Hilltoppers Sweep Marshall Behind Balanced Attack in 91-84 Win

Saturday, January 25

E.A. Diddle Arena

6:30 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-146,71 CUSA

Marshall

-912,35 CUSA

Marshall

Western Ky.

Hilltoppers Sweep Marshall Behind Balanced Attack in 91-84 Win

1/25/2020 10:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Game Highlights Rick Stansbury Press Conference Camron Justice/Jordan Rawls Press Conference Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball used a balanced effort to complete a rivalry sweep Saturday night.

The Hilltoppers (14-6 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) had six players in double figures and fought off Marshall down the stretch, notching a 91-84 home victory at E.A. Diddle Arena.

It was the second win over the Thundering Herd (9-12, 3-5) in a span of four days. WKU got a 64-60 comeback win at Marshall on Wednesday, then finished the job Saturday in front of a crowd of 6,270 in a sold-out Diddle Arena.

"They made some adjustments from the first game to the second game, and the biggest thing was they had some guys step up and make shots," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "… But through 40 minutes, our guys find ways."

Junior guard Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU's balanced scoring with 18 points and tied his career high with six assists.

Redshirt senior guard/forward Jared Savage had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and freshman guard Jordan Rawls tallied 15 points with three made 3-pointers.

Redshirt junior forward Carson Williams and junior guard Josh Anderson each had 14 points. They both had six rebounds, and Anderson also had four steals.

Graduate senior guard Camron Justice also found double figures with 11 points, his most since returning from a bulging disk in his back.

The Hilltoppers shot 50.8 percent as a team, netted 10 of 23 3-pointers and made 17 of 22 free throws, including 16 of 19 in the second half.

"I think everybody went through their little spells where they helped the team individually," Justice said. "There was a big bucket by Josh, big bucket by Sav – even kind of the one I hit in the corner when they had cut it to five. Those were big for us. We did what we had to do."

WKU took control in the first half with a 9-0 run that pushed its lead to 48-35 and led 50-40 at the break. The Hilltoppers had three players in double figures by the half and made 21 field goals in the opening frame.

Marshall didn't go away, using an 11-2 spurt to climb back within five at 58-53 with 13:10 remaining. Justice answered with a crucial 3 to stretch the lead to eight, the beginning of several clutch answers from the Tops.

The Herd got all the way back within three at 74-71 with 6:05 to play when Anderson buried a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired.

The Hilltoppers made eight free throws in the final three minutes to keep Marshall at bay. WKU made 16 of its final 17 free throws.

"We've had to battle back a lot in games this year, but this time we were leading," Rawls said. "We knew they weren't going to stop, so we knew we had to keep attacking."

Taevion Kinsey led Marshall with 16 points, while Jarrod West had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists.

The Hilltoppers head to Florida next week for two conference road games, starting at Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. CT Thursday in Boca Raton, Fla. The game will stream online on Stadium on Facebook.