Tops Lock Down Defensively for 64-60 Comeback Win at Marshall

Wednesday, January 22

Huntington, W.Va.

6 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-136, 61 CUSA

Marshall

-911, 34 CUSA

WKU

MARSHALL

Photo courtesy of Marshall Athletics

Tops Lock Down Defensively for 64-60 Comeback Win at Marshall

1/22/2020 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Jared Savage/Carson Williams Press Conference Rick Stansbury Opening Statement

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — One thing has become clear in WKU Hilltopper Basketball's season.

You can never count these Hilltoppers out.

WKU (13-6 overall, 6-1 Conference USA) trailed by 19 in the first half and by 14 at halftime Wednesday, but locked down Marshall on defense for a 64-60 comeback road victory.

"Marshall is a really good basketball team," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "They're hard to defend on the inside. … In the second half, I thought we jumped up and made some shots. That makes things work, and we got some stops. We give up 21 points in the second half, and that's huge when you go on the road."

The Hilltoppers held the Thundering Herd (9-11, 3-4) to 21 points in the second half, the fewest WKU has allowed in a half this season, and caught fire from deep to notch its third true road win of the year.

WKU pulls back into a tie for first place in C-USA with North Texas.

To get there, the Tops had to dig deep for yet another improbable comeback.

Marshall opened the game with a 7-0 run and continued to pour it on with its size advantage inside. The Herd went up 37-18 with 57 seconds left in the half, but WKU scored seven of the last nine points of the half to get back within 39-25.

WKU surged out of the locker room with a 9-0 run to begin the second half, starting with consecutive 3s from freshman guard Jordan Rawls and redshirt senior guard/forward Jared Savage.

The Hilltoppers got back within five several times before finally getting over the hump, tying the game at 58-all on Savage's fourth 3-pointer with 6:35 remaining.

Rawls tacked on two straight baskets to give WKU a 62-58 advantage, and Marshall scored just two points over the final 8:34 of the game, resulting in a final 11-2 Topper run.

"I'd rather lead the whole way," Savage said. "We've just got to find ways to put two halves together. We've done a good job of putting one half together, but the game is two halves. We've got to start playing 40 minutes and try not to dig ourselves holes like that."

Junior guard Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU with 20 points and four steals, while redshirt junior forward Carson Williams added 15 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Savage finished with 14 points and four made 3s. The Hilltoppers forced a season-high 21 turnovers and grabbed a season-high 12 steals.

Marshall big men Iran Bennett – a 6-foot-9, 299-pound center – and Goran Miladinovic combined for 18 points in the first half with Williams in foul trouble, but they got just four points from Bennett after the break.

"I've got to give it both of them, especially in the first half," Williams said. "They came in and really hurt us bad. We made some adjustments at halftime, but they're both really good players."

This was the first of two games against Marshall in four days under C-USA's unique scheduling model. The Hilltoppers will host their rival at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena. The game will once again stream online on Stadium on Facebook.