Newport has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Cooper Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Newport's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four games.
Newport stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. Everything went their way against Conner as Newport made off with a 71-50 win. Given Newport's advantage in MaxPreps' Kentucky basketball rankings (they are ranked third, while Conner is ranked 115th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Newport's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jabari Covington led the charge by dropping a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds. Covington is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Griffin Starks, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Cooper had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.8 points), and they went ahead and made it seven last Thursday. They beat Campbell County by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 49-41.
Newport has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 17 of their last 18 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 24-3 record this season. As for Cooper, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-7.
Newport skirted past Cooper 44-42 in their previous matchup back in March of 2023. Does Newport have another victory up their sleeve, or will Cooper turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
