Wisconsin Herd eke out ninth straight victory, beat Long Island Nets

The Wisconsin Herd fended off the Long Island Nets to earn their ninth straight victory Tuesday night to maintain their perfect record on the road.

Kicking off their two-game set on the road, the Wisconsin Herd mustered up their ninth straight victory by edging out the Long Island Nets in a 125-116 win at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum Tuesday night.

The tone for the back and forth affair was set straight away as both the Herd and the Nets got settled into their respective grooves throughout the first quarter. But it was the Nets who enjoyed a little more success from downtown, which helped them hold a 35-32 edge at the end of one.

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Despite plenty of attempts throughout the second period, neither the Herd nor the Nets could shake one another.

While the Herd were able to make a mini run by repeatedly attacking the heart of the Nets’ defense, Long Island continued to hang around as they trailed 62-60 going into the halftime break.

Wisconsin battled through plenty of sloppy and mental lapses for stretches throughout the third quarter and it led to the Nets retaking a slight lead briefly in the latter stages of the period. But thanks to a corner three from Brandon McCoy, the Herd were able to take a 93-91 advantage into the final frame.

The Nets quickly regained control of the contest once the fourth quarter got underway, but the Herd were able to steal it back as the period went along. While there were plenty of harried moments, the Herd were able to rely on the trio of Jaylen Adams, Frank Mason III and Rayjon Tucker to close out their ninth victory of the season just as the Nets ran out of steam.

It was Adams who stood as the Herd’s leading scorer for the night, though not by a considerable margin. The St. Bonaventure alum matched his season-high of 27 points on 21 shots (3-for-7 from three, 2-for-3 from the foul line), nine rebounds, seven assists, three turnovers and pair of steals in nearly 35 and a half minutes.

16 of Adams’ 27 total points came over the second half and it was his probing of the paint that stood out in a big way that helped fuel the Herd’s scoring output from that area of the floor as they scored a season-high 62 paint points for the game.

Following Adams, the 22-year-old Tucker put together another efficient outing by collecting 25 points on 15 shots (1-for-4 from three) and he was aggressive in attacking the basket as well as getting to the free throw line where he hit four of his five attempts.

It was great to see two-way player Frank Mason back in action for the Herd after having been out of action for the affiliate for the last three weeks, though Mason did make his Bucks debut over last weekend. The Kansas product ended up with 23 points on 20 shots (3-for-9 from long distance, 0-for-1 from the free throw line), six rebounds, five assists, three turnovers and a couple of blocks in over 31 minutes of burn.

In total, the Herd’s starting lineup of Mason, Adams, Tucker, Cam Reynolds and Jemerrio Jones held up the squad throughout the night as they accounted for 105 of the team’s 125 total points.

The Herd will look for a potential tenth straight victory when they visit the Maine Red Claws Thursday night for a 6 o’clock central time showdown.