Late Defensive Stand the Difference in Tops' 68-61 Win Over Rice

Saturday, January 4

E.A. Diddle Arena

4 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-95,20 CUSA

Rice

-87,02 CUSA

Rice

Western Ky.

Late Defensive Stand the Difference in Tops' 68-61 Win Over Rice

1/4/2020 7:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Rick Stansbury Press Conference Carson Williams/Josh Anderson Press Conference Photo Gallery Game Highlights

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball clamped down on defense in winning time Saturday afternoon, staying unbeaten in Conference USA action with a 68-61 victory over Rice at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Rice tied up the game at 58-all with 5:40 to play, but the Hilltoppers (9-5 overall, 2-0 C-USA) held the Owls scoreless for more than five minutes and scored eight straight points to pull away.

WKU is 2-0 in league play for the third time in four years under head coach Rick Stansbury.

"I think the biggest adjustment they made was something we haven't gone against yet, and that's zone (defense)," Stansbury said. "It's the first time this bunch has seen zone. We jumped off to a big lead early against man. They're really not a zone team, but I think they figured out they wanted to play some zone to change the tempo, and it changed the flow of that game a bunch in both halves. … In the second half, we shoot 14 free throws, and the second thing we did was score 39 points against a zone. But it was very obvious that was new for us."

The Hilltoppers got off to a fast start with a 9-0 run to start the game against Rice's man defense, and led 20-7 with 9:50 left in the half after a 3-pointer by graduate senior guard Camron Justice.

But Rice (8-7, 0-2) settled in with its own 9-0 run, and the Owls trimmed their deficit to 29-23 by the break.

They quickly tied the game in the second half by scoring nine of the first 12 points of the frame, but WKU never trailed in the contest.

Rice's Drew Peterson tied the game at 58-58 with 5:40 left with a three-point play, but those were the final points for the Owls until a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining.

WKU rattled off an 8-0 spurt during Rice's cold spell and made several key defensive stops, including a highlight-reel block at the rim by junior guard Josh Anderson.

"Everybody locked in there," redshirt junior forward Carson Williams said. "We switched up defenses there to throw different things at them. I think that helped, everyone on the court just locked in and sat down and guarded."

Williams led all scorers with 22 points and 13 rebounds, netting 10 of 14 shots from the field.

Justice finished with 13 points and three made 3s, and Anderson added 11 points and five rebounds. Redshirt senior guard/forward Jared Savage tallied eight points and nine boards.

The Hilltoppers outrebounded an opponent (37-36) for the first time since losing center Charles Bassey to a season-ending injury. They also made 14 of 14 free throws in the second half after taking and missing just one attempt in the first half.

Robert Martin paced Rice with 13 points.

WKU hits the road for the first time in league play next week at UAB at 7 p.m. CT Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. The game will air on Stadium, as well as locally in Bowling Green on WKU PBS.

The Hilltoppers are happy to be 2-0 in the league, but Anderson said his team understands it's a marathon, not a sprint.

"It's not really a big deal to us," he said. "It's a long season. We're just going to go into practice, practice hard and get ready for our next opponent."