MORGANTOWN — K.J. McClurg stood to the side of the court during the 4th quarter Friday evening as Buckhannon-Upshur took a trip to the free-throw line. As he chatted with a teammate, he heard a fan call his name.
“K.J., keep pulling that trigger,” the voice yelled.
McClurg didn’t manage to score another bucket, but to be fair, he didn’t really need to. McClurg tallied 32 points to lead the Hawks to a 101-52 victory in their season opener.
“I rely on my teammates to get me the ball when I’m open. Whenever they pass me the ball, I’m there to shoot it,” McClurg said. “I rely upon them. Sometimes I create for myself, but mostly it’s just teamwork.”
McClurg knocked down seven 3-pointers in a performance that would likely leave Reggie Miller or Ray Allen green with envy.
For University coach Joe Schmidle, it was nothing short of expected.
“I’m not going to say I was surprised. He has the ability to do that, and we know people are going to key in on [Kaden] Metheny,” Schmidle said. “We told K.J. that he’s going to need to pick-up the slack.
“The kid can shoot. He can flat out shoot the ball. He works hard on his game, and he is a great player. I’m not surprised one bit.”
The Hawks seemed to need every point they could muster after allowing the Buccaneers to record 38 first-half points, leaving them with just a 12-point lead heading into the break. McClurg was a key piece in University pulling away in the third quarter — tallying 12 points on four shots from beyond the arc.
“What’s going through my mind is that I can’t miss. Each one is going in,” McClurg said. “I can’t explain it, its crazy.”
According to Schmidle, McClurg’s scoring talent was crafted through a long process of hard work and sacrifice.
“He’s such a hard worker. He’s a gym rat,” Schmidle said. “He doesn’t miss a workout. He wants it bad.
“He works so hard every day and he’s done that since the time that he got here. He knew what we ask of him and he’s done it. It’s funny that kids that work the hardest always seem to be your best players. He’s not an exception.”
McClurg hopes that its all building towards one thing — a goal that he and his teammates have had on their minds since last March.
“I love this team and I’m going to do whatever I can for this team to win. Our goal is to get back to the state tournament and win it, and I’ve got to fulfill my role and help these guys make it there,” he said.
Kyle Smith added 19 points for the Hawks in the win, with Metheny tallying 16. The Hawks return to action next at 7:30 p.m. on Friday as they travel to John Marshall to open conference play.
