HPU swamps Bridgewater by 39
Nov. 6—HIGH POINT — High Point University men's basketball coach G.G. Smith indicated in the offseason that the Panthers would play at an uptempo pace this season.
With transfer Abdoulaye Thiam making a impressive debut, HPU ran from the start and posted a 100-61 exhibition victory over Division III Bridgewater College before a mostly full house in the Qubein Center on Saturday night.
The Panther shot just over 50 percent from the field, held the Eagles to 31 percent shooting, forced 24 turnovers and logged 30 fastbreak points. The negative in playing at the fast pace was 19 turnovers, a lot of them made while trying to hustle the ball up the floor.
"We talked about playing faster and we did that early,' Smith said. "We probably had too many turnovers, 19 is a bit too much but if you are going to push the pace, those things are going to happen. . .I like the way we ran the floor. I like how our bigs ran the floor, our guards really pushed the ball and initially we got some easy baskets in transition, which helped us get to 100 points."
Thiam, a 6-4 guard who played little at Minnesota last season, started and scored a team-high 23 on 8 of 15 shooting that included 3 of 6 from 3.
"Tonight felt really great because I didn't have this opportunity where I was at," Thiam said. "Having this opportunity, where I can come in and play and be me. It was a good experience. My guys trusted me, I trusted them. It was overall good basketball."
Brought in to fill the gap left by the transfer of last year's leading scorer John-Michael Wright to Oklahoma State, Thiam made an immediate impact, hitting a pair of corner 3s and a medium-range jumper in scoring 8 of the Panthers' first 12 points as they took an early seven-point lead.
"If he's open, he better shoot it and if he's not he better pass it," Smith said. "We needed somebody who can score the ball and he can get hot pretty quick. We needed somebody who can score the ball and that's why we brought him here. He likes to place fast. That is what he did in high school and junior college. He didn't get that opportunity to play at Minnesota and I think he's grateful to be here and having an opportunity to play. He's worked hard all summer and fall to be in the starting position."
Jaden House added 22 points while Zack Austin had 13 points. Ahmard Harvey, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Alex Holt had seven and Austin six. Bryant Randleman dished eight assists.
House, who played a team-high 23 minutes, hit 7 of 9 shots from the field and made 7 of 9 free-throw attempts.
"I thought he was great," Smith said. "We talked about his shot selection in the offseason. I thought he took some better shots. He showed poise and was good on the defensive end. But it was his poise. He was talking more and leading more. He's playing on both ends and has a good balance. He's been more of a scorer and wasn't great on the defensive end but now he's mixing in his scoring with his defense."
Bridgewater stayed close in the first seven minutes and trailed just 16-13 with 13:25 left in the first half. HPU, forcing turnovers and misses, scored 21 of the next 23 points in going up 37-15 with just over four minutes left in the half and stretched the margin to 55-21 at the break.
Capped by Austin's windmill dunk, the Panthers scored the first seven points of the second half to push the lead over 40 for the first time at 62-21. Smith substituted freely after that — 12 players saw at least 10 minutes of action — and the Eagles made their best run of nine straight points in cutting the lead to 27 as they took advantage of turnovers on five straight possessions by HPU's reserves.
Smith put the starters back on the floor and they stretched the lead back to 40 with just over 8:30 left in the game.
The Panthers open the regular season on Monday against Division III Pfeiffer.
