WKU Basketball: Toppers Wear Down Miners in 72–60 Victory

I thought the Tops would waltz into El Paso, win by 30, and leave. I was wrong.

I thought the Tops would waltz into El Paso, win by 30, and leave. I was wrong.

I thought the Tops would dominate the paint and we’d have breakout games for Moustapha Diagne and Josh Anderson. I was wrong.

I thought we’d be seeing about 50 first half points and maybe just as many second half ones. Again, I was wrong.

The Tops struggled mightily all night, for no real good reason, but were able to pull away from UTEP late in a 72–60 win to clinch a winning record for the 2017/18 campaign.

UTEP actually took a 32–30 lead into the halftime break, and was outshooting the Tops from the floor (46.2% to 44.8%), from three (40% to 18.2%), from the free throw line and had forced five Topper turnovers.

The big number there, obviously, was the three-point shooting, which UTEP kept up basically all night (it didn’t help that the Tops allowed wide open looks at most every turn) and for some reason, the Tops played without fire for a majority of the half.

I want to say the Tops “turned it back on,” in the second half, but they really didn’t. They went on a 13–2 run inside the opening seven minutes of the half, but until the final couple of minutes, UTEP was always within a couple of possessions.

Taveion Hollingsworth stole the show, especially in the second half, logging 17 points and going 5-from-9 for three, all of which came in the final 20 minutes, in 37 minutes on the floor.

Justin Johnson, as I predicted in our preview, posted 20 points and added 12 rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes.

As for the aforementioned Anderson and Diagne — they combined for two points (both from Diagne) and four rebounds (again, also from Diagne) in 13 minutes on the floor.

Anyway, a win is a win, and it’s onto UTSA on Saturday.

Final stats: