Taylor Scores 1000th Point as Scots Beat Knox Again

Brown Scores 20 as Scots move to 13-1 in MWC

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/12/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team finished off another season sweep of Knox as Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) surpassed the 1000 career point mark in an 82-68 win on Wednesday night. The first-place Fighting Scots (18-5, 13-1) head into Saturday's bye with a half-game lead over Grinnell and two games left to go in the regular season.

"I knew tonight was going to be a battle and I'm happy with how our team responded," said head coach Todd Skrivseth. "Knox is playing well and they did some things defensively we had to adjust to. I was extremely pleased with our effort on the glass, our ability to get to the line and the way we converted free throws."

Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) started the game with a steal and a dunk in traffic while also earning a foul. He made the free throw and Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) put the Scots up 5-2 with a layup. Brown and Thomas combined for the next eight points as they both hit 3-pointers. Knox pulled within two at 13-11 before Taylor scored to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career.

"It was a special night with Kyle eclipsing the 1,000 point mark for his career," said Skrivseth. "He is a tremendous player and teammate who does a great job representing our program on and off the floor."

Taylor scored again for a 17-11 lead and Thomas added a 3-point play. Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) put the Scots up 23-15 before Knox scored six straight points. Taylor had a jumper before Kamran Banks (Springfield, Illinois) scored four straight points for a 29-21 lead. Brown scored and Thomas hit a 3-pointer before Banks made a layup for a 35-26 lead.

Monmouth led 35-28 at halftime before Knox hit a 3-pointer. Brown and Thomas added buckets and Thomas scored again for a 41-35 lead. Taylor hit a 3-pointer but Knox cut the lead to two with 13 minutes to play. Taylor hit another 3-pointer and Banks knocked down a shot from distance for a 53-47 lead. After the teams traded baskets, Plumer made two freer throws and Brown scored in the paint for an 8-point lead. Taylor hit another 3-pointer and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) put the Scots up 11 with 5:21 to play. Brown's free throws extended the lead and he scored again at the rim. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) and Taylor both made free throws and Huber slammed the door on Knox with a corner 3-point shot with just under a minute to go. Brown capped the scoring at the line to reach the 20-point mark.

Brown led the Scots with a 20-point, 12-rebound double double while also adding three steals and a block. Taylor had 19 points and Thomas added 17. Maring grabbed eight rebounds, Taylor handed out nine assists and Banks added a pair of steals.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Taylor is the 24th player in Monmouth history to score at least 1000 career points ... He moved past Robert Richmond (1990-95) and John Herman (1985-89) and now ranks 22nd on the Monmouth career scoring list ... Taylor is the first to reach the milestone since Will Jones in the 2017-18 season ... Taylor joins Jones, Troy Bennett (1999-2004), Anthony Beaird (2002-06) and Joe Terwelp (2004-08) as the only five players to reach 1000 points this century ... Taylor also became the second played in Monmouth history to play in 100 career games tying Declan Flynn (2021-25) for the all-time record ... Taylor moved into a tie with Will Jones for fourth on the career assists list with 324 ... He also passed Jones and moved into a tie with Jeremy Bruce for sixth on the career 3-pointers made list with 149 ... He moved past Steve Glasgow for seventh on the 3-pointers attempted list with 424 ... Brown has scored in double digits in every game he has played this season and now holds the school record by scoring in double digits in 33 straight games dating back to last season ... Brown moved into a tie with Zach Ott for sixth on the career blocks list ... Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 17 straight games and he has 21 double digit games this season ... With 65 wins the senior class has the most wins by any senior class since 1993 and the sixth most in a 4-year span in Scots history ... Monmouth and Knox have met 233 times, one of the 10th most played rivalries in D3 ... Monmouth leads the series 140-93 with eight straight wins ... The win streak is tied for the longest in the series history ... Monmouth won eight in a row from 1952-57 and Knox won eight straight 1916-21 ... The current senior class has never lost to Knox ... Coach Skrivseth is 22-6 against Knox, the most wins he has against any program ... Skrivseth's teams are 12-2 at home against Knox ... The Scots are off this weekend before hosting Lake Forest at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday in the regular season home finale.