BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A dominant night from Charles Bassey paved the way for WKU Hilltopper Basketball's 66-64 home win over Louisiana Tech on Friday night.
The junior center Bassey finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks, as the Hilltoppers (9-3 overall, 2-1 Conference USA) made enough plays in the final minutes to hold on.
"Sometimes you just find ways," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "It felt like it was all an offensive challenge all night long, from our team. We never could spurt away, we didn't shoot it extremely well at all. … Charles was a man in there tonight. Charles erased a lot of baskets and offensively and defensively, he helped save us too."
The teams will meet again at 6 p.m. CT Saturday in E.A. Diddle Arena. The game will stream online on CBS Sports Network on Facebook.
"Just the same thing," Bassey said. "First up, we've got to play better defense. Just coming out with more energy than today. For me, it's coming out tomorrow and being better than today. As a team, we're going to go back and watch film and see what we can do better and just come out as a team."
Bassey reached a double-double in the first half with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but WKU shot just 31% before the break and led 31-28 at halftime.
Louisiana Tech got eight straight points from Isaiah Crawford midway through the second half to take a 44-41 lead.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 52-46 with 9:08 left on a 3 by Kalob Ledoux, but senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth scored two straight baskets, and WKU added three more free throws to climb back in front.
Louisiana Tech's last lead came on a basket by Crawford with 1:02 remaining.
Hollingsworth hit a tough shot in the lane to put the Hilltoppers up 65-64, and Bassey rejected a shot at the other end. Hollingsworth hit one free throw, and WKU got two defensive stops to secure the victory.
Bassey was joined in double figures by three other Hilltoppers, including senior guard Josh Anderson, who crossed the 1,000-point career threshold with 12 points (all in the second half) and seven rebounds.
Hollingsworth added 11 points and five rebounds while setting a new program record for most minutes played in a career. Redshirt senior forward Carson Williams tallied 10 points and nine rebounds.
WKU made just 2 of 7 3-pointers, but hit 24 of 31 free throws while Louisiana Tech attempted just 16. Ledoux and Crawford paced the Bulldogs with 14 points each.
The Hilltoppers outrebounded Louisiana Tech 47-33 with 15 offensive boards.
"One thing was the rebounding margin, I'm not sure what the stat was, but we outrebounded them by a pretty wide margin," Williams said. "The free throw margin, as well. Those were the two key factors in the win tonight."
THE KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH – WHEN IT COMES TO TOBACCO, QUITTERS ALWAYS WIN
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
