BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball wrapped its regular season with its ninth win in the last 10 tries Saturday, beating Marshall 78-69 in the home finale in front of 6,098 fans at E.A. Diddle Arena.
With the win, the Hilltoppers (19-12, 11-7 Conference USA) clinch the No. 2 seed in the C-USA East Division and a bye to the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals next Thursday in Frisco, Texas.
"The biggest key was playing our game," fifth-year senior guard Josh Anderson said. "I feel like our mentality was just by any means, we've got to go out and get the dub so we can get that bye next week. It's pretty big with our rotation only playing six or seven guys for most of the minutes, so having that bye for the first game is big."
Five Hilltoppers reached double figures in scoring, led by 16 points apiece from sophomore guard Dayvion McKnight and senior forward Jairus Hamilton. McKnight added six rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Hamilton chipped in six rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting in 21 minutes in his return from a knee injury.
"I definitely feel a whole lot better, knee feels great honestly," Hamilton said. "It feels great to be back out there with my teammates. They did a great job making me look good today and that's appreciated. We're just going to keep moving this forward, for real."
Junior center Jamarion Sharp flirted with a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Redshirt senior guard Luke Frampton scored 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Anderson had 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Anderson also broke the WKU program record for career games played at 142 in his final game in Diddle Arena.
The Tops led 20-19 with 6:57 left in the first half, then went on an 8-0 run including 3s from Hamilton and Frampton in a 90-second span.
WKU also scored the final six points of the half, with a putback slam by Sharp with eight seconds left that made it 39-28 at the break.
After Sharp opened the second half with another putback dunk, Marshall went on an 11-2 run to close the gap.
The Herd pulled within 46-44 with 14:02 to go, but the Hilltoppers answered with a 9-0 burst to stretch it back to 55-44. Marshall never truly threatened again.
WKU recorded 13 steals and committed a season-low five turnovers, outscoring the Herd 27-7 on the fast break and 20-4 in points off turnovers.
Marko Sarenac had 18 points to lead Marshall (11-20, 4-14).
The Hilltoppers will open the Conference USA Basketball Championship in next Thursday's quarterfinals against an opponent to be determined at 6 p.m. CT in Frisco, Texas. The game will air on Stadium and locally in Bowling Green on WKU PBS.
"I want to say thank you on behalf of our team and program to that great crowd we had today," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "That was a tremendous crowd. When that game got to four points in that second half, the energy from the crowd helped us a bunch. When Diddle's like that, remember how it was last year, that was tough, but when it's like that, we're a hard out. Give everybody that came out today, give them an assist.
"… Overall, great team effort. I'm proud of those guys. As you know, 10 games ago, none of you guys, anybody would've given them a chance to do what they've done. And they deserve all the credit. Not a lot of teams and not a lot of players could've gotten back up off the mat after some tough losses."
Med Center Health
The 2021-22 WKU Basketball season is proudly presented by Med Center Health. Med Center Health has served Southcentral Kentucky for more than 90 years, and its system of care includes six acute care hospitals, a comprehensive network of physician practices and clinics, and hundreds of area physicians offering care in dozens of specialties. From emergency treatment to preventative care, Med Center Health is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the communities it serves. Learn more at medcenterhealth.org.
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