Harvey Drops 35-Point Night, Wildcats Fall to Ottawa in Home Opener

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Junior forward Quentin Harvey recorded a career-high 35 points, but that wasn't enough for the Wildcats to overcome non-conference foe Ottawa as Baker men's basketball fell to the Braves, 85-80 on Wednesday night inside the Collins Center in BU's first home game of the 2023-24 season.

The Wildcats got off to hot start after building a double-digit lead in the first half, but the Braves cut it to a two-point ballgame at halftime before going ahead in the second half and holding off a late BU surge to come away with the road win.

Harvey's 35-point outing masked a Wildcats side that shot just over 21 percent (6-for-28) from three-point range with Harvey accounting for four of Baker's six triples in the game. Meanwhile, the Braves had their struggles from the charity stripe, going 15-for-26 from the line, but made up for it by shooting 36 percent (8-for-22) from behind-the-arc.

Noah Rigatuso joined Harvey in double figures with 11 points, while the BU bench chipped in a solid 26 points with Brock Burling totaling eight points and seven rebounds and Ahmed Mahgoub adding seven points in his Collins debut.

It was the big men for the Wildcats that got them going early on as Burling, Harvey and Rigatuso provided the first 18 points with a Burling stick-back giving Baker an 18-6 lead seven minutes into the contest.

After the Braves got within five, Braden Griffiths scored a basket and added a three a little later to put Baker up by double digits again.

The Wildcats would see their cushion get smaller and smaller down the stretch of the first half as an OU layup made it a one-possession game with just under five minutes left in opening frame. Harvey connected on back-to-back threes to counter OU's scoring spurt and make it 41-36 in favor of BU before the Braves climbed back to bring their halftime deficit to 44-42.

The Braves tied things up pretty quickly out of the break and went on to secure their first lead of the game since the opening minute with a three by Jayden Hibbitt putting them ahead, 52-51. OU continued to add to its lead throughout the second half, going up by 10 with just under eight minutes left to play.

Trailing 81-71, the Wildcats mounted a late rally with five unanswered points making it a five-point deficit for them with about 90 seconds left in the game. The Braves picked up a crucial offensive put-back to halt the BU momentum and went on to seal the game from the line after Baker's Dylan Smith made it a three-point game with 17 seconds left.

After losing the turnover battle in the season opener at Baptist Bible, the Baker defense forced 15 turnovers against the Braves, while committing just nine on its end.

The Wildcats make a quick return to the hardwood with a tough matchup against No. 5 Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 3 with tipoff from the Collins Center set for 7 p.m. in Baldwin City.

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