AUSTIN, Texas — Andre Cook's Hilltoppers have always built their offense around the movement of the ball and the players without it. With most of last season's scoring graduated or transferred, more hands are shaping each possession.
On Monday night, St. Edward's swung the ball side to side, attacked closeouts, and kicked it back out, squeezing and stretching Trinity's defense like an accordion in a 100-78 win at the Recreation and Athletics Center. The Hilltoppers assisted on 27 of their 36 baskets, hit 16 3-pointers, and put five players in double figures.
SEAN ELKINTON drew attention wherever he went. He screened, posted up, stepped out to hit three 3-pointers, and bullied his way inside for a team-high 23 points, adding nine rebounds and four assists. CONOR MCMANUS kept defenders chasing him around screens, while PARKER HANNAH and ROBERT CONRAD got into the paint off the dribble and combined to shoot 7-for-9 from deep. Hannah scored 20, Conrad added 16, and McManus finished with 13.
Freshman NOLAN BARKLEY read the movement and kept the ball ahead of the defense. He handed out 10 assists without a turnover, finishing one point and two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
Trinity led by six early and was still within a basket at 31-29 with less than six minutes left in the first half. Then the Hilltoppers found points three different ways in just over a minute. DONOVAN SANTORO drew a foul and made both free throws, Conrad hit a 3-pointer, and Hannah pulled up for another in transition. The lead was 10 before Trinity scored again.
Conrad added five free throws in the final 1:20 of the half, drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt to earn his last three. The Hilltoppers went into the break ahead 50-39 with nine made 3-pointers.
McManus hit two more in a 25-second span early in the second half. Hannah followed with a layup and a 3-pointer, and Elkinton went back inside, finishing through contact and making the free throw to put St. Edward's ahead 71-50 with 13:03 remaining.
Trinity made the Hilltoppers find another answer. Jackson Lawson scored 10 points in a 12-0 run, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and dropping in a hook shot to cut the lead to 72-64 with 8:31 left.
Seventeen seconds later, MAX FILDERMAN hit a 3-pointer.
The Tigers got within 10 once more when Will Bronson converted a three-point play. McManus answered with a layup, and Hannah scored the next five points, hitting his fourth 3-pointer before finishing inside. St. Edward's led 86-69 with less than five minutes remaining.
Santoro added 10 points off the bench, including a late 3-pointer that brought the Hilltoppers to 98. WONDER KAHOZI supplied the final basket, and St. Edward's finished with 50 points in each half and just seven turnovers for the game.
Bronson led Trinity with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Lawson added 16 points and eight rebounds. The Hilltoppers improved to 3-1.
