By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Caleb Bennett had a steal and then a dunk for Missouri Western in the first 23 seconds.
Later in the half, he had a monster, one-handed slam which capped a 6-0 run that gave the Griffons a 23-21 lead and forced an Emporia State timeout.
Those turned out to be signs of a big night to come for the St. Joseph native.
Bennett, a redshirt junior, finished with 22 points, a school-record tying eight steals and three highlight-reel dunks, as the No. 22 Griffons (7-1) defeated Emporia State, 70-61, at the Fieldhouse Thursday night.
"He set the tone early for us," head coach Will Martin said of Bennett's performance. "He got the steal, the emphatic dunk. Someone has to start sending his stuff into SportsCenter, man.”
No one has seen the best from him yet. What I love is the leadership. What I love is the spirit, intensity and aggression he brings every single day."
Bennett may have set the tone right out of the chute, but it was something of a sleepy start for the Griffons, particularly on offense.
Missouri Western trailed by as many as seven in the first half, and trailed 21-17 with 9:54 to go. The Griffons then went on a 15-2 run to flip the momentum and take a 34-31 lead into the locker room.
Twenty first-half turnovers by the Hornets (5-3) helped fuel that run. The Griffons forced a season-high 28 turnovers and turned that into 26 points Thursday.
Steals were seemingly falling from the sky for Missouri Western - they forced 21 of them, including 16 in the first half.
“I was disappointed that we didn’t convert more on that,” Martin said. “But, I’m proud of our guys for the work they’ve put in. Our guys have shown me that they can do a lot in the press. I think it took (Emporia State) out of their game a little bit.”
Offensively, Missouri Western was a dismal 1-of-15 from beyond the arc in the first half, but they turned their luck around from long range almost immediately in the second half.
Will Eames hit a three-pointer just 16 seconds in. Reese Glover then hit a three of his own 44 seconds after that.
The Griffons made 3 of their first 5 three-pointers attempted in the second half, which allowed the Griffons to go up 53-41 with 10:54 left.
Emporia State didn’t go away, taking advantage of some Missouri Western foul trouble and knocking down a few key shots to stay within single digits.
The Griffons, however, made enough baskets of their own down the stretch, and weathered the storm, thanks to big buckets from Q Mays, Bennett and Tyrell Carroll, who finished with 15 points, five assists and five steals.
“(Tyrell) didn’t have his best game,” Martin said, “but everyone knew we were going to TC late. He calls out whatever ball screen he wants, and he goes to work. He hit some big buckets for us late. I’m really proud of him for his leadership and his confidence.”
Mays had 14 points and Eames 11 to give the Griffons four players in double figures. Senior Jumah’ri Turner led the Hornets with a game-high 26 points, including a 4-of-4 effort from deep.
Up next? No. 5 Washburn (8-0), who just upended No. 1 Maryville 84-82 in OT at Bearcat Arena Thursday, ending the Bearcats’ historic 28-game winning streak.
Saturday’s showdown with the unbeaten Ichabods tips off at 7:30 p.m.
“There’s no pressure,” Bennett said of the upcoming game. “We all love basketball. We all come to compete every single day. Practice, game, weights. Whatever it may be. We all love what we do and love each other. When you have that kind of connectivity, it just makes every day easy.”
Is the pressure on? Some would say yes. Do the Griffons want the pressure? Expectations?
Maybe, but most of that pressure is coming from within.
“There is nobody who has more expectation of me than I have of myself,” Martin said. “And our guys are the same way. Individually and collectively. There’s no one out there who has a higher expectation for our team than us. It’s us versus us. Period.
“We’re not playing Washburn Saturday. We’re playing us. The best version of us. We’re going to continue to get better. And when we find a better version of us, it’s going to be us versus that better version, and we’re going to try and beat that.”
