The Kansas Wesleyan men's basketball team must have been tired of hearing about how tired they might be.
Playing their third game in five days the Coyotes quickly brushed aside any concerns about fatigue and did so in impressive fashion.
They shot 61 percent from the field including a sizzling 57 percent from beyond 3-point and reached the century mark for the first time this season in a 100-72 Kansas Conference rout of Tabor on Wednesday night.
It was their third consecutive victory, the 20th this season (20-7) and kept them tied for second with Southwestern in the conference standings at 17-4. A win over York in the regular season finale on Senior Night Saturday inside Mabee Arena would give KWU the No. 2 seed in the KCAC tournament that begins next week.
It also was Wesleyan's third consecutive season of 20-plus victories.
"I think the best part tonight is we got to rest some guys," KWU coach Anthony Monson said with a laugh on his postgame radio show. "We've been running guys 35-plus minutes.
"We didn't practice (Tuesday). We just watched for about 45 minutes and got them out of there."
It was the perfect antidote. Alex Littlejohn scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Jun Murdock scored 18 on 8-for-8 shooting along with six assists and five rebounds and Caden Hale had 12 points off the bench that included 8 of 9 shooting at the free throw foul line. He also had five assists.
The Coyotes were 36 of 59 from the field for the game, 8 of 14 from long distance, 20 of 23 at the foul line and outrebounded the Bluejays 34-23.
So much for tired legs.
"It's nice to be able to play your best basketball at the end of the year. I think we're getting close to that," Monson said.
KWU took control of the game in the first half. Trailing 8-5 the Coyotes embarked on a 20-5 run that gave them a 25-13 advantage with 6:03 left in the half.
Leading 39-30 at the break they opened the second half with a 10-3 surge and later went on a 12-2 run that made it 74-44 with 10:19 left, the rally culminating with five Caden Hale free throws after three technical fouls were called on the Bluejays, leading to the ejection of head coach Matt Warren.
KWU led by as many as 32 points (80-48) with eight minutes left and reached the 100-point plateau on Jaylen Peterson's basket with seven seconds left.
Sixteen Coyotes played in the game with 11 reaching the scoring column – the reserves accounting for 40 points.
"It was a good chance to get everybody involved, get some guys in the game that would never get in," Monson said. "It was a lot of fun."
Monson was pleased with his team performance Wednesday and with the way the season has transpired so far.
"I'm really proud of these guys," he said. "There was a lot of pressure on them to perform this season and I think they've done a great job. Now we've got one more to go (in the regular season) and it's (KCAC) tournament time."
Jack Voth scored 21 and Jaiden Miller 18 for Tabor (11-16, 8-13 KCAC).
Saturday's game tips off at 7 p.m. York (11-16, 9-12 KCAC) defeated Friends 63-59 Wednesday in York, Nebraska. KWU defeated York 85-59 on January 10 in York.
Southwestern plays Bethany on Saturday in Lindsborg.
The eight-team conference tournament begins February 29 with quarterfinal games. Pairings will be announced after the conclusion of Saturday's contests.
