John Smith had no idea how many points he needed.
Late in the Winona State University men’s basketball team’s 72-54 victory at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, the senior center wasn’t even sure how many points he actually had.
It turns out that the All-American got pulled from the blowout just in time, leaving the floor just two points shy of tying David Zellmann’s all-time career scoring mark — a record he’ll have a prime opportunity to break back home at McCown Gymnasium this weekend.
“I knew I needed 27 or something — I’ve heard different numbers,” Smith said. “Obviously, it would be nice to get it at home.”
Did WSU coach Mike Leaf consciously pull his star center to ensure the record be broken at home?
“That’s all him,” Smith laughed. “I think he played me like he would have played me in any game.”
Over the weekend, Smith and the Warriors played like they’ve been playing during every game of their 18-game overall winning streak and 44-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference winning streak: phenomenal.
In Friday’s 82-60 win over Wayne State (Neb.), Smith had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, five rebounds and three assists, but it was Jonte Flowers who stole the show early on.
After missing his first three shots and going scoreless over the opening 4:24 of the game, the senior guard pulled down an offensive board and followed with a dunk. From there, Flowers made seven of his next eight shots, finishing with 20 first-half points and leading the Warriors to a comfortable 50-33 halftime lead.
Wayne scored the first five points of the second half to pull within 12, but Travis Whipple connected on a 3-pointer, sparking a 14-2 Warriors run over the next 3:30.
Flowers finished with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Curtrel Robinson scored 10 points, and Whipple, who opened the game with a 3-pointer, went 3 for 5 from beyond the arc in adding nine points for WSU, which shot 50 percent from the field (29-for-58) and 43.5 percent from 3-point range (10-for-23).
Jonathan Thomas, who scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting in WSU’s 80-46 win over the Wildcats at McCown on Jan. 5, led Wayne with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Jamar Diggs scored 14 points and added six assists, and Bryce Caldwell scored 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
While WSU never trailed in the blowout victory over Wayne, it was tested early by SMSU the next night.
The Warriors opened the game on an 11-2 run, capped by a jumper in the paint by Smith. SMSU followed with a 7-0 run to pull to within two points, but WSU answered with a 9-0 run, capped by a Smith free throw.
The Mustangs, who trailed 29-24 at halftime despite shooting just 21.4 percent from the field, made their first three shots of the second half, breaking off a 7-0 run to take a 31-29 lead on a Kevin Andrews steal and layup.
Like they’ve done so many times this season, the No. 3-ranked Warriors responded.
WSU made nine of its next 10 shots, going on a 24-6 run over the next 6:34, capped by two Smith free throws, to take a 53-37 lead.
The Warriors, who shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) in the second half, pushed their lead to as many as 20 points and never led by fewer than 12 the rest of the way.
“A lot of times, the road crowd pumps us up,” Smith said. “We’re used to playing in front of our crowd, and obviously they help us out, but having somebody rooting against you and ticking you off a little bit gives you a little more motivation.”
Smith led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds, four blocks, a steal and an assist. David Johnson added 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Flowers had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks.
The three-time defending NSIC defensive player of the year also played a big role in shutting down SMSU’s dynamic duo of Matt Fletcher and Travis Krenske, who have combined to average 26.7 points per game this season but were held to 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting against the NSIC’s No. 1 defense.
Flowers passed current WSU assistant coach and former Warrior Tom Brown for No. 10 all-time on the career scoring list earlier this season.
Smith, the NSIC leader in scoring (18.3), rebounding (8.8) and blocks (3.04), will have two games in which to score two points this weekend. WSU (25-1, 14-0) hosts Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and MSU-Moorhead on Saturday.