ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – Taylor pulled away from Cleary in the second half for a dominant 91-66 victory in which Kaden Fuhrmann was one board shy of a double-double with 24 points and nine rebounds. Wes Hunt was also terrific off the bench, with career-highs of 15 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, and two steals.
Taylor was in a battle to begin as Cleary knocked down multiple deep triples to take an early 11-4 lead before a 12-0 run gave TU a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the night.
With the Trojans leading by six, the Cougars forced a turnover, and it looked like they had an easy layup before Fuhrmann chased him down and swatted the shot, which led to a three-pointer by Jackson Ullom that gave TU its largest lead of the half at nine.
Cleary cut the lead to four and was trying to inbound to get a last-second shot, but Ullom swooped in to grab a steal and quickly pulled up from beyond the arc and splashed home another triple to conclude the half and give Taylor a 38-31 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Trojans dominated proceedings after the break, steadily extending their lead to a game-high 26 after ten minutes. Fuhrmann knocked down four threes and a layup in that extended 33-14 run, part of his team-high 24 points. The junior sharpshooter continued his hot half, tallying 19 points in the second frame, highlighted by five triples.
TU kept Cleary at arm's length the entire half as Hunt enjoyed lengthy minutes and produced his best game in purple and gray. The standout sophomore notched 12 of his 15 points in the second half along with five of his seven boards and three of his four blocks.
The best shooting game of the season saw the Trojans hit 50 percent from three and 52.3 percent from the field after averaging 37.2 and 29 percent in those categories in the opening two games. The painted area was also dominated by TU highlighted by a 52-37 rebounding advantage and outscoring the Cougars 42-24 inside the paint.
Taylor (2-1) will play inside the same arena and hope for the same efficient shooting on Saturday, November 4, against host RV Rochester (2-0), with the game set to tip off at 1:00 pm.
