Graduate guard Don McHenry has been playing his best basketball of the season. However, he’s doing it all coming off the bench.
McHenry hasn’t been in the starting lineup since the loss against Louisiana Tech on Jan 23. He’s averaged 24 points in four games coming off the bench after only averaging 14 while starting in conference play.
His 27-point game against New Mexico State on Feb. 1 was enough to win him Conference USA Player of the Week.
“He’s obviously a champion in every regard, and I wouldn’t trade him for any player in the country,” Head Coach Hank Plona said in a press conference on Tuesday.
McHenry averaged just 14% from 3-point range per game in conference games he started, averaging just five attempts in those games. Since being removed from the starting lineup, McHenry has shot 40% from beyond the arc while averaging eight attempts a game.
“The logic at Sam Houston State was just to try to do something a little bit different as we were struggling just to find a flow,” Plona said in his Tuesday press conference. “The point of doing it was to get us playing better and him playing better and it seems like we have.”
His 20-point outing at Sam Houston wasn’t the best statistical game he’s had off the bench, only shooting 25% from 3-point range, but it was enough to convince Plona to keep him out of the starting lineup.
McHenry’s absence from the starting lineup began against Sam Houston when fellow graduate guard Khristian Lander took his place. Lander has also been playing some of his best basketball since being added to the starting five, averaging 16 points per game.
McHenry again wasn’t in the starting lineup as the Hilltoppers went on the road to take on Kennesaw State Thursday. He put up 30 points while shooting 50% after subbing in with 18 minutes remaining in the first half. Despite his best efforts, the Hilltoppers lost 76-69.
McHenry and the Hilltoppers will stay on the road Saturday to play at Jacksonville State.
Sports Reporter Nathan Mueller can be reached at [email protected].
