PRATT – Perhaps it was from being road weary. Perhaps it was from playing on a Monday. Perhaps it was the position of the opponents in the standings.

Whatever the reason, the Barton men’s basketball team was not ready to play Monday night at the Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt.

It was one of only two Monday night playing dates in the Jayhawk this season. Barton was also one day removed from a nearly 4-hour trip to Allen County Saturday night. A trip that was took even longer due to the snowy conditions in the southeast part of the state.

The result was the end of a 6-game Jayhawk conference winning streak as Pratt dominated Barton most of the night on the way to a 91-80 win.

The Cougars are still on top of the Jayhawk West standings with a 6-2 record. Colby is second at 5-2. Barton, 14-3 overall, had moved up to No. 17 in the nation in the latest poll. Pratt is now 4-4 in the conference and 10-7 overall.

“I’m not sure if the kids saw the standings and thought it was going to be an easy game,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “Whatever the reason, Pratt just came out and punched us in the face. We were on our heels all night long.”

The poor road showing was an oddity so far. In the first three Jayhawk road games, Barton had picked up wins over foes with a combined Jayhawk mark of 19-6 – meaning half of those losses were to the Cougars.

Barton started each of those games on fire, building leads of 20 points or more in all three wins.

But at a team that entered the game with a sub .500 mark in the Beavers, Barton hardly led.

Pratt scored the first eight points of the game when Coach Fletchall put five new players in the game. Barton eventually caught Pratt at 15-all with 13 minutes left in the first half and led briefly on three occasions in the opening 20 minutes.

The last of those leads came at 22-20 with 8:22 to left in the first half. Over the next seven minutes Pratt dominated, taking a 40-28 lead before Barton scored the final six points of the half to go to the locker room down 40-34.

In the final 20 minutes, the Cougars never really put a scare in the Beavers.

Barton got as close as 46-42 in the opening minutes of the half but by the 14-minute mark it was a 10-point Pratt lead.

The Beavers were on the cusp of blowing Barton out of the gym, up 68-52 with 8:53 to play. The Cougars never challenged after that.

Barton struggled shooting against Pratt’s zone defense, hitting just 35 percent from floor (24-for-68). Barton made just 4-of-19 3-pointers.

“We will see more zone,” Coach Fletchall said. “Tonight we did everything off the dribble against their zone. That is not how you beat a zone. You have to move the ball from side to side. We didn’t do that.”

Jaheim Holden scored 18 to pace Barton followed by Keandre Bowles with 15, Justin Harmon with 14 and Mavrick Gildyard with 10.

Pratt was paced by Jamel Horton, who poured in 33 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field (3-of-4 3’s) and 12-of-16 at the free throw line.

Next up will be Dodge City Wednesday night at the Barton Gym. The Conquistadors are 0-8 in the Jayhawk and 8-9 overall.

Pratt 91, Barton 80

Barton     34  46 – 80

Pratt        40  51 – 91

Barton (6-2, 14-3) 80

Harmon 4-9 5-6 14, Munson 0-1 2-2 2, Holden 7-18 3-5 18, Vogts 2-11 0-0 4, Enneking 1-3 3-4 5, Morris 0-1 2-3 2, Bowles 3-7 8-9 15, Caldwell 1-8 3-5 5, Koehler 2-3 0-0 5, Gildyard 4-7 2-4 10. Totals – 24-68 28-38 80.

Pratt (4-4, 10-7) 91

David 5-11 1-2 14, Eziukwu 1-2 2-2 4, Thomas 1-3 1-4 4, Montiel 1-1 1-1 3, Long 0-0 0-0 0, Horton 9-14 12-16 33, Burns 0-0 0-0 0, Honas 3-7 4-4 10, Kueth 2-11 2-2 7, Eghan 7-9 2-4 16. Totals – 29-58 25-35 91.

3-pointers – Barton 4-19 (Harmon 1-1, Koehler 1-1, Bowles 1-3, Holden 1-7, Enneking 0-1, Caldwell 0-1, Gildyard 0-1, Vogts 0-4), Pratt 8-24 (Horton 3-4, Davis 3-8, Thomas 1-1, Kueth 1-8, Eghan 0-1, Honas 0-2).

Rebounds – Barton 38 (Harmon 6, Morris 6, Bowles 6), Pratt 37 (Kueth 7, Eghan 7). Assists – Barton 9 (Caldwell 4), Pratt 12 (Horton 7). Steals – Barton 10 (Vogts 3, Caldwell 3), Pratt 9 (Horton 3). Blocks – Barton 3 (3 with 1), Pratt 4 (Kueth 3).

Turnovers – Barton 17, Pratt 20. Fouled Out – Bowles, Barton; Ezuikwu, Pratt. Technicals – Coach Fletchall, Enneking, Barton; Horton, Pratt.