HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – WKU men's basketball led for nearly 38 minutes in an 89-69 victory over 6-seed New Mexico State on Thursday night in the Conference USA Championship quarterfinal at VBC Propst Arena. The Hilltoppers, now 20-11 on the season, will play 7-seed Middle Tennessee on Friday at 2 p.m. CT in the semifinals on CBS Sports Network.
The victory was WKU's 20th of the season, the program's 48th all-time 20-win season – seventh-most in college basketball history.
Rodney Howard led the Hilltoppers with a career-high 20 points, adding five rebounds in just 21 minutes of action. Enoch Kalambay added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench, as the WKU bench outscored New Mexico State's, 51-27, in the win.
Howard led five Hilltoppers in double figures, as Dontaie Allen had 13, Brandon Newman had 10 points and seven boards, and Khristian Lander also had 10 off the bench. Seven Hilltoppers played at least 20 minutes, with nobody playing more than Allen's 26 minutes on Thursday evening.
WKU outscored the Aggies by 16 points at the charity stripe, as the Hilltoppers went 23-of-31 from the line and New Mexico State was just 7-of-16.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to an 8-2 lead on the strength of early three-pointers by Tyrone Marshall, Jr. and Newman. WKU led 8-4 at the first media timeout and held a five-point edge, at 18-13, with 11:27 left in the first half.
However, New Mexico State came out of the game's second media timeout and went on a 7-0 run, taking its only lead of the game, 20-18, with 9:47 left in the first half.
The Hilltoppers immediately responded with a 12-0 run of its own, taking a commanding 30-20 lead. WKU led 40-29 at halftime.
Coming out of the break, New Mexico State closed to five points, at 45-40, with 16:05 to play in the game, but the Hilltoppers outscored the Aggies 27-16 over the next 10 minutes to increase the lead to 16 with 6:36 to play.
WKU had just six turnovers on the night and outrebounded New Mexico State, 37-36. Forty-two of the Hilltoppers' 89 points came in the paint.
Seeking its first CUSA Championship Game appearance since 2020-21, WKU faces a short turnaround with a 2 p.m. CT tipoff vs. Middle Tennessee Friday. Middle Tennessee defeated 2-seed Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night. In the other semifinal, 1-seed Sam Houston State will meet 5-seed UTEP at 11:30 a.m. CT on Friday.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
