Jared Kimbrough scores career-high 24 points in La Salle win over St. Joe’s
Kimbrough battled injuries and has been in and out of the lineup, but he had a breakout performance against St. Joe's Monday night.
Hustle isn’t always characterized as a trait of talent, but it should be. Some players play with more energy, passion and aggression than others.
La Salle’s Jared Kimbrough was an example of that on Monday. No plays were called for Kimbrough. He set hard screens, collected offensive rebounds, finished strong around the rim and ended up with a career-high 24 points.
Kimbrough scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the second half during a 14-2 run. St. Joe’s was down by as much as 21 and got within five in the final minute, but fell to La Salle, 90-83, at Tom Gola Arena.
Kimbrough shot 12-for-13 from the field and finished with six rebounds. Five of those boards came on the offensive glass. It was a fitting performance for Kimbrough, who has been in and out of the starting lineup while dealing with injuries.
“I just let all that stress go and found my groove,” Kimbrough said. “It felt great, especially with my teammates giving me the energy to keep going and playing harder.”
La Salle’s defensive pressure changed the tone of the game. St. Joe’s was on pace for 60 points in the first half before La Salle (6-8, 3-4 Atlantic 10) started a run-and-jump press at half court. The Hawks (1-10, 0-5 A-10) had one turnover in their first 19 possessions and four in their next five after the change. They finished with 18 turnovers.
“We generally take care of the ball,” Hawks head coach Billy Lange said. “In those stretches we did not, and it’s just simply coming back to meet the basketball.”
The 90 points marked a new high
The 90 points marked a new scoring high under coach Ashley Howard, who is in this third year at La Salle. La Salle scored 89 points earlier this season against Fordham.
The Explorers are tough to guard at times because of all their options. Kimbrough was the Explorers’ leading scorer and freshman Anwar Gill finished with 15 points. The Explorers don’t have a player averaging double figures, but they continue to reach new scoring heights.
“I think they did a great job of getting the ball inside to Jared, and then it opened up everything else for us,” Howard said.
“We need to keep finding a way to get our guys to share the ball. The last three games we didn’t do that, and we struggled mightily.”
It was another underwhelming defensive performance for the Hawks. Jack Forrest scored 25 points on 9-for-10 shooting, Taylor Funk had 17 points and Jordan Hall finished with 11 points and 11 assists. The team shot 52%, but couldn’t get enough stops.
When asked what needs to be fixed on defense, Lange said: “Literally everything.” The Hawks have tried man-to-man and zone defenses, but nothing has stopped opponents. St. Joe’s has allowed 80 or more points in 10 of its 11 games. The lone exclusion was a 67-64 win over Albany.
“We’ve tried everything,” Lange said. “We got to be mindful of foul trouble, fatigue, guys on minutes restrictions and all those things I will never make an excuse about.”