WKU Basketball: Tops Advance Past UTSA, 80–67
The Tops survive and advance after their first game in the 2021 C-USA tournament and hold off the Roadrunners, 80–67.
The Tops survive and advance after their first game in the 2021 C-USA tournament and hold off the Roadrunners, 80–67.
UTSA’s Keaton Wallace led all scorers with 30 points while his teammate and star guard Jhivvan Jackson had an off night and only finish with only had five points and shot 2–12 from the field.
The Tops big men did work tonight. C-USA player and defensive player of the year Charles Bassey had 21 points and 9 rebounds and Carson Williams had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Guard Taveion Hollingsworth added 12 points as well.
The bench played well in the first half. Jordan Rawls made two big three pointers and Luke Frampton went to the rim a few times and shot 1-of-4 from deep on the evening.
One important thing to highlight this game was the Tops defense. They forced 9 turnovers and held one of the best guards in the nation to only five total points. UTSA only shot 38% from the field for the game. Jackson was held scoreless until the 8 minute mark in the first half as the Tops lead at halftime, 38–25.
WKU came out hot in the second half and lead by as many 23 points but when coach Stansbury put a lot of his subs in the game around the 13:00 mark, UTSA came back and got within 11 points. Once the starters came out though, they were able to clamp the Roadrunners and win.
The biggest concern and thing to monitor is Charles Bassey’s health. At around the 4:00 minutes to go mark in the game, he was grimacing a lot and holding his lower back and didn’t play the remainder of the game. The Tops have a quick turnover tomorrow with a game at 11am CST so I’m hoping and praying he will be good to go against UAB.
The Tops will face 2W UAB at 11 am tomorrow and this will be a tough test for the Hilltoppers. Winner gets a spot in the C-USA title game so the season and a championship are on the line.
Here are the final stats from Frisco:
