WKU Basketball: Hilltoppers Rattle Off Late-Game Run, Hand Marshall First Conference Loss, 68–59
The Hilltoppers were never completely out of it, but where hit really hard by a barrage of threes from the Marshall Thundering Herd in the…
The Hilltoppers were never completely out of it, but where hit really hard by a barrage of threes from the Marshall Thundering Herd in the second half but a late-game run and some of the best offensive basketball we’ve seen Western Kentucky play paced the Tops to a 68–59 win over the Herd, handing the visitors their first conference loss of the season.
With a 25–24 lead at halftime on a three at the buzzer, Marshall opened the second half hot, going on a 9–2 run and taking their largest lead of the game at eight and forcing the Tops to call a quick timeout to regroup.
After the timeout, the Tops were able to settle down and Marshall cooled off, the game went back and forth — Marshall would get a couple of buckets or a three to almost break off a run, and the Tops would somehow find a way to come back.
With 7:30 left, Josh Anderson hit a three to tie the game at 46–46 before the Herd tore off on a 7–0 run.
Unlike what we’ve seen most of the year, especially in the second half, the Hilltoppers responded with a run of their own — a 16–2 run, to be exact — to take a lead they’d never relinquish and win the game, getting back to .500 in conference play. Marshall finished the game hitting just one of their last 10 shots from the floor.
The loss marked the first time in 31 games that Marshall lost a game in which they held a halftime lead.
The first half was an ugly yet eventful affair. The Hilltoppers turned the ball over 15 times in the opening 20 minutes but the Herd were only able to turn that into 25 points, shooting 32.3% from the floor in the opening frame.
That mark would have been lower if not for Marshall getting red hot in the closing 75 seconds, going on a 9–2 run to close the half and hitting their first three three-point shots of the game in that span to take a 25–24 halftime lead.
While the game was sloppy and, by most all accounts, not good basketball (WKU shot just 34.6% from the floor, so neither team was shooting lights out) it was still exciting — the Herd hit just 10 shots in the first 18 and a half minutes or so and the Tops made things happen deep in their own defensive side of the floor; whether it be stripping a fast break, having three players keep a ball in bounds along the sideline or drawing offensive fouls.
If there was one positive from the first half, it was the Tops’ discipline: WKU committed (or, I suppose, was called for) just four fouls in the first half.
The Tops’ disciplined carried over into the second half: Even though WKU was called for 11 fouls in the second half, a lot of those were somewhat ticky tack in the final seconds.
There’s no other way to put it — Anderson was lights out. He scored a career-best 25 points and went 10-for-16 from the floor (2-for-3 from three) and was critical throughout the Tops 16–2 run, including a thunderous breakaway dunk that I cannot find a video of, but if anyone does hit me up.
Although, this dunk will work fine too.
This was a great win for WKU. It’s their second comeback win in the second half and this was arguably the best we’ve seen the Hilltoppers play. Especially in the back 7:30 of the game, it’s what we thought we’d see from WKU all year — scrappy on defense, mixing in their close looks with three opportunities and bringing Diddle Arena to their feet. This is the type of win that, if the Tops can rattle off a nice little conference winning streak here (Southern Miss, La tech, UTSA and UTEP coming up, all winnable games), WKU could be looking pretty good.
The Hilltoppers are back in action on Thursday at Southern Miss for a 7 p.m. tip.
Final Stats
