WKU Basketball: Tops Lose Out on CUSA Title with 78–72 OT Loss to North Texas
A battle of the top two teams in Conference USA lived up to the billing as Western Kentucky and North Texas played an overtime thriller…
A battle of the top two teams in Conference USA lived up to the billing as Western Kentucky and North Texas played an overtime thriller for the Conference USA regular-season title. WKU led late in the second half but several missed opportunities pushed the game to overtime where North Texas took control and handed the Hilltopper a 78–72 loss.
The Hilltoppers started off hot as they jumped out to 10–4 lead in the first four minutes. The Mean Green immediately responded to tie it up at 11 just a few minutes later.
Each team would trade baskets over the next 9 minutes and were deadlocked at 25 around the 4-minute mark.
The Hilltoppers then went on a 4–0 run highlighted by a Josh Anderson dunk
That momentum turned during the last three minutes as the Mean Green closed the half on an 11–2 run taking a 36–31 lead into the locker room.
The nip and tuck nature continued into the second half as the Hilltoppers tied it up at 42 on a Carson Williams five minutes into the half. Taveion Hollingsworth then nailed a layup to help the Hilltoppers retake the lead but North Texas would respond and each team was tied at 45 with 12:36 remaining.
The deadlock kept going deep into the second half as Carson Williams tied it up at 55 on a step-back three-pointer around the eight-minute mark. Josh Anderson drained his first three since January to help the Hilltoppers regain the lead with six minutes left.
WKU would then go on a 7–0 run to give them their largest lead of the game at 62–55 lead with five remaining.
The Mean Green didn’t go away. A combination of bad offensive possessions by WKU and an attacking offense helped UNT tie it back up at 63. Taveion Hollingsworth drew a foul with 5.6 seconds remaining but inexplicably missed both free throws and UNT couldn’t get a shot off at the buzzer and the game headed to overtime tied at 63.
The slugfest continued into overtime. Each team traded the lead repeatedly. WKU again put themselves in a position to win the game as Jared Savage nailed a three-pointer to give WKU a 69–68 lead with 2:29 remaining.
From there the Mean Green would take control of the game, making back to back alley-oop dunks and then free throws as WKU struggled to keep pace. They would steal the ball and cut the lead to 1 with 46 seconds left but a comeback wasn’t in the cards. UNT would nail a layup that would virtually put the game out of reach. WKU would fall 78–72 to move to 19–10 on the season as UNT celebrated its first Conference USA regular-season title
Here are some thoughts on a gut-wrenching loss
Taveion Hollingsworth continued his hot play finishing with 22 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. It’s a shame he missed those two free throws or else everyone would be talking about his late-season CUSA Player of the year surge. Instead, Javeion Hamlet may have steaked his claim today for UNT.
WKU’s bread and butter is foul margin and racking up a healthy margin at the free-throw line. Today neither of those went to plan as WKU was outshot at the line 22–18 and made just 10 of those 18 attempts (compared to 19 for UNT). The Tops game was lost at the line for WKU and you’ve got to wonder how much-tired legs played a factor in that.
WKU won the turnover battle 15–10 which helped keep them in the game. They did a great job of forcing UNT’s guards to make tough passes all day.
UNT won the rebounding battle 37–30 which was another big factor in the loss. WKU got abused inside repeatedly in the second half and overtime
Carson Williams had another great game as well finishing with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. He was another victim of poor free-throw shooting (2–5) and definitely looked a little gassed late as well.
The late-game offense left a lot to be desired. It was basically throw it to Carson Willaims or Taveion Hollingsworth and hope they make something happen. Why it did give the Tops a chance on the last possession of regulation, they wouldn't have been there if they had simply kept the Mean Green at arms length when they took the six point lead.
Josh Anderson imposed his will as well. He finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals and shut down Javeion Hamlet during the second half. He is the only player that is a difference-maker defensively for the Hilltoppers.
Jared Savage had his second straight quiet game finishing with 7 points and 7 rebounds. He needs to get back going if the Hilltoppers are to surge late.
Jordan Rawls & Cam Justice also didn’t step up today combining for 8 points and 0 assists, that won’t get it done against a guard-heavy team like the Mean Green.
When you play at a razor’s edge you’re likely to get burned and as great as Thursday's wins against Louisiana tech are they get evened out by losses like today
WKU’s regular-season conference Title draught has extended to 11 seasons. While fans rightfully focus on the 6-year NCAA-less seasons, I think the fact they can’t get a regular-season title directly shows why they can’t get over the hump in March.
WKU concludes the regular season on Saturday as they travel to FIU at 6 PM CT. A regular-season title is now off the table but the Hilltoppers can still clinch the #2 seed in the Conference USA tournament. Time to regroup and regain momentum before the season-defining trip to Frisco.
Here are your final stats from today’s heartbreaker
