WKU Wins Third in a Row with Victory Over Middle Tennessee

Thursday, February 9

Bowling Green, Ky.

7 p.m.

Western Kentucky University

-1411,68 CUSA

Middle Tennessee

-1510,86 CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Western Ky.

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

2/9/2023 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score HC Rick Stansbury Postgame Media Jamarion Sharp/Dayvion McKnight Postgame Media Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Through a 40-minute game, WKU Hilltopper Basketball defeated Middle Tennessee on Thursday night. WKU picked up its third victory in a row with a 93-89 win over the Blue Raiders. The 93 points are the most the Hilltoppers have scored since their second game of the season.

"Give Middle Tennessee a lot of credit for getting down and finding a way to get back in it," said head coach Rick Stansbury. "Coach (Nick) McDevitt has done a tremendous job with them. It's why they've won 6 out of their last 8 games coming in here. I'm awfully proud of our guys and the way they responded… Middle didn't go away. Give them some credit, they jumped up and made plays. We had a stretch there offensively that we didn't score, six or seven possessions. They scored and got back in it and took that lead, but again, that's why you play 40 minutes. You don't play 30 or 20, you play 40. Through 40 minutes, our will had to be stronger than their will."

The Tops jumped off to a hot start, using a 14-5 run between the 16 and 12-minute marks to create a 22-11 lead. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from Fallou Diagne.

Middle Tennessee strung together five points to try and cut into WKU's lead, but the Hilltoppers kept the Blue Raiders at bay.

Three WKU turnovers in a matter of a minute and a half nearly flipped the script as the Blue Raiders scored six straight and cut the WKU lead to 37-33 with 3:49 left.

However, Middle Tennessee was called for two technical fouls and a flop, all within 31 seconds of each other. Dayvion McKnight was chosen to take the free throws for the Hilltoppers and he sank all five.
Jordan Rawls tacked on an and-one and suddenly what was cut to a four-point lead was now back to an 11-point lead.

WKU (14-11, 6-8 C-USA) led at halftime 49-39 while McKnight had 21 of the Hilltoppers' 49 points. Nine of those points came from a perfect mark at the charity stripe. WKU was shooting 63% from the field in the first half.

Opening the second half, the Hilltoppers pushed their lead as high as 16 points twice. The second time it happened, the Blue Raiders were ready to fight back.

Middle Tennessee (15-10, 8-6) used a 25-8 run to take its first lead of the game, a one-point difference, at 79-78. WKU refused to succumb to the Blue Raiders' efforts, rattling off six straight. MTSU had answers with deep 3-pointers three times in the last two minutes, but it would not overpower the Hilltoppers.

WKU remains a perfect 13-0 this year when leading with five minutes to play in the game, moving to 119-8 under Stansbury in that category.

Each of the eight Hilltoppers who scored on Thursday night made their first field goal attempts of the game.

Middle Tennessee made just four 3's in the first half but went a whopping 8 for 12 in the second, shooting a 54.5% over the whole game from long range. WKU made 27 of 29 free throws compared to the Blue Raiders going 9 of 14.

This was WKU's first win over the Blue Raiders in the last four contests between the two teams, but improves to 98-46 in the all-time series.

"I felt like this time we stayed together as a team, you know," said McKnight on the full 40-minute win. "When we went down there and they took the lead, it felt like we all separated, and we didn't play together as a team. So tonight, I felt like we stuck together the whole game, all 40 minutes; and came out on top."

McKnight led all scorers with 33 points, shooting a crucial 13 for 13 mark from the charity stripe. He pulled down five boards and dished out five assists to just two turnovers. Additionally, he shot 10 of 18 from the field.

Jamarion Sharp went a perfect 4 for 4 from the field and 3 for 3 at the free throw line. He blocked five shots and added five rebounds.

Eli Lawrence paced the Blue Raiders with 21 points including 15 points from beyond the arc. He logged seven boards and four steals.

WKU now has a bye on Saturday before returning to the road next week. The Hilltoppers' two-game, cross-country, road stretch will start at Charlotte on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.