WKU Basketball: Hilltoppers Use First Half Three-Point Barrage to Take Down Louisville, 82-72
The Tops hit nine first-half threes to defeat the Louisville Cardinals for the first time in 10 attempts.
Western Kentucky rode an 81.8% three-point percentage in the first half to take down the Louisville Cardinals in E.A. Diddle Arena, 82-72, in a wire-to-wire victory Saturday afternoon.
The Hilltoppers got off to a quick start, getting back-to-back threes from Luke Frampton and Camron Justice, respectively, to jump to an early 6-0 lead.
Each of the first four field goals the Tops hit from the floor were from deep and a run of a Jarius Hamilton layup, Justice layup and one of four Jamarion Sharp dunks in the first half gave the Tops a 20-7 lead with 12:44 to play in the frame.
From there, Louisville climbed back to make it a game, going on a 9-2 run with three’s from El Ellis, Mason Faulkner and Noah Locke to pull within 22-16.
Trailing 28-16 after back-to-back Justice three’s, the Cardinals rattled off nine-straight points, thanks to a pair of deep balls from Locke and one from Faulkner, to bring the Cardinals to within three, 28-25, but an 18-11 run to close the half by the Tops made for a 46-37 lead at the break.
Justice was unconscious in the first half, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 5-for-5 from deep.
As a team, the Tops shot 55.6% from the floor (15-27) and 81.8% from deep (9-11) in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the Tops getting the first bucket of the half, it was the Cardinals who made a strong run early, going on a 10-0 run to pull within 50-47, and getting as close as 54-52 before the Tops went on a roll to take a 10-point lead at 68-58 with 7:16 to play.
From that point on, the Tops never lost control of the game and were able to milk the game away until cementing the win.
Justice ended the game leading all scorers with 25 points while four other Toppers scored in double figures: Sharp with 14 and Hamilton, McKnight and Anderson all scored 13.
The Cardinals, who were without Malik Williams, were led by 20 points from Lock, 12 from Faulkner and 10 from Matt Cross.
This is the type of win that could set up the rest of the season for the Tops - not in the sense that “this team is running the table from here on out,” but in the senes that this team can win in a myriad of ways, have a myriad of weapons to get those wins and is a team that thrives under pressure. Emotions aside, this is a win we’ll be thinking and talking about for a long time.
WKU returns to action on Wednesday at Austin Peay at 7 p.m. CT.
