HAMPTON — Hampton University dropped its 11th game in a row Thursday night with a 107-86 loss to the College of Charleston.
The 11-game losing streak set a record for consecutive losses in Hampton’s Division I history. Hampton fell to 4-16 overall and 0-9 in Coastal Athletic Association play.
HU sophomore forward Kyrese Mullen finished with a career-high 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field.
“We fought for about a good 30-something minutes,” Hampton coach Buck Joyner said. “They’re tough to plan for. They’re one of the few teams that’s got a very decent inside and outside and they shoot the 3. Second half they didn’t miss. I got to give it to them, they did not miss.”
Hampton hung around with Charleston for most of the game. The Pirates led for the first seven minutes and never trailed by more than eight points before they entered the half down 43-39.
“That means nothing to me or us right now,” Joyner said. “We want to get off the skid and Saturday we plan on getting off the skid.”
The Cougars entered the game averaging 31.2 3-point attempts a game — slotting them at No. 3 in the country. Coach Pat Kelsey’s squad played as advertised and made seven of 24 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half.
Charleston dialed back the frequency of its 3-pointers in the second half, taking just 12 shots, but was able to sink seven of them again.
After shooting 40.9% from the field in the first half, Charleston shot 72.7% from the field in the second half and finished the game with a 54.5% clip.
Mullen was a bright spot for the Pirates. The Norfolk native caught fire from beyond the arc and hit a career-high six of his eight 3-point attempts.
“It was my team trusting me to hit the shot that they gave me,” Mullen said. “… I just kept shooting until I missed.”
Mullen is the second Pirate to log a 30-point performance this season, but the first to do so against a Division I opponent. Freshman forward Jerry Deng tallied 37 points against Division III Mary Baldwin in December.
Tedrick Wilcox and and Jordan Nesbitt followed Mullen with double-digit point performances. Both finished with 17 points.
“Coach Buck has been preaching play with confidence — it was just that,” Wilcox said. “Whenever I pretty much felt comfortable, my job was to shoot the ball. So I did that and they started falling.”
Hampton fell behind in the rebound battle early and struggled all night on the glass. Charleston finished with 46 rebounds compared to Hampton’s 26. Long caroms helped the Cougars collect 13 offensive rebounds in the first half, but Hampton limited them to just four offensive rebounds in the second half.
Charleston ended the final four minutes of the game on a 17-3 run, led by forward Ante Brzovic, who finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds.
“The last four minutes they kicked our butts, and that’s something that we have to learn from,” Joyner said. “… (We) got to bring the same energy for longer. If they could bring it for longer and we can get this kind of production out of our main guys, amongst others, I think they’ll have a chance to get off this thing Saturday and move forward into the second half of season.”
Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com, (757) 803-5774
