Kobe Inspired J.J. Culver To Score 100 Points

Wayland Baptist guard J.J. Culver scored 100 points on Tuesday night (December 10), becoming just the second player in NAIA history to score at least 100 points in a game.

Culver, a senior, is the older brother of Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie Jarrett Culver. 

J.J. led his team to a 124-60 beatdown of Southwestern Adventist.

His box score was scintillating. 

He scored 81 percent of his team’s points (100-of-124), hit 81 percent of his team’s field goals (34-of-42), and took 81 percent of his team’s shots (62-of-77). Culver connected on 12 three-point shots (on 33 attempts), and added 20 points at the free-throw line. The rest of Culver’s teammates combined to go 8-for-15 from the field and 5-for-6 from the line.

“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.”

His brother Jarrett took to Twitter in disbelief.

Of course, the most famous 100 point game was recorded by Wilt Chamberlain as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks in 1962.

But it wasn’t “The Big Dipper” that inspired Culver, it was Kobe Bryant. 

Related: Returning to the Scene of the Crime With Kobe Bryant

“I saw some of his videos,” J.J. said of the former Laker great. “He said when he scored 81, he was conditioned really well. So in the summer, I ran a lot.”

Culver is referring to Bryant’s career-high scoring game of 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. 

Congrats to Wayland Baptist on the win and kudos to J.J. Culver on making history.