NAIA guard Culver erupts for 100-point game
Wayland Baptist star guard J.J. Culver had a performance for the ages Tuesday night, becoming just the second player in NAIA history to score at least 100 points in a game.
Culver, a 6-foot-5 senior and the older brother of Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Jarrett Culver, reached the magical mark to lead his Pioneers to a 124-60 rout over Southwestern Adventist in Plainview, Texas.
He shot 34 of 62 from the field, including 12 of 33 from 3-point range, and was 20 of 27 from the free throw line. The rest of Culver’s teammates combined to go 8 of 15 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line, while the next-highest scorer on the team was Jonathon Robinson, who finished with eight points.
“We always script our first couple of plays, and J.J. scored on the first three or four,” Wayland Baptist coach Ty Harrelson said. “The guys realized he was hot and kept going to him. We figured as long as he’s taking good shots and shots out of our philosophy that he had a chance to do something special tonight.”
Clarence “Bevo” Francis of Rio Grande (Ohio) is the only other player in NAIA history to have a 100-point game, scoring an NAIA-record 113 points against Hillsdale in 1954. Only one player in NCAA Division I history has had a 100-point game; Furman’s Frank Selvy scored 100 against Newberry College in 1954.
The last college player to score at least 100 was Jack Taylor of Division III’s Grinnell College. He scored an NCAA-record 138 points in 2012, then followed that up with a 109-point effort in ’13.
Culver and his brother, Jarrett, were each named players of the year in their respective leagues last season, J.J. in the Sooner Athletic Conference and Jarrett in the Big 12 while starring at Texas Tech.
The 6-foot-5 J.J., of Lubbock, Texas, is averaging 36.1 points per game this season.
“J.J. has awesome offensive talent to be able to put it in the basket that many times, and I thought our guys did a great job of getting him the ball in places where he could score,” Harrelson said. “He did a great job of reading the defense and getting open.
“I’ve coached him really hard for four years, so I’m happy for him and proud of him. It couldn’t happen to a nicer kid and harder worker.”
Jarrett, the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 draft, is averaging 9.2 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Wolves this season.