Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas — The Rattlers showed no love for rival St. Edward's Thursday, slamming a 25-point road victory to stay among the top in the Heartland Conference.
The 81-56 blowout for St. Mary's (16-6, 8-4 in conference) saw a big performances from the big man
Kevin Kotzur (RS-Sr., La Vernia, Texas), who worked over the Hilltoppers (14-13, 3-6 in conference) in the paint.
Kotzur lit it up from underneath to score 28 points on the Hilltoppers' home court, going 11 of 16 from the floor. The center also led in rebounds with 11 and steals with two. From outside, guards
Moses Sundufu (Sr., Hopkins, Minn.) and
Daryell Taylor (Sr., Houston) chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, while
Fred Wilson (Jr., Seattle) hit 6 of 6 free throws for eight points.
A crowd of 988 saw a short-lived, five-point lead for the Hilltoppers four minutes into the game, before the Rattlers really heated up. They led by six at the half, 35-29, and charged to outscore St. Edward's 46-27 in the final frame. St. Mary's shot over 50 percent in all shooting categories Thursday, performing up to its stance as the league's No. 3 seed.
The Rattlers were able to rotate their entire bench throughout the contest with
Christian Bower (Jr., Chandler, Ariz.) playing all but five minutes of the game. Only one game behind the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Arkansas-Fort Smith and Newman University, both of whom the Rattlers recently beat, St. Mary's is in a must-win situation for hopes of hosting the conference tournament. The Rattlers have also nearly sealed their conference-tournament bid, needing just one more win to clinch a spot.
St. Mary's continues on the road to play provisional conference member McMurry University in its second-to-last road game of the regular season Saturday in Abilene, Texas at 4 p.m.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
