Hilltoppers Run Past Mississippi Valley State 96-69 in Home Opener

Sunday, December 6

E.A. Diddle Arena

2 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-32,00 CUSA

Mississippi Valley State

0-5,0-0SWAC

Mississippi Val.

Western Ky.

Hilltoppers Run Past Mississippi Valley State 96-69 in Home Opener

12/6/2020 5:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Rick Stansbury Press Conference Jordan Rawls/Kevin Osawe Press Conference Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball got everyone involved and dominated with its size to complete a 96-69 victory over Mississippi Valley State in Sunday's home opener at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Twelve of the 14 Hilltoppers who played scored, while WKU (3-2) outrebounded the Delta Devils 52-21 and outscored them 48-20 in the paint.

"It's good just to get a game and get them in here," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "Mississippi Valley, in the first half, made some shots. We scrambled around, our guards, they made some 3s off the press. I think they had eight at the end of the first half. Quit doing that the second half, we didn't press as much and they didn't make as many 3s. We had 21 offensive rebounds, that's a plus. We had 21 assists, that's a plus… We had a chance to play a lot of people and that's always good. We haven't had a game like that all year long."

Senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU with 16 points, while junior forward Kevin Osawe chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. The reserves accounted for 50 of the Hilltoppers' points.

Junior center Charles Bassey finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, and sophomore guard Jordan Rawls tallied 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Senior guard Josh Anderson had nine points and four steals, while freshman guard Dayvion McKnight filled the stat sheet with six points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

"Sharing the ball more," Rawls said. "I think we had 12 people score, a lot of guys did a lot of different things. Getting everyone involved, that was one of our emphases."

WKU trailed only once at 3-2 and built a 45-33 advantage at the break.

MVSU (0-5) got within nine at 49-40 early in the second half, but the Tops shot 51.4% after halftime as they got a deep bench involved.

WKU racked up 21 assists on 33 baskets and made 22 of 31 free throws. The Hilltoppers had 21 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points.

"We've got a lot of guys on the team that can perform on any given night," Osawe said. "I didn't know I was going to perform the way I did, I just came out with energy like I do every game. It just so happened to be me that performed."

Kam'Ron Cunningham led the Delta Devils with 23 points.

The Hilltoppers will stay at home to host Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. CT Thursday at Diddle Arena in a game announced Sunday morning. It will air on ESPN+ and locally on WKU PBS.