Delaware Dominates Inside as Blue Hens Remain Perfect with 81-73 Win at Lafayette

Saturday, November 16

Easton, PA

5:00 PM

University of Delaware

5-0,0-0CAA

Lafayette

2-2,0-0Patriot

Delaware

Lafayette

Photo by: Mark Jordan

Delaware Dominates Inside as Blue Hens Remain Perfect with 81-73 Win at Lafayette

11/16/2019 7:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. – Delaware used a hot shooting performance during the second half and dominated Lafayette inside as the Blue Hens remained unbeaten on the season with an 81-73 road win over the Leopards Saturday night at the Kirby Sports Center.

Delaware (5-0) connected on its first nine shots of the second period and finished 17 of 28 from the field during the half, quickly extending a three-point lead at the break and never trailing from there. The Blue Hens shot 56.7 percent on the night and enjoyed a commanding 58-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Nate Darling again led the way with 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting from the floor, while Justyn Mutts scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half. Kevin Anderson contributed 14 points during the win, while Collin Goss added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Delaware's 5-0 start is the best since the 1998-99 squad opened with eight consecutive wins, and is tied for the third longest streak to open a year in program history.

The teams traded the lead through the first nine minutes of the game, but Lafayette (2-2) hit three triples in the span of a minute and a half to go in front 33-24 at the 5:24 mark.

The Leopards were still up nine at 37-28 with 3:40 on the clock, but Delaware scored the final 12 points of the period to take a 40-37 advantage into the break. Darling scored the first seven points of the run, and after Anderson hit a three-pointer to put UD in front, Mutts capped the spurt with a pair of free throws.

Lafayette scored the first bucket of the second half but Delaware quickly responded with nine straight points to take a 49-39 lead with 17:14 remaining. The Leopards closed within 73-68 with 4:25 on the clock, before the Blue Hens put the game away by scoring the next eight points to extend the margin to 81-68.

Head Coach Martin Ingelsby
"I challenged our guys to be better defensively late in the first half, and they responded. We were able to get some stops coming out of the second half, and then got into a flow offensively. We spend a lot of time working on our defensive habits, and Justyn Mutts gives us a lot of versatility on that end of the floor. Lafayette took away the three-point line, but we moved the ball and our guards were able to get downhill toward the basket."

Justyn Mutts
"Lafayette is a good team, but we were able to stay locked in and get a big road win. My teammates and coaches have shown confidence in me, and our guards got me the ball in the right spots on the floor. I'm just trying to stay within the flow of our offense."