Wildcats Begin Heart Play with 84-61 Blowout over Missouri Valley

BALDWIN CITY - No. 19 Baker splashed in a season-high 13 threes and held visiting Missouri Valley to just 19 points in the first half to cruise to an 84-61 win over the Vikings on Wednesday night in the first game of the 2024-25 Heart of America season.

The Wildcats defense forced 15 MVC turnovers in the first half, while Quentin Harvey put up 16 of his game-high 24 points in the opening frame as BU took a commanding 40-19 lead at the half. Baker pushed the lead all the way out to 30 points midway through the second half before finishing off its wire-to-wire win.

Ty Henry marked five of the 13 triples for BU to tally 19 points and had a great performance defensively with five steals. Keynan Russell reached double figures as well with 11 points.

Baker opened the night by connecting on its first three shots from beyond the three-point line with Harvey and Henry each coming out firing. Henry drilled another three to launch a huge 21-2 run for the 'Cats with Harvey going to work for most of the stretch that saw BU lead 36-14 with just over two minutes left in the first half.

Ahmed Mahgoub came right out in the second half and drilled a three on the Wildcats' first possession, while Henry and Harvey each fired off three-point daggers a little bit later. Back-to-back triples from Henry gave Baker its largest lead of the game at 64-34 with 11:03 left to play.

Both benches were able to play the final stretches of the game with Jimmy Dorsey and Javin Shaw draining the final threes of the night to cap an 84-61 victory for BU.

With a 1-0 start to league action this year, the Wildcats are coming off of a 2023-24 season that saw them finish with the most conference wins in program history after going 18-6 in Heart play. They finished as the regular-season runner-up, marking BU's highest finish in the conference standings since 1989.

Baker will head out for its first conference road test of the season with a matchup at Clarke on Saturday, Nov. 16, starting at 2:00 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa.

#BakerBuildsChampions