EL PASO, Texas — WKU Hilltopper Basketball kept its poise Thursday night and came up with crucial baskets when needed late, holding off UTEP for a 67-62 road win.
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Junior guard Taveion Hollingsworth scored the Hilltoppers' final seven points, and WKU knocked down nine 3-pointers to pull out the win.
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WKU (17-8 overall, 10-3 Conference USA) can now be no worse than the No. 2 seed going into Conference USA's Bonus Play next week.
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"Having the opportunity to lead for 35 minutes on the road is pretty good," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "There are no easy games. This is a very talented team that's hard to beat in this building. I felt their backs were against the wall, and we knew we'd get their best shot. … Anytime you can go on the road and win is huge, and to do it the way we did it again through some foul trouble and injuries – these guys have no quit in them."
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Hollingsworth led WKU with 18 points, moving into 18th place on WKU's all-time scoring list in the process.
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Redshirt senior guard/forward Jared Savage contributed 14 points – including four 3-pointers – and nine rebounds, while redshirt junior forward Carson Williams tallied 13 points.
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Graduate senior guard Camron Justice chipped in 11 point and three steals.
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WKU went on an 18-6 run early to open a 24-11 advantage, its largest of the game.
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But UTEP (13-13, 4-9) made its last six shots of the frame and finished the half on a 12-2 run to get back within 32-29 at the break.
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The Miners scored the first two baskets of the second half to pull in front and eventually led by as much as three, but WKU answered with a 9-0 run, capped by a Justice 3 to make it 41-35 with 14:25 remaining.
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The Hilltoppers had plenty of big shots left in the tank.
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A 3-pointer by Savage made it 50-43 with 7:46 left, and another with 4:46 to play to give WKU a 55-51 cushion.
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UTEP got back within one again at 57-56, but freshman guard Jordan Rawls sank a 3 with 2:41 remaining to push it back to four.
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From there, Hollingsworth scored WKU's last seven, including a tough teardrop shot with 29 seconds left to make it a six-point game.
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"We're just trying to play through a lot of things," Hollingsworth said. "We're going through a lot, and we're just going to try to keep winning."
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Souley Boum paced UTEP with 21 points.
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The Hilltoppers play their final game before Bonus Play begins at UTSA at 2 p.m. CT Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. The game will stream online on CBS Sports Network on Facebook Watch.
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"We haven't won the first one on the road all year, so that's a lot of momentum going into that," Savage said. "We're pretty tired right now, so we're going to rest tomorrow and just get ready to play on Saturday."
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