Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas – For the first time since Dec. 15, 2012, St. Edward's defeated a ranked opponent in men's basketball, with the Hilltoppers taking down No. 20 Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday, 89-72 at the RCC.

In a collective effort – as has been the case all season – James Taylor led SEU with 21 points off the bench, Landon Goesling scored 20, Dorian Lopez had 18 points and 11 boards, and Sean Watkins added 11 points and four assists to lead the Hilltoppers (7-2).

SEU handed the Javelinas (8-1) their first loss of the season by jumping out early; TAMK led just once in the game when Will West's 3-pointer gave the Javelinas a 3-2 lead with 18:52 left in the first half. From there, the Hilltoppers used a 58.1 percent shooting effort in the first half to build a 52-36 lead headed into the locker room.

TAMK played a tighter second half, but the Javelinas couldn't dig out of their first-half hole. In the losing effort, Trey Sumpter scored 23 points for the visitors.

St. Edward's last beat a nationally-ranked opponent Dec. 15, 2012, when the Hilltoppers won over No. 10 Northwest Missouri State, 59-50. SEU head coach Andre Cook is 2-3 all-time vs. ranked opponents.


HIGHLIGHTS
• James Taylor scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting; he missed just one 3-point field goal attempt after making his first eight shots from the floor.
• Taylor's double-digit scoring afternoon Saturday gave the junior 31 career games with double-digit points and six this season.
• Landon Goesling scored 20 points, including 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
• A game after hitting 11-for-11 at Newman Thursday, Goesling now has the fifth and sixth-best games in school history for free throws without a miss in a single contest.
• Dorian Lopez collected his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• It was Lopez's 21st game in his career to score at least 10 points in a game, and the sixth of the sophomore's career to grab 10 rebounds or more.
• Sean Watkins scored in double-figures for the 21st time in his career and fifth time this season with 11 Saturday.
• Watkins tied Reggie Shanks for 10th all-time on SEU's career list for 3-point field goals made (90) with his 3-pointer Saturday; Shanks hit 90 from 2008-10 for the Hilltoppers.
• Cory McKendree grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with eight points and two assists Saturday. It marked the fifth time in his career and third time this season to have double-digit boards.
• SEU is 2-3 under head coach Andre Cook vs. ranked opponents.
• The Hilltoppers improved to 31-42 all-time vs. TAMK and Cook's SEU teams hold a 6-5 advantage since his arrival in 2009.

STAT OF THE GAME I
.957 – SEU came into the contest ranking seventh out of nine teams in the Heartland Conference in free-throw percentage (.699), but the Hilltoppers came up big against a ranked opponent and knocked down 22-of-23 free shots vs. TAMK Saturday.

THEY SAID IT
SEU head coach Andre Cook after Saturday's win over Texas A&M-Kingsville…
"It was probably the most complete game we played all year. The guys were fantastic. Thursday was a tough one, you know, tough two-point loss where we made some mistakes at the end, uncharacteristic mistakes, on the road. We didn't practice yesterday because we were traveling back and we really just had an hour of shoot around time to get ready for this game. Was fantastic. The guys really were committed to getting this win."

SEU junior forward James Taylor on the Hilltoppers turning around quickly to knock off TAMK …
I am really proud of everybody. We came here with a lot of excuses to play bad, you know, traveling all day yesterday. It showed our character. We came out here and played hard from the jump and really focused on defense. I'm really proud of the effort we put out there."

Taylor on knocking off an undefeated opponent …
"Of course, coming in they were 8-0 and we knew they were going to be well coached. We knew they were going to run their plays and play good defense. We knew we had to be able to execute on offense to get the shots that we wanted to get. We knew that if we executed on offense that we would be alright. Do our part on defense and communicate, we would be alright."

WHAT'S NEXT
SEU looks for its first win in conference play vs. St. Mary's Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Austin.