that was as close as UU would get.
WVSU hit 7 of 10 free throws down the stretch while UU could only manage to score one point during the final two minutes of regulation.
Jacobs led all scorers with his best scoring output of the season, finishing an impressive 10 of 13 from the field with multiple dunks. The senior also went 6 of 7 at the line and narrowly missed a double-double with a team-high nine boards.
Treacy chipped in with 10 points and seven boards while junior
Jordan Bradley recorded nine points. UU shot a season-low 37.7 percent overall from the floor. The first half was particularly rough with the Blue Knights going 2 of 13 from three-point range and 3 for 11 at the free throw line. The Blue Knights improved at the line in the second half by going 23 of 27.
Both teams shot 4 of 20 (20%) from beyond the arc, as the Yellow Jackets shot 48 percent overall from the field. The Jackets outscored the Blue Knights 64-28 on points in the paint.
WVSU's Pat Johnson-Agwu produced a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards to lead four players in double figures.
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UU has a couple weeks of rest over the Holiday Break before returning to action. The Blue Knights will host Salem University on Saturday, Jan. 5 with tipoff slated for 3 p.m. ET. The Tigers (7-4) defeated the Blue Knights 78-72 in the season opener.
