WKU Basketball: Self Inflicted Wounds Doom WKU in 72–62 Loss to UAB
WKU Basketball hit the road looking to move to 3–0 in CUSA but instead fell victim to poor shot selection and technical fouls in an…
WKU Basketball hit the road looking to move to 3–0 in CUSA but instead fell victim to poor shot selection and technical fouls in an uninspired 72–62 loss at UAB.
The first half was an ugly display of basketball as each team had trouble scoring. WKU led 13–8 early but UAB would respond with an 8–0 run to take control the rest of the half. WKU would regularly settle for poor three-point attempts (17) and struggle against UAB’s zone shooting just 26.5% and trailing 31–25 at the break.
WKU would look completely inept coming out of the locker room as UAB started the half on a 9–2 run taking a 40–27 lead less than four minutes in the half. WKU would slowly whittle down the lead and get to 48–45 at the 10:28 mark.
The Blazers would push the lead back up to seven but WKU wouldn’t go away. The Hilltoppers would take advantage of some Blazer foul trouble and cut the lead to 56–55 around the 5 minutes mark.
The momentum would end right there as WKU was called on a foul that sent Tavin Lovan to the line. Before he could shoot the free throws, Jordan Rawls got called for a technical foul resulting in four Blazer free throws. They would make three of them extending the lead to 4.
WKU wouldn’t get it down to less than three from there. Tavin Lovan would make two straight baskets including a thunderous slam and the Tops wouldn’t make another shot until the game was well out of hand. UAB would end the game on a 16–7 run as they’d pull away for a 72–62 win in Birmingham.
Here are some thoughts on yet another miserable trip to Birmingham.
Jordan Rawls got the start over Cam Justice who was nursing a back injury. He didn’t do himself many favors tonight. He finished with 10 points, 5 assists, and just 2 turnovers. That will do but it took him 12 shots (making just 4 of them) to get there and the technical was a killer. For a player trying to gain Stansbury’s trust, tonight’s performance didn’t help him.
WKU’s Half-court offense continues to leave a lot to be desired. If they’re not drawing fouls or hitting three’s it grinds down to a halt. UAB regularly forced the Tops deep into the shot clock and there were way too many bad desperations shots taken tonight. Expecting to get foul calls on the road is a bad strategy.
Jared Savage had a solid game tonight. He didn’t shoot well (3/9 all from three) but did garner 9 rebounds and committed just one turnover. That will do especially given WKU’s current roster limitations
Tavin Lovan continues to kill WKU. The Hilltopper legacy finished with 16 points & 4 rebounds. I’d love to know the full story about his recruitment, He should continue to victimize the Hilltoppers for another two seasons.
WKU knew that UAB was going to zone them to death and they didn’t come ready to play. That’s on Stansbury who
The Hilltoppers finished 9 of 29 from three-point range (31%). This team can’t excel when they settle for poor shots repeatedly and that’s exactly what they did tonight.
WKU’s recent string of lower turnovers continued. They won the battle 14–8 on the night. That probably can be attributed to Rawls playing the entire game but is still a very positive sign. That probably kept this closer than it should have been
WKU was outrebounded 41–29, not surprising but they have to keep it closer or their margin for error is slim.
Cam Justice played a few minutes with the back injury but was ineffective. Stansbury played his entire bench (Cam, Gambrell & Horton) less than 10 total minutes with zero coming in the second half. His roster management/development continues to puzzle.
This team is playing with zero confidence right now. They didn’t show up in the first half and haven’t looked like they’re having fun since the first month of the season. The team hasn’t looked right since the 2018 NIT. That has to change not only this year but moving forward if the program is ever going to turn it around.
Conference USA continues to be a dumpster fire. Louisiana Tech got destroyed at UTSA tonight and only FAU (3–0) remains unbeaten in the league. The league is there for the taking but tonight’s poor showing doesn’t inspire confidence that this team and staff will figure itself out in time for Frisco.
WKU (9–6, 2–1 in CUSA) returns to action in Murfreesboro on Saturday as they take on arch-rival Middle Tennessee. Middle has been horrible since Kermit Davis left for Ole Miss but if the Hilltoppers play like they did tonight, they could easily lose to the 4–12 Blue Raiders.
Here are your final stats from yet another miserable showing
