King becomes sixth Buccaneer to net 40 points in a game; tied for the third-most by an ETSU player

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Jan. 11, 2023) – Mr. King had himself a career night in Charleston. 

Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) scored 42 points, becoming the sixth Buccaneer all-time to net at least 40, as ETSU men’s basketball cruised to a 96-74 victory over The Citadel on Wednesday night inside McAlister Field House.

King, who scored the Bucs’ first 11 points to start the second half, was 14-of-19 from the field and 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. The 42 points are tied for the third-most in ETSU single-game history, while marking the 10th time a Buccaneer has scored at least 40 in a game. This season, the 42 points are tied for the sixth-most by a Division I player. The 42 points were the most given up by The Citadel since Marshall’s Skip Henderson went off for 55 in 1988, while it’s the most points by a Southern Conference player since Furman’s Jordan Lyons had 54 against North Greenville on Nov. 15, 2018. It’s also the most points by a SoCon player against a Division I opponent since Wofford’s Fletcher Magee scored 45 against Chattanooga in February 2018.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• ETSU snapped its two-game skid and improved to 7-11 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Bucs extended their SoCon road win streak to five straight games, which dates back to last season. With the loss, The Citadel dipped to 6-11, 1-4, while ETSU has now won 17 of the last 20 games played over the Bulldogs in Charleston.
• As a team, ETSU shot 53 percent (34-64) from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc (12-24). The Bulldogs finished with a 46 percent clip (26-56) and went 6-of-18 from long distance (33 percent).
• ETSU was 16-for-21 (76 percent) at the charity stripe, while The Citadel went 16-of-20 (80 percent) at the line.
• The Blue and Gold set season highs in points and made threes (12), while posting the second-highest shooting percentage on the year.
• The Buccaneer defense forced 20 turnovers, resulting in a season-high 16 steals and registered 28 points off those Bulldog miscues.
• The Blue and Gold assisted on 17 of their 34 made field goals.
• ETSU won the battle of the boards by four, 35-31, and cashed 13 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
• Both teams scored 38 points in the paint, while the Bucs – who fielded a full roster for just the seventh time this season – produced 28 bench points.
• ETSU led wire-to-wire and had its largest lead at 24 (63-39) with 14:57 remaining in the second half.

TOP PERFORMERS

• King, who went 0-for-9 from the field (0-4 from beyond the arc) last time out against Furman, netted 14 field goals, tying for the 10th-most by a Buccaneer. The Albany, N.Y. native had 32 points in the second half where he was 11-for-14 from the field and 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. To go with the 42-point outburst, King also totaled a career-high seven steals, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists.
• King joined Tom Chilton, Dimeco Childress, T.J. Cromer, Tim Smith and Harley “Skeeter” Swift as the only Bucs to score at least 40 points in a game. Chilton holds the top two scoring records with 52 and 47-point games, while he and Childress also had 42-point efforts. Childress was the last Buccaneer to score at least 42 as his game came against Western Carolina back on Feb. 16, 2002.
• Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) scored a career-high 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and two blocks.
• Josh Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.), who made his return after missing the last three games, finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
• DeAnthony Tipler (Ashland, Miss.) also stuffed the stat sheet as he totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
• The Citadel was led by Stephen Clark as he finished with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. 

GAME SUMMARY

King, who scored 10 points in the first half, saw his Bucs net the first four points and the Blue and Gold never looked back. 

The Citadel cut the deficit to one on four different possessions, but with ETSU ahead 22-21 midway through the first half, the Bucs used a 13-1 run to open a 13-point lead when Seymour finished off the traditional three-point-play, making it 35-22 with 4:28 left before halftime. 

ETSU eventually led by as many as 16 points in the opening 20 minutes and took a 42-28 advantage into the locker room. 

King was 3-for-5 from the field in the first half, while ETSU made 15 field goals and went 9-of-10 at the free throw line. 

The Bucs came out possessed in the second half as they made their first nine shots – King scoring the first 11 points – and ETSU saw its lead soar to 24, 63-39, when King forced a steal and laid one home at the 14:57 mark. 

With the Bucs burning down the nets and having fun, The Citadel had one last run in them as they used a 22-7 surge to cut the margin to nine, 70-61 with 8:16 remaining. 

ETSU put a stop to the run and pushed its lead back into double figures when Allen Strothers (Newport News, Va.) made a beautiful feed to Taylor for a dunk and the Bucs led 76-63 with just over five minutes left to play. 

The closest the Bulldogs would get was 11 and King then put the game on ice as he scored 14 points in the final three and a half minutes, including banking in a corner three where he got fouled and converted the four-point play in the closing minutes.   

UP NEXT

The Bucs head home to host Mercer on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. Saturday is a doubleheader as the Buccaneer women host Samford at 1 p.m. Fans can purchase one ticket to watch both games by calling the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-3878 or by visiting ETSUTickets.com.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball page.