WKU Basketball: Toppers Push Past ODU For 75–68 Victory
WKU overcame a late-first half slump, and used a pair of 20-plus point performances to defeat the Old Dominion Monarchs, 75–68, on Thursday…
WKU overcame a late-first half slump, and used a pair of 20-plus point performances to defeat the Old Dominion Monarchs, 75–68, on Thursday in Norfolk.
The Tops came out fast, jumping out to an 11–4 lead behind a pair of three pointers from Justin Johnson and a three from Darius Thompson, but the Tops were never able to fully take control in the first half and jump out to a huge lead like they were against Marshall on Saturday.
Instead, ODU did just enough to hang around, and eventually took a lead, thanks to a long scoring drought for WKU of about six minutes, and took a 32–30 lead into the locker room.
Out of the halftime break, the Tops came out fast, scoring five quick points to take a lead they would never again relinquish as they grinded their way to a victory.
This night belonged to two guys — Johnson and Thompson.
JJ finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor (including 5-of-7 from distance) and brought down 14 rebounds in a pretty dominating performance.
Thompson finished with 24 points (7-of-12 from the floor, 6-of-6 from deep) and one he got started, he was almost impossible to stop.
It was a step-back game for Josh Anderson, who didn’t score and only took one shot in 19 minutes, and it was somewhat of a slow debut for Moustapha Diagne, who also didn’t score but did commit four fouls (it was a very whistle-happy crew tonight, especially down low underneath the basket) in 17 minutes of play.
A lot of people were asking how Diagne looked, and that stateline basically sums up his night. He had a couple opportunities for points but rushed them, and you can tell he wanted to make a big splash in his debut but just couldn’t find the right opportunities.
It was a game that ODU was able to keep close enough where it wasn’t a WKU blowout and it was a game where WKU held enough of a lead — both in terms of points and time — where ODU never was able to truly make it close.
It just kind of was a game.
Anyway, here are your final stats, as the Tops are 4–0 in Conference USA play.
