JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 29, 2025) - It was a good day for Brian Taylor II: he messed around and got a triple-double.
Taylor's 14 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds complemented a career-high 28 point performance from Jaylen Smith as ETSU used a big second half to race away from Central Arkansas 80-57 on Saturday at Freedom Hall.
The Buccaneers (6-1) jumped out to an early 7-1 lead as precision passing from Taylor and Allen Strothers created baskets for Blake Barkley and Cam Morris III before the Bears (3-5) found the three-point stroke with triples from Camren Hunter and Cole McCormick. McCormick hit a fast break layup with 15:06 left in the first half to cut ETSU's lead to one, and Javion Guy-McCormick hit a three to give them the lead at 16-14 with 12:40 left in the opening session.
Taylor gave the Bucs the lead back with a three 1:25 later, but ETSU went on a protracted dry spell that lasted 4:22 of game time until Smith hit his first three of the night to make it 22-21 ETSU. Smith gave the Bucs the lead again, this time for good, with 3:26 left in the half, and the Bucs outscored the Bears 13-3 over the last four minutes to take a 37-30 lead into the break.
They pressed the advantage with a 9-0 run to take a 16-point advantage and hold UCA off the board for the first 4:36 of the second half. When Truman Byrne finally broke the Bears' drought, Taylor answered immediately on the other end, and Barkley and Brayden Crump hit layups to get the advantage back out to 16 at 53-37.
The Bucs went another 2:48 without scoring but kept the Bears at bay, and Jordan McCullum's dunk with 10:19 to play jump-started a decisive 12-0 run that Smith capped with the first of three triples in four possessions. Taylor got his 10th assist, a new career high, on a Crump three that interjected Smith's run. The Bucs and Bears traded threes during that stretch and combined for 21 points in 2:45 of game time. Smith hit his sixth three with 4:09 left to set a new career high and hit his seventh with 3:22 remaining to score ETSU's final points.
Taylor collected his 10th rebound, also a career-high, with 1:03 remaining. His triple-double is the fourth in ETSU history, joining Tim Smith against Kennesaw State in 2006, Courtney Pigram against Wingate in 2008, and Jaden Seymour on January 1 of this year against VMI.
Smith and Taylor were two of four Bucs in double figures in points, joined by Morris with 14 and Barkley with 10, Morris' fifth and Barkley's fourth game in double-digits this year. Taylor's 10 rebounds led the team, but Smith was next on the list with a career-high eight boards. Morris and Strothers finished with three assists each, and Taylor led the team with four steals.
ETSU finished north of 50% shooting from the field for the fourth time this season, hitting 52% on 30-for-58 shooting as well as 12-for-31 from three, or 39%. They won rebounding 37-31 and outscored UCA in the paint 34-10.
ETSU hits the road to play Dayton on Tuesday night at 7:00pm at UD Arena.
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.
