Trojans Drop Road Game to Top-25 Marian
INDIANAPOLIS – Taylor opened Saturday’s tilt at No. 24 Marian on fire but lost its touch as the game progressed and the hosts used an extended mid-game run to take control of the 67-54 final.
The Trojans shot 57.1 percent with five makes in nine tries from deep in the first half, getting 18 points from Jason Hubbard and eight from Gavin Yoon in the opening stanza.
TU led by as many as 11 in the first half with a 23-12 advantage, but Marian (16-4, 8-4 CL) withstood the early onslaught and battled back to take a 32-31 lead to the break.
The Knights continued to assert themselves out of the intermission, netting the first 14 points of the second half to open a 15-point gap over the Purple and Gold. The 14-0 stretch capped a longer, 34-9, run that flipped Taylor’s 11-point lead into a 15-point deficit.
Marian maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the way, as Taylor shot just 31.0 percent in the half and could not mount any charge.
Hubbard continued his excellent production, posting team-highs of 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals. The game marked Hubbard’s ninth double-double of the season and his third-straight game with at least 25 points.
With his ninth 20-point game in his last 10, Hubbard climbed two more spots on Taylor’s all-time scoring charts and into 15th with 1,586 points.
Yoon followed up on his strong first half to end with 13 points and Aaron Hahn chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds.
Taylor (8-15, 4-8 CL) has a pair of home games up next on its schedule, with a date against MVNU (15-8, 6-5 CL) on Tuesday and a game with Bethel (12-12, 5-7 CL) on Saturday.