Tops Can't Contain Blue Raider Second-Half Shooting in 65-60 Defeat

Saturday, December 31

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

3 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-85,02 CUSA

Middle Tennessee

-95,21 CUSA

Western Ky.

Middle Tenn.

WKU Hilltoppers of the WKU Hilltoppers take on the Rice Owls at E.A. Diddle Arena on December 29, 2022 in Bowling Green, KY. (Photo by Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics)

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

Tops Can't Contain Blue Raider Second-Half Shooting in 65-60 Defeat

12/31/2022 6:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Interim HC Phil Cunningham Postgame Media Dayvion McKnight//Emmanuel Akot Postgame Media Box Score (PDF)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball couldn't hold off a sharp-shooting Middle Tennessee team in the second half of Saturday's game, falling to the Blue Raiders 65-60 in its second Conference USA game of the season.

MTSU shot 77.8% in the second half from beyond the arc after shooting just 7.7% in the first half.

"It's obvious, the last two games we've lost the game in the second half," said interim head coach Phil Cunningham. "We've got to be better in the second half finishing teams off; we've got to be better defensively for the game overall. I thought we were pretty good defensively, they didn't shoot a great percentage but they hit 7 of 9 3's in the second half. That stat stands out. The other stat that stands out is offensive rebounds, we gave up way too many offensive rebounds, even in the first half. I think they had nine offensive rebounds and ended up with 14 for the game. So we've just got to be better finishing off games"

The Hilltoppers scored the first seven points of the game, capped by a 3-pointer from Luke Frampton.

WKU held MTSU scoreless for nearly five minutes as Camryn Weston broke that drought with a dunk. At the 5:29 mark, Middle was 1 of its last 17 field goals, the sole one being a Weston's dunk, before Eli Lawrence nailed a 3 from just beyond the arc.

The Blue Raiders eventually closed the gap and got the point differential to one with 3:47 on the clock.

WKU closed out the half on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 27-19 entering the break. At halftime, the Hilltoppers had held the Blue Raiders to just 25% from the floor and a 1 of 13 (7.7%) mark from the 3-point line.

Middle Tennessee opened up the second half scoring seven straight in just over a minute. Frampton snapped the streak with a 3-pointer off the wing.

For the next 10 minutes, the teams exchanged buckets and both teams got hot. MTSU was 6 for 6 from the arc to start the second half.

From the 8:33 to 0:42 on the clock, the Blue Raiders used a 15-4 run to flip the script from a 49-46 score in favor of the Tops to a 61-53 mark in their own favor. The Hilltoppers couldn't overcome the deficit as the final seconds ticked away.

Middle Tennessee outrebounded WKU 47-36 on the game and had seven different players make a 3-pointer.

Following their 7.7% 3-point clip in the first half, the Blue Raiders shot an astounding 77.8% in the second.

Emmanuel Akot led WKU in scoring with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He added six boards and a steal in his 29 minutes. Dayvion McKnight had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds while Jairus Hamilton was also in double-figure scoring with 10.

Teafale Lenard led all scorers with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting along with six rebounds and three assists.

WKU will return home for a match up against North Texas at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday evening. The game will be televised from E.A. Diddle Arena back on CBS Sports Network.