The March grind is underway for the Barton men's basketball team.

After getting in just five games the entire month of February due to opponents Covid issues, the Cougars are slated to play 14 in March. Yep, 14. In 31 days.

So far, so good. The Cougars off to a 2-0 start in the month after blowing out Pratt Saturday afternoon at the Barton Gym, 103-80.

The win keeps Barton within a game in the loss column of the West lead at 5-4 in the conference and 6-4 overall.

It was the fourth straight win for the Cougars in West play after a 1-4 start. Pratt is now 3-8 in the West and 4-8 overall.

Next is Neosho Tuesday at the Barton Gym in a makeup game. That will be a 3 pm afternoon tip. That is followed the next day with a trip to West leader Hutchinson.

Saturday proved to be a fun day for the Cougars.

"The games looks easy when you make shots," Coach Craig Fletchall said. "But we have to be able to win when we don't make shots. That's was separates good teams from really good teams. Being able to win when those shots don't fall."

The shots fell at a rate of 30-of-52 from the floor for 58 percent, 12-of-26 from 3-point land and an impressive 31-of-35 from the free throw line.

Pratt did score the first four points of the game and led 6-2 just two minutes in.

That is when Georgia Tech transfer Asanti Price hit his first 3-pointer of the game and the Cougars were off and rolling.

Price would hit five more treys in the first half as he scored 25 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cougars lead hit double figures on a pair of Justin Harmon free throws to make it 24-13 with 11:11 left in the half.

Price's sixth trey of the half to beat the buzzer gave the Cougars a 20-point halftime lead, 59-39.

From there, the Cougars put it on cruise control in the second half to notch the easy win. The Cougars never led by less than the 20-point halftime margin and led by as many as 30.

Price finished with a season-high 29 points, hitting 6-of-11 3-pointers. He was a sizzling 6-of-7 in the first half. Justin Harmon added 19 points and Desean Munson 14.

Munson grabbed 12 rebounds – 10 on the defensive end. Munson also made 8-of-9 free throws.

Jaheim Holden continues to play well off the Barton bench. The sophomore scored 15 and handed out nine assists.

Barton shot 58 percent from the floor, knocking down 30-of-52 shots.

Barton will host Neosho Tuesday then travel to Hutchinson Wednesday to take on the Blue Dragons. Hutch is leading the West with an 8-3 record.

Barton 103, Pratt 80

Pratt 39 41 – 80

Barton 59 44 – 103

Pratt (4-8, 3-8) 78

Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Eghan 5-10 4-7 14, Morris 6-10 3-4 15, Thomas 4-10 0-0 9, Montiel 2-6 0-0 4, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Weston 4-9 0-0 11, Rhymes 1-10 2-2 4, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Ayala 2-7 0-0 4, Eziukwu 4-4 1-1 9, Whitlow 3-6 0-0 8. Totals – 32-72 10-14 80.

Barton (6-4, 5-4) 103

Harmon 6-10 7-9 19, Munson 3-3 8-9 14, Jones 0-0 2-2 2, Price 9-15 5-5 29, Brooks-Harris 2-5 0-0 6, Holden 5-7 4-4 15, Warrior 2-3 1-2 6, Koehler 0-0 0-0 0, King 1-2 0-0 2, Lapoole 2-6 2-2 8, Kipruto 0-1 2-2 2. Totals – 30-52 31-35 103.

3-pointers – Pratt 6-24 (Weston 3-6, Whitlow 2-4, Thomas 1-6, Ayala 0-1, Morris 0-1, Rhymes 0-6), Barton 12-26 (Price 6-11, Brooks-Harris 2-3, Lapoole 2-5, Warrior 1-1, Holden 1-3, King 0-1, Harmon 0-2).

Rebounds – Pratt 31 (Eghan 8), Barton 35 (Munson 12). Assists – Pratt 14 (Rhymes 5), Barton 16 (Holden 9). Steals – Pratt 10 (3 with 2), Barton 12 (Harmon 3, Brooks-Harris 3). Blocks – Pratt 0, Barton 3 (Kipruto 2).

Turnovers – Pratt 19, Barton 24. Fouled Out – Rhymes, Pratt.