PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — WKU Hilltopper Basketball dropped a close contest in overtime to South Florida, 97-91, on day two of Battle 4 Atlantis on Thursday evening inside Imperial Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- WKU raced out to a 13-4 lead at the first media timeout behind a 9-0 burst, as Blaise Keita, Terrion Murdix and Bryant Selebangue scored in the paint before Cam Haffner buried his first 3-pointer at the 16:00 mark.
- The Hilltoppers pushed the margin to 23-9 after another Haffner triple, a Murdix-to-Armelo Boone alley-oop, a Teagan Moore layup and a Ryan Myers 3-pointer to cap the early surge.
- LJ Hackman provided a spark with five straight points on a 3-pointer and a floater with 9:28 left in the half, and after a USF layup cut the lead to 11, WKU immediately answered with a 5-0 spurt as Moore converted an and-one and Boone knocked down a jumper to make it 33-17. South Florida responded with a 14-4 run to pull within six at the 4:09 mark, but WKU punched back with a 13-2 stretch, featuring 3-pointers from Grant Newell and Myers to build the advantage to 50-33. The Bulls closed the half on a 7-0 flurry, including a 3-pointer at the horn, trimming the Hilltopper lead to 50-40 at the break. USF opened the second half with a 5-0 run before Moore completed another and-one to restore an eight-point cushion for WKU with 18:29 remaining. The teams traded blows over the next five and a half minutes as Myers, Moore and Selebangue all scored inside, helping WKU maintain a 61-53 lead with 13:07 to play. South Florida then tied the game and eventually grabbed a 67-65 lead with eight and a half minutes left, capping a 12-4 run, but five Hilltopper free throws quickly swung the momentum back for a 70-69 WKU edge. The lead changed hands twice more as USF answered with a 5-0 burst to go up 74-70, only for WKU to rip off a 14-3 run in which Moore scored seven points on a 3-pointer and two layups, and Haffner and Myers each drilled 3-pointers to push the Hilltoppers ahead 84-77 with 1:14 remaining. The Bulls closed regulation on a 7-0 run in the final minute, forcing overtime after erasing WKU's seven-point lead.
- In the extra period, the lead changed six times as Myers hit his fourth 3-pointer to put WKU up 87-86, Hackman sank two free throws to make it 89-88 and Moore finished a layup to give the Hilltoppers a brief 91-90 advantage. South Florida answered for good with a 3-pointer and four free throws in the closing seconds, flipping the game and earning a 97-91 victory.
NOTABLES
- WKU drops to 4-2 on the season and 12-9 all-time against South Florida.
- The Hilltoppers' starting five was Terrion Murdix, Cam Haffner, Teagan Moore, Grant Newell and Blaise Keita.Â
- Three WKU players scored in double figures, led by a game-high 27 points from Teagan Moore, followed by Ryan Myers with 14 and Armelo Boone with 13.
- Moore put together another standout performance, piling up a career-high 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 8-of-9 at the free-throw line while adding a season-best nine rebounds, matching his career-high with five assists, posting a career-high three blocks and collecting two steals in a career-high 40 minutes.
- Myers had his best outing as a Hilltopper, tallying 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to go along with three rebounds in 22 minutes.
- Boone had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and one block in 26 minutes. He shot 5-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 at the stripe.Â
- Selebangue pulled down a season-high 12 boards, adding six points and a career-high three blocks in a season-high 28 minutes.
- Haffner chipped in nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from deep in 28 minutes.
- WKU shot 31-of-69 (44.9%) from the field, while South Florida finished 32-of-81 (39.5%).Â
- The Hilltoppers went 10-of-26 (38.5%) from 3-point range compared to the Bulls 13-of-36 (36.1%) from deep.Â
- WKU converted 19-of-28 (67.9%) at the foul line while South Florida hit 20-of-26 (76.9%) at the stripe.
- The Hilltoppers held edges in points in the paint (40-38), fast-break points (14-9) and bench points (45-31).
QUOTABLES
- "Obviously, at the very, very end there, a very tough defeat for our basketball team. We battled and fought and there was adversity, ups and downs. I thought we did a pretty good job out of the four-minute timeout in regulation, getting that seven-point lead, but obviously, there are some things that we have to figure out and do better to close a game. Definitely stings that we felt like we had it in our grasps. We were probably in the lead for most of the game and we weren't able to close it out. Those never feel too good. Obviously, a very good opponent. Very highly contested and fought basketball game by both teams. I thought there were a lot of coaches and players that gave it their all to win and they were able to stay together and execute a little bit more in those last six to seven minutes of the game than we were. A great win for them and definitely a very tough defeat for us." — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on the loss to South Florida.
- "I definitely feel comfortable with the ball in my hands. Just getting to my spots, teammates spacing the floor and just trusting my teammates to get to my spots on the offensive side of the floor." — Guard Teagan Moore, on his success on the offensive end in the loss to South Florida.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers conclude play in Battle 4 Atlantis, playing Colorado State or Wichita State for seventh place on Friday, Nov. 28. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Imperial Arena and the game will air nationally on ESPNU.Â
How to follow WKU Hilltopper Basketball: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKUBasketball on Instagram and X.
