Blue Hens Set Mark for Best Start in Program History With 84-76 Victory Over Columbia

Monday, December 2

Newark, DE

7:00 PM

University of Delaware

9-0,0-0CAA

Columbia

3-6,0-0Ivy League

Columbia

Delaware

Photo by: Sarah Boekholder

Blue Hens Set Mark for Best Start in Program History With 84-76 Victory Over Columbia

12/2/2019 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – All five Blue Hen starters reached double figures and Delaware never trailed while posting an 84-76 win over Columbia Monday night at the Bob Carpenter Center, setting the mark for the best start in program history.

Delaware, which received a vote in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll, is 9-0 for the first time in Blue Hen history.

Justyn Mutts paced Delaware with a career-high 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Ryan Allen added 20 points on the night. Nate Darling contributed 16 points, Kevin Anderson chipped in 11 points and five assists, and Collin Goss supplied 10 points.

Delaware shot 54.8 percent from the floor, knocked down 9 three-pointers, and finished 17 of 19 from the foul line.

The Blue Hens hit their first four shots from behind the arc while jumping out to a quick 14-4 lead, and stretched the margin to 38-25 with 3:14 left in the half. The Lions later closed within 11, before a baseline jumper by Allen gave Delaware a 42-29 cushion at the break.

mbb20-allen-columbia

UD increased the advantage to 61-43 on a Jacob Cushing three-pointer with 14 minutes to play, but Columbia rallied to pull within 65-51 at the 8:54 mark.

It was still a four-point game at 72-68 with 5:06 on the clock, but Mutts hit two free throws and a layup before Goss converted a layup to extend the margin back to 10 and put the game away.

Martin Ingelsby
"We got off to a great start and we able to get up 13 at the half. We weren't as locked in on transition early in the second half and let them get confident, but we did a great job settling down and getting the ball inside to Justyn Mutts. We have weapons, and they're starting to gel and are playing off each other well. We've made unbelievable strides with our program and our culture. I congratulated our guys and we're going to continue to be greedy."

Ryan Allen
"It feels good, but we expected it. We have a lot of talent and Coach mentioned the record, but it's not our focus. We're trying to go 1-0 every day, either in a game or practice."