Garrison Mathews had just 30 points in 10 appearances prior to Monday.
The two-way rookie nearly matched that alone on Monday night for the Washington Wizards after scoring a career-high 28 points in a 123-105 win over the Miami Heat.
Mathews, undrafted from Lipscomb, finished by shooting 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, as he also went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. Mathews checked off a career game in the first half alone after scoring 22 points by the intermission.
The Wizards were forced to turn to their bench with several players banged up, including Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans and Rui Hachimura, and the unit came through. Jordan McRae added 29 points and Ish Smith had 19 as the team set a new franchise record with 80 bench points.
Mathews is the first player from Lipscomb to play in the NBA as he certainly had quite a performance on Monday night. Mathews earned “M-V-P” chants from Wizards fans and he was even mobbed by his teammates in the locker room afterward.
The Wizards play next on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.
[lawrence-related id=9259,9217,9208]