Record-Breaking 3-Point Shooting Night Aids Tops to 127-61 Victory

Saturday, November 12

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-20,00 CUSA

127

Kentucky State

0-1,0-0SIAC

Kentucky St.

Western Ky.

127

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

Record-Breaking 3-Point Shooting Night Aids Tops to 127-61 Victory

11/12/2022 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Akot/Lander Postgame Media HC Rick Stansbury Postgame Media

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball broke the record for 3-point field goals in a single game for both men's basketball in E.A. Diddle Arena and the overall program on Saturday night when the Hilltoppers knocked down 19 3's in a 127-61 victory over Kentucky State.

Nine different Hilltoppers nailed at least one 3-pointer throughout the evening, tying the NCAA record for number of different players to score a 3-point field goal on one team. WKU is just the fourth team ever to accomplish the feat in NCAA Men's Basketball history. The previous teams were Dartmouth (1993), Florida (2006 and 2018) and Michigan (2008).

"You've got to figure out how you're going to play that game," said head coach Rick Stansbury. "Are you going to use it to better or are we just going to play it and beat them by 30 or 40 and not get better? Our goal was to get better from this game, no matter what the score was, and our guys did that."

The Hilltoppers bested the previous program record of 16 that was held in two different seasons. The 2005-06 team knocked down 16 at UAB and the 2007-08 team hit 16 at Troy. WKU broke the Diddle Arena record that was just reset against them last year when EKU hit 18 3-pointers in December 2021.

WKU became the seventh team in college basketball since 2010-11 shoot 65.5% or better from the 3-point line with at least 29 attempts as the Hilltoppers shot 19 of 29 from the arc.
"Everybody stays in the gym shooting all of the time," said Khristian Lander of his teammates' shooting. "So you're seeing the work paying off."

"I just want to go out there and compete with these guys," said Emmanuel Akot. "You can see the talent that we have and the way that we can shoot the ball."

WKU opened up the game on a 37-9 run, allowing just three 3-pointers to drop past the Hilltopper defense. The Red and White continued to push up the lead to as much as 34 in the first half.

The Thorobreds went on a quick 7-0 run between 3:18 and 2:25. Lander helped fend off Kentucky State with a layup, a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer of his own, along with a dunk from Dontaie Allen.

WKU's 67 points in the first half is believed to be the most points in either half by any Hilltopper team since the program's 1972 season opener where WKU scored 75 in the second half.

The Hilltoppers scored 19 straight coming out of halftime and another 13 straight later on in the half. WKU's lead was as high as 68 points during the game.

"The number one place [getting better] started at was defensively, the effort you play with," said Stansbury. "It's easy to play to that score when you're up big. We didn't do that all night long. Our guys stayed focused, they kept working defensively. That's the biggest thing I'm most pleased with."

Akot was shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. He's just the second player in college basketball since at least 2010-11 to log at least that stat line in 23 minutes or less. The only other was Monte Morris of Iowa State on November 20, 2016 (17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists in 22 minutes).

Akot was joined in double-figure scoring by Jairus Hamilton (18 points and 10 rebounds), Luke Frampton (20 points), Dayvion McKnight (16 points), Lander (13 points) and Dontaie Allen (15 points). It's the first time WKU has had six players in double figures since beating FIU in Miami in the final game of the 2019-20 season.

WKU continues its homestand with a game on Tuesday night against the University of Indianapolis. The game will tip at 7 p.m. CT and will stream live on ESPN+ and televised locally on WKU PBS.