Hilltoppers Earn Dominant 88-66 Win Over Old Dominion on Senior Night

Saturday, February 24

E.A. Diddle Arena

6 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

22-7 (14-2)

Old Dominion

22-6 (13-3)

Old Dominion

WKU

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Hilltoppers Earn Dominant 88-66 Win Over Old Dominion on Senior Night

2/24/2018 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Rick Stansbury Video Interview Justin Johnson/Dwight Coleby/Darius Thompson Video Interview Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball sent its seniors out in dominant fashion Saturday night.

The Hilltoppers (22-7, 14-2 Conference USA) controlled things from the outset against streaking Old Dominion, claiming a convincing 88-66 victory in front of 7,387 fans in the regular-season home finale at E.A. Diddle Arena.

WKU scored the first six points of the game, built it to a 29-9 lead and never looked back. The Hilltoppers shot 59.3 percent from the field – firing 55 percent or better for the fifth straight game – and outscored the Monarchs 50-30 in the paint.

Freshman guard Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU with 20 points, but the night truly belonged to the team's three seniors.

Senior forward Justin Johnson, who proposed to and received a yes from his longtime girlfriend before the game during Senior Night festivities, scored 19 points with 11 rebounds for his 34th career double-double. Johnson made the first two baskets of the game and scored 14 points over the game's first eight minutes.

Senior forward Dwight Coleby tallied 11 points and eight rebounds, and senior guard Darius Thompson finished with 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Redshirt junior guard Lamonte Bearden added 10 points, including the 1,000th of his career, along with four assists and three steals.

WKU notched 18 assists against just eight turnovers and scored 15 points off Old Dominion's turnovers. The Hilltoppers kept up the pace in the second half, shooting 62.1 percent after the break and leading by as much as 28 with 9:46 remaining.
Ahmad Caver led Old Dominion (22-6, 13-3) with 15 points. The Monarchs came into the game with the nation's longest road winning streak at nine straight victories.

The Hilltoppers head into an even bigger clash next week with a championship at stake, traveling to No. 24 Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. CT Thursday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Blue Raiders are one game ahead of WKU in the league standings.