WKU Men’s Basketball’s offensive struggles and Sam Houston’s stifling defense helped the Bearkats overtake the Hilltoppers 78-62 Thursday night.
The Bearkats shot 45% from the field for the game and converted 11 of their 25 3-point attempts. They held WKU to 30% shooting from the field and 9-30 from beyond the arc.
“Obviously a very disappointing performance tonight,” Head Coach Hank Plona said postgame. “I think our lack of offense really showed tonight. We were doing a very poor job scoring inside. It’s a very physical league and we were not digging down. I think our defense and lack of togetherness was causing their to be some individual play on the offensive side.”
Plona used a new rotation for the game, with senior forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. and senior guards Khristian Lander and Enoch Kalambay coming off the bench, while senior forward Blaise Keita and senior guard Jaylen Dorsey started for WKU. When asked if it affected their performance, Marshall Jr. said “no”
“Any one coach puts out their can perform,” Marshall Jr. said. “We have a lot of guys that can step off the bench and play.”
Senior guard Don McHenry scored 11 points on 4-16 shooting. Lander and sophomore guard Jack Edelen, along with Marshall Jr. and Keita, all scored 11 points for the Hilltoppers. An off shooting night involving multiple scoring droughts kept WKU out of the game.
The Bearkats came out of the gates aggressive in the first half, going on two 11-0 scoring runs. WKU eclipsed a total time of 8:55 during the two droughts. SHSU shot 43.3.% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc. They outrebounded the Hilltoppers in the first half 25-14 and 5-1 on the offensive glass.
WKU shot 31% from the field in the first half, making just nine field goals on 29 attempts. McHenry led the Hilltoppers into the locker room with six points while Edelen and Bayless added five points each.
The Hilltoppers played from behind double digits the entire second half. Despite multiple stretches of scoring, including a late 5-0 run, WKU never held off the Bearkat offense. Any chance at a comeback was lost when WKU went the last 3:01 without a field goal, their third scoring drought of the game over three minutes.
The loss is the Hilltoppers fourth straight and drops them to 14-12 (5-8 CUSA) on the season.
First Half
WKU won the opening tipoff, but fell behind 4-0 in the first 1:30. The Hilltoppers rattled off five unanswered points to take their first lead of the game 5-4. The two teams traded 3-pointers putting the Hilltoppers ahead 8-7 near the 15-minute mark.
SHSU went up 18-8 behind an 11-0 run. WKU knocked down a jumper to end a 5:25 scoring drought, cutting it to 18-10. The Bearkats responded with another 11-0 run to put them up 36-16 with 3:58 remaining. Free throws ended a 3:30 WKU scoring drought.
The Hilltoppers knocked down their first field goal after missing seven straight to cut the Bearkat lead to 17 with 1:24 remaining until halftime. A Sam Houston 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave them their largest lead of the game, putting them up 41-21 with 55 seconds left.
Guard Jalen Jackson made a jumper to beat the buzzer, making the halftime score 43-25.
Second Half
The Hilltoppers opened the second half with a second-chance layup. After bringing it to within 16, 46-30, the Bearkats brought it back to a 20-point lead with 14:33 remaining. With the Bearkats up 53-33, the two teams traded buckets.
At the 11:23 mark, SHSU led 62-42. The Bearkats dropped a dagger 3-pointer to put them up 72-52 with five minutes remaining in the game. WKU brought it to 74-59 at the 3:01 mark, but it was too late.
