Hilltoppers Bounce Back with 91-58 Rout of FIU

Sunday, February 28

E.A. Diddle Arena

2 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-165,92 CUSA

FIU

-916,214 CUSA

FIU

Western Ky.

2/28/2021 5:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Rick Stansbury Press Conference Carson Williams/Isaiah Cozart Press Conference Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball bounced back in strong fashion Sunday, routing FIU 91-58 at E.A. Diddle Arena.

After falling at top-10 Houston on Thursday in a rare February non-conference game, the Hilltoppers (16-5 overall, 9-2 Conference USA) rolled over the Panthers in a balanced effort to maintain their East Division lead.

WKU held FIU to 36.5% shooting, scored 25 points off the Panthers' turnovers and racked up 54 points in the paint.

"After Thursday's game, it really left a bad taste in our mouth," redshirt senior forward Carson Williams said. "That wasn't really what we were wanting from that game. Everybody kind of felt like they had something to prove tonight after losing like that on Thursday."

WKU junior center Charles Bassey scored the first four points of the game, and the Hilltoppers never relinquished the lead.

They had just one turnover in the first half and led 44-26 at the break, then used two 12-0 runs in the second half to eventually led by as much as 38 with 2:11 to play.

Williams led all scorers with 21 points, while Bassey racked up his 13th double-double of the season with 19 points, 14 rebounds and three steals – hitting 1,000 career points in the process.

Senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth (six rebounds) and sophomore guard Jordan Rawls (five assists) each scored 11 points, and junior forward Kevin Osawe gave WKU nine points and six rebounds off the bench.

Reserves Isaiah Cozart (six points) and Kylen Milton (five points) also contributed.

"Having a great bench in some games is definitely a factor, it's a factor between winning and losing," Cozart said. "We teach that, to have a significant bench that can give us good minutes all the time. Whether we play a lot of minutes or play very few, we always teach our guys to be ready."

The Hilltoppers outrebounded FIU 51-30, scored 29 second-chance points off 20 offensive rebounds and shot 49.3% from the field.

Radshad Davis had 13 points and seven rebounds to pace FIU (9-16, 2-14).

WKU concludes the series with FIU at noon CT Monday at Diddle Arena. The game will again stream online on ESPN+ and air locally in Bowling Green on WKU PBS.

"When you play a team that presses and scrambles some, you've got to make some basketball plays and I thought we were pretty efficient with scoring earlier and being as efficient as we can against it," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "We've got to put that one behind us, we've got a quick turnaround again tomorrow. A really quick turnaround."