The senior guard scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in a two-minute, 48-second span to spark the Hilltoppers to a 75-63 win over the Colonels at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Haynes started a 17-2 spurt with two free throws at 12:58, hit two three-point field goals and then sank all three free throws after a foul to give Western a 55-54 lead with 10:06 to go. The teams traded scores over the next minute until Elgrace Wilborn’s tip-in at 7:29 gave the Hilltoppers the lead for good, 59-58.
The Toppers would go on to score 14 unanswered points to put the game away.
It was the first meeting between the two schools since December 1994. WKU (6-0) has won the last nine meetings between the two schools, and has 11 victories in a row at home over the Colonels (5-1).
“There’s no doubt our fans — led by the student section — made a difference in the outcome of the game,” said Hilltopper head coach Darrin Horn. “When you play the style of play that we do, and play guys the number of minutes that we do, in a hard-fought game against a very good basketball team we’re going to need something to feed off to get over the hump. It was our fans tonight.”
Anthony Winchester added 15 points and six rebounds for the Hilltoppers, while Danny Rumph posted career highs with 11 points — the first time in 67 games he has scored in double figures — nine rebounds and six assists. Wilborn finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, hitting all five shots from the field.
WKU outrebounded the Colonels, 36-33, holding a 12-board advantage over the final 20 minutes, and the Toppers also forced 19 EKU turnovers that led to 26 points.
Matt Witt paced the Colonels with 16 points and eight assists, with Zach Ingles adding 14 points, Jason McLeish 13 and Alonzo Hird 12. Hird matched Rumph for game-high honors with nine rebounds, but he was held to just two points and a board in the second half.
Neither team led by more than two points until Wilborn hit a layup with 14:10 left in the opening 20 minutes that gave WKU a 14-10 lead. After McLeish answered with a jumper 38 seconds later, the Hilltoppers would go on a 10-2 run — keyed by six Rumph points —to build a 20-10 advantage with 8:05 to go. That lead would go to 11 three times, the last when Winchester sank a jump shot at 4:22, before the Colonels mounted a comeback.
McLeish hit a three 12 seconds after Winchester’s basket, then Witt made a pair of foul shots and a layup that left Western up by just four, 32-28, with two minutes remaining. Neither team would score again before the half.
The Toppers will visit Evansville Saturday at 7:05 p.m. (CST) in their last game before final exams and a one-week layoff.
