Guard Has Himself a Knight
WORCESTER, Mass. – You had to know the chant would come sometime. The Lehigh students who traveled up from Pennsylvania let Colgate know what the Raiders seemingly had already figured out.
“You can’t stop him.”
The chant was for Joe Knight, Lehigh’s junior guard who made an assault on the Patriot League record book on Friday night. All Knight did was score a tournament record 45 points, going 15-19 from the field including 10-12 on three-pointers. Not only were the 45 points a record, but so were his 15 made fields goals and 10 made three-pointers. He single-handedly brought his team into the semifinals, as they knocked off Colgate by a score of 77-60.
“In person, no, I really haven’t seen too many games like that,” said head coach Billy Taylor, who got his 50th career win. “He was unbelievable, a leader out there; he sensed when it was time to take over, to make shots and make plays. He was intelligent.”
Knight did it every which way: a transition layup or two, drives into the defense with no one waiting, some deep three-pointers, shots with a defender in his face, even a couple where he faded away. He simply couldn’t be stopped. In the second half, he scored his team’s first 19 points and 32 in all; he finished the game making his final ten field goal attempts. Colgate tried every defense they could, but none of them worked.
Raiders head coach Emmett Davis has seen a few big-time performances in his career, including a few by David Robinson during his early days as an assistant coach at Navy, but this one stands out.
“I’ve been coaching 23 years, that’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen by an individual shooting the basketball,” said Davis.
Even with Knight’s heroics, Lehigh didn’t shake Colgate for a while. Knight scored eight points in a row to give the Mountain Hawks the lead for good at 42-37. They went up by double digits with just under ten minutes left, and it was never in single digits again after the eight-minute mark.
Knight, who attended Tarrant Community College in Arlington, Texas last year after two seasons at High Point, is no stranger to high-scoring games. As a sophomore at High Point, he scored 40 points at Vanderbilt, which tied the record for points by an opposing player at Memorial Gym. He said the feeling in that game was very similar to the one he had Friday night. Knight averaged 14.5 points per game in two seasons at High Point, where the Tennessee native was originally recruited by current Lehigh assistant coach Brett Reed.
The Mountain Hawks tend to go as Knight goes, which is true of many teams with their point guards. Because Knight scores the ball so well, it’s easy to forget that he led the Patriot League in assists and was second in assist/turnover ratio. Knight says he has adjusted to the offense Lehigh runs, and feels like he’s back to where he was two years ago, when he was one of the top guards in the Big South Conference.
“Joe did a great job of understanding the moment,” said Taylor. “We go as Joe Knight goes, whether it’s scoring or distributing the basketball.”
The fans later chanted, “Bring on Army!” They didn’t get their wish, as Holy Cross used a strong second half to break open what was a tight game throughout the first half in a 76-42 romp over the Black Knights. If the regular season matchups between the two teams is any indicator, Sunday’s game won’t be a repeat of Friday night; Knight scored 12 points on 2-19 shooting in those two games, though he did have eight assists against three turnovers. He will certainly be looking to change that.
