WKU Basketball: Hamilton Logs Quiet Double-Double, Tops Outlast Skyhawks, 81-66
Jarius Hamilton re-emerged as WKU’s x-factor and the Hilltoppers won at home again, despite it being a big ugly.
Western Kentucky is .500 once again this season after grinding out an 81-66 win over UT-Martin Saturday afternoon at Diddle Arena.
Trailing 38-34 at the start of the second half, the Hilltoppers opened the back 20 minutes by rattling off a 14-5 run to take a 48-43 lead early in the second half, capped off by a wild four-point play from Luke Frampton, who nailed a three from in front of the Hilltoppers bench and got knocked down in the process.
As the Skyhawks had all game, UT-Martin was able to calm the Topper storm, going on an 11-3 run themselves to re-take a lead at 54-50 just prior the halfway point of the half.
WKU cemented the lead for good thanks to a 10-0 run to give them a 71-61 lead, which saw Jarius Hamilton open the run with a dunk, back-to-back threes from Dayvion McKnight and Camron Justice and another McKnight jumper for good measure.
From there, WKU was able to fend off any attempted UTM run, and was able to cruise to their third win of the season from that point on.
It was a sluggish start to the game for the Hilltoppers, who committed 10 first-half turnovers. After a game-opening three-pointer by Luke Frampton, UTM took a lead quickly and rarely relinquished it, eventually building up to an eight-point lead, 26-18, with 7:19 left in the frame.
The Tops began chipping away from that point, culminating in a Camron Justice three-pointer to put the Tops ahead, 32-30, giving WKU its first lead since 12-9.
From there, though, the Skyhawks scored eight of the last 10 points of the half, taking a 38-34 lead into the halftime break.
A big credit to the Tops being able to cement the game in the second half came thanks to a lack of those turnovers - WKU committed just four in the second half.
The Tops also switched to a 2-3 zone for much of the second half, which had a couple of frustrating moments (the lack of perimeter defense, and at times hustle getting to the perimeter, remains an issue as did leaving the back door open for easy lay-in opportunities, despite UTM not hitting on all of them).
It’s been awhile since he stole the show, but Hamilton was the x-factor for the Tops today, leading all scorers with 24 points. Justice (17), Frampton and McKnight (16) also scored in double-figures.
Hamilton added 11 rebounds to his day, also a team-best.
In his encore performance after Wednesday’s triple-double, Jamorion Sharp logged his second-straight start and was still a factor down low, recording six blocks, but UTM lived on the outside, going 13-32 (40.6%) from deep.
Three Skyhawks finished in double figures, led by Darius Simmons, who had 21.
WKU returns to John Oldham Court to take on Rhodes College at 7 p.m. CT.
