WKU Basketball: Tops Avoid Last Minute Collapse In 71–68 Victory Over Saint Mary’s
A reeling WKU basketball team returned home to the friendly confines of Diddle Arena and finally broke through with a complete effort in a…
A reeling WKU basketball team returned home to the friendly confines of Diddle Arena and finally broke through with a complete effort in a 71–68 win over perennially solid Saint Mary’s in front of 5,026 fans.
WKU came out ready to play scoring the first five points of the game and took an early 18–12 lead on the strength of great ball movement getting five assists in the first eight minutes (four from Dalano Banton).
The scoring slowed but WKU extended their lead to 13 points on a Banton layup with 2:47 left in the half. The Gaels cut that lead down to seven on a last-second dunk by Tanner Krebs as WKU went to the locker room leading 34–27 at the half.
The Tops came out of the locker room and finally avoided digging themselves a hole to start the second half. The Tops kept that seven-point lead going into the first media timeout. The teams continued to trade baskets until the Tops gave themselves some breathing room around the ten-minute mark when a Taveion Hollingsworth two-pointer with 9:55 left extended WKU’s lead to 55–43.
From there, the Gaels stormed back with back to back three pointers leading to an 8–0 run, cutting the WKU lead down to three.
After the Gales run, the Tops defense locked down, holding Saint Mary’s without a field goal for the next three minutes.
The offense didn’t completely disappear; Josh Anderson took over the game, scoring seven straight points for the Tops, punctuated by a coast to coast slam near the free throw line extending WKU’s lead to 10 with 4:47 remaining.
The Tops entered the last television timeout with a 65–56 lead.
The lead stayed around nine points before the Gaels went on a run of their own, getting as close as five points before Taveion started hitting free throws to extend the lead again to nine points with 44 seconds left.
From there, WKU proceeded to implode: Missing free throws, giving up layups and turning the ball over, giving the Gaels a chance to tie the game with 14.7 seconds left down by three.
Luckily for Western, Charles Bassey blocked a shot and Krebs last-second shot came up short as WKU hung on for a three-point victory
Here are some thoughts as the Tops got back to .500 on the season:
Banton got the start over Lamonte Bearden and responded with the best game of his career. The young freshman finished with 11 points, six assists, and four rebounds. He did a great job distributing the ball and hitting shots playing the entire second half. He continues to get better with each passing game.
As Jared Savage goes, so goes the Tops. Today he shot the ball well, going 5-for-9 and finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. He didn’t force anything and was efficient throughout. Let’s hope that slump he was on is now over.
Hollingsworth also broke out of his recent string of bad games. He played efficiently, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and hitting all four of his free throws. He finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Great to see him get some of his mojo back.
Charles Bassey sat for stretches of the game and didn’t have the most impressive final stat line but he made an impact none the less. He did a great job distributing the ball and his passes out of the post helped WKU have their best shooting night in a while. On the day, he finished with just five points but also logged seven rebounds and three blocks.
Anderson had another great game on both ends of the court. He can take over a game with his athleticism getting the crowd out of their seats. Today, he did it with a come from behind block and the slam mentioned earlier. He finished with 18 points, two steals, and that block. When he’s locked in, he takes this team to another level.
Defensively, we finally started to see the effort that has been lacking much of the year. The Tops drew a few charges and held the Gaels to just 41% shooting while also forcing 14 turnovers. WKU didn’t allow any back-breaking runs that put them out of the game. Credit to the team for responding.
Bearden only played four minutes in the first half and didn’t appear in the second half. Rick Stansbury obviously was sending him a message by playing Banton over him and Banton’s strong play probably played a factor in him not seeing the court in the second half. Hopefully, he got the message and is ready to be the distributor we know he can be.
Stansbury opened up the bench in the first half by playing nine different players but he tightened up in the second half, only playing seven. I think he should keep it open more, I’d love to see him play the hot hand more often and get players like Tolu Smith, Matthew Horton, Jeremiah Gambrell, and even Jake Ohmer more chances to play roles and spell some of the starters.
Gambrell got his first action, three minutes, immediately forcing a steal but didn’t see the floor again the rest of the game. Let’s hope he gets more comfortable and can play a role as a three-point shooter he’s been billed to be.
WKU still allowed St Mary’s to shoot the three at a great clip, as the Gaels hit 47% from deep. The Tops will have to learn to lock down as the season goes on or they could get killed in the conference tournament by a Jake Elmore type performance again.
St Mary’s was pretty much a two-man team today. Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts combined for 54 of the Gaels 68 points.
Missed free throws almost doomed WKU at the end of the game as Bassey, Banton and Hollingsworth allowed the Gaels to get a final shot to tie the game. WKU finished shooting just 58% from the line, equalling their field goal percentage. That will have to improve if they want to avoid bad losses that have plagued them thus far.
If you would have told me heading into Wisconsin that WKU would have wins against West Virginia, Arkansas & Saint Mary’s but would have zero shot at an at-large, I wouldn’t believe you. WKU’s at-large chances are dead but if they do win the conference tournament, those wins will help the Tops get no worse than a 12 seed.
WKU (6-6) will have a week off before their biggest home game in recent memory as they take on the 16th ranked Wisconsin Badgers (10–2) at 4:30 p.m. CT. Let’s hope this is another sign of turning the corner instead of a continuation of our inconsistency. Here are your final stats from WKU’s sixth win of the season.
