Wisconsin Herd make it six straight wins, edge out Westchester Knicks

The Wisconsin Herd tallied their sixth straight victory Friday night by rolling past the Westchester Knicks and continuing their undefeated four-game road trip.

Racking up their sixth straight victory, the Wisconsin Herd continued to write a perfect road trip as they defeated the Westchester Knicks in a 112-106 victory Friday night.

The Herd got their night started off on the right note to grab control of the contest early on following the opening tip. That eventually grew into a double-digit lead and the Herd were able to maintain such an advantage by holding a 31-19 edge at the end of one.

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Westchester shrugged off their first quarter woes and started to come alive during the second quarter by first erasing their double-digit hole.

The Knicks were able to take brief control of the lead in the latter stages of the period, but the Herd battled to eventually take a 53-50 advantage into the halftime break.

After some back and forth buckets from the two teams, the Herd regained possession of the lead midway through the third quarter. The Knicks responded with a three-point flurry supplied by JJ Moore, but a deep bomb from Jaylen Adams served as the perfect punctuation for the Herd taking an 80-74 lead into the final frame.

Wisconsin were fueled by an incredible run from Rayjon Tucker to build up their biggest lead of the night (15) in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. But the Knicks continued to press on with their second half comeback and came within 7 of the Herd at the 2:44 mark of the period.

That was as far as the Herd allowed them to take their push and it was Adams as well as a triple from two-way player Cam Reynolds that were able to put the finishing touches on the Herd’s sixth victory of the season.

Turning our attention to the Herd’s individual performances, Rayjon Tucker took center stage as he compiled his best outing of his rookie season. The 22-year-old put together a career-high performance with 28 points on 13 shots (2-for-4 from three, 5-for-7 from the foul line), four rebounds as well as four assists, one turnover and one block in over 33 and a half minutes of burn.

Tucker was relentless in attacking the basket and putting down incredibly strong finishes, often through contact, which helped his ability to get to the free throw line. From that standpoint, Tucker led the Herd’s charge to attack the heart of the Knicks’ defense and put up their most points in the paint for a single game as a result at 56 this season.

Joining forces with Tucker was second-year guard, Jaylen Adams, who finished with his second straight double-double performance at 26 points on 12 shots (3-for-8 from long distance, 9-for-9 from the free throw line), 10 rebounds, five assists as well as five turnovers and two steals and was a +15 in over 33 and a half minutes of burn.

Adams’ three-point shooting wasn’t as strong as it has been for many games this season, but that didn’t stop him from putting down a deep triple near the halfcourt line to give the Herd a six-point lead at the end of the third period. And the St. Bonaventure alum nearly supplied half of the Herd’s 19 made free throws on the night.

Friday night also marked the Herd’s roughest three-point outing on the season as they collectively hit on just 25.7 percent of their 35 three-point tries against the Knicks. Reynolds struggled in that regard as he only connected on one of his eight triples, but the one he did can couldn’t have come at a better time as it helped the Herd fend off the Knicks late in the night and take a 103-93 edge with 1:41 remaining in the final period.

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The Herd will round out their four-game road trip when they take on the Delaware Blue Coats Saturday night for a 6 p.m. central time showdown.

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