WKU Basketball: Tops Outclassed in Murfreesboro, Lose to Middle Tennessee 82–64
Despite a potential Conference USA championship still in play, WKU traveled 100 miles southeast to Murfreesboro and were thoroughly handled…
Despite a potential Conference USA championship still in play, WKU traveled 100 miles southeast to Murfreesboro and were thoroughly handled by arch-rival Middle Tennessee on Thursday night.
Middle quickly jumped out to a 7–0 lead but the Tops responded. They traded baskets and even led 24–22 with nine minutes left in the first half on the strength of a strong game by Lamonte Bearden.
Unfortunately, that was the high water mark of the game as it was all Middle the rest of the way. They proceeded to hit three after three and took a 43–34 half time lead on this crazy bank shot at the buzzer.
The second half continued as the first half ended, and WKU’s lack of offensive flow and MTSU’s energetic play compounded kept WKU repeatedly trailing by double digits the entire half. The Tops couldn’t create any offense against Middle’s 1–3–1 defense and the Blue Raiders won it going away 82–64.
Here are some stray postgame thoughts:
WKU never looked comfortable from the start in this one. Stansbury’s methodical style doesn’t match up well with the Blue Raiders frenetic pace and physical play and it’s showed in both games against Middle.
WKU only finished with four assists and two made three point attempts. Those numbers couldn’t beat FAU let alone a team as good as Middle on their home court.
The only player that showed up tonight was Lamonte Bearden, who continued his hot finish to the season by putting up 24 points and chipping in two rebounds and did a good job of keeping WKU in the game early but several other key contributors weren’t ready to play tonight.
Coleby, Hollingsworth and Thompson finished with a combined 21 points and regularly let Brandon Walters, Gitty Potts and Antwain Johnson get anything they wanted on the offensive end.
The Murphy Center looked like a legitimately good atmosphere tonight which was surprising, it only took a 1 vs. 2 matchup against their arch rival and a top 25 ranking to get there.
WKU still continued to draw fouls getting 19 on the game. Consistantly getting whistles will keep them in games in the conference tournament but they’ve got to distribute the ball better and make three’s if they want to win in Frisco.
The only silver lining is that we might get one last chance against the Blue Raiders when the stakes will be much higher. If the Tops don’t figure out how to play against Middle’s 1–3–1 and don’t hit shots, it might not matter despite the conventional wisdom of beating a team three times is hard.
Final stats:
