WKU Basketball: Tops Hit Triple Digits, Hold Off Nicholls State 100–86
The Hilltoppers scored 100 points in their 100–86 win against an energetic Nicholls State team. WKU had six players in double figures but…
The Hilltoppers scored 100 points in their 100–86 win against an energetic Nicholls State team. WKU had six players in double figures but was led by Taveion Hollingsworth who scored 24 points. As a team, they shot 57% for the game and held the Colonels to 38% (8–33 from three) in order to move on to a 2–1 record.
Nicholls State loves to play at a fast pace and they started fast from the get-go bringing full court press defense that led to scoring in transition. WKU struggled against the press initially but after a few turnovers, were able to go on a scoring frenzy and had an 18–0 run at one point in the first. WKU led by 30 points (62–32) at the half and shot 68% from the court. It was good to see WKU come out swinging in the first half instead of laying an egg like they did against Missouri State but the second half was still challenging.
As expected, Nicholls State started coming back in the second half and cut the lead down to fifteen points but ultimately the Colonels demise was fouling. As a team they had already committed ten fouls with fourteen minutes left to play in the game so all WKU had to do was make free throws. Sadly, the Tops didn’t fair too well from the stripe and only shot 57% (26–45) for the game. Had WKU made at least ten more free throws, this game never would have been close. Nicholls State started coming back late thanks to the valiant effort from their leading scorer Roddy Peters who had 34 points for the game and got the lead down to ten points (90–80) with 1:40 left. But THANK GOD for Justin Johnson who had a fast-break slam to make the lead 95–82 and as time was expiring, hit a three-point shot to give WKU their first 100 point game against a D1 opponent since they beat Drake in March of 2008 (which was a pretty eventful game thanks to Ty Rogers).
As a whole, WKU looked more poised on both ends of the court and shot the ball well. Breaking 100 points this early in the season is a good sign for what this team might become and hopefully will prepare them for the upcoming Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas later this week. We will see what this young team is made of in the Caribbean tournament which features several big name teams such as Villanova, Purdue, NC State, and Tennessee to name a few.
Full game stats:
What do you think about the win tonight? Do you think they can upset someone like Villanova in the Battle 4 Atlantis? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page and Twitter @TheTowelRackWKU!