BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU men's basketball secured a 76-67 victory over FIU on Thursday night in Diddle Arena. With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 17-13 overall and 8-9 in Conference USA league play.
Don McHenry led the Tops' scoring effort with a 13th game of 20-plus points for the year, posting 20 points with a game and season-high five assists. Khristian Lander finished with 19 points on a 5-of-11 shooting clip and 3-of-6 mark from three-point range, adding a game-best four steals with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
Tyrone Marshall Jr. pulled down a game-high of nine boards while charting 11 points, four assists and a steal. Braxton Bayless rounded out the Tops to score in double figures on the night, charting 10 points on a 4-of-7 shooting clip from the field with a 2-of-3 mark from range.
WKU connected on 12 threes as a team, including nine in the first half, to mark the 10th game with 10-or-more made threes for the team this season, the most since 2022-23.
HOW IT HAPPENED
An offensive board followed by a Marshall Jr. three on the wing opened scoring for WKU. A pair of steals followed by a McHenry triple in the corner gave the Tops a 6-0 lead. McHenry then grabbed a board and connected on another from deep to give WKU a nine-point lead three minutes in. Marshall Jr. and Bayless would each connect on additional threes as all five of the Tops' first field goals came from beyond the arc to give WKU a 15-4 lead at the first media break. The Hilltoppers were hitting the long ball at a .714% clip (5-for-7) at this point in the game.
The Panthers cut the Hilltopper lead down to four, 16-12, with 13:09 to play in the half. McHenry's pair of made free throws would extend the lead back to six. FIU connected on its third three before Jack Edelen answered on the other end, knocking down a triple in front of the Panther bench. Enoch Kalambay would lodge a steal and connect with McHenry for WKU's first two-point field goal of the game giving WKU a 23-15 lead with 11:34 left until the break.
FIU responded with a 6-0 run to make it a one possession game before McHenry knocked down a floater to end the run. The McHenry make would spark a 10-1 WKU run to bring the lead back to double digits, 33-21, with 7:21 left in the half. McHenry's fourth three of the game gave WKU a 10-point, 36-26 lead and pushed his point total to 18. FIU then scored nine of the next 10 points to cut the WKU lead down to two with a minute left in the half, and the Hilltoppers took a 39-38 lead into the locker room. The Tops ended the first half connecting on a total of nine threes to just three two-pointers.
Out of the break, FIU took its first lead of the game, 41-39, with a conventional three. The Panthers would go up by as many as five points before the Tops connected on the team's first basket of the half off an Edelen layup at the 16:51 mark to cut the deficit down to three. Edelen then found Leeroy Odiahi for a two-handed jam to make it a one-point, 45-44 game with 16:17 left to play.
Khristian Lander knocked down a pair at the stripe to give WKU the lead back, 46-45. Odiahi grabbed a board on the other end and followed up his own miss on the offensive end to extend the lead to three. Lander grabbed a second steal and took it in transistion for a made layup, forcing the Panthers into a timeout as the Tops led, 50-45, with 14:17 remaining.
FIU's pair of free throws ended the 10-0 WKU scoring run, but Lander later converted on the conventional three pointer to push the WKU lead back to six. The Panthers cut the WKU lead down to three again, but a 3:11 scoreless drought for FIU combined with a 5-0 run by the Tops gave WKU its largest lead of the half of eight with 8:20 left to play.
With a defender in his face, Lander connected on a second triple of the game to extend the WKU lead to 65-56 at the 6:27 mark. FIU then missed the front end of a one-and-one allowing Lander to knock down another triple from the top of the key to push the Tops' lead to a dozen.
Now up nine, Jalen Jackson poked the ball away as McHenry collected the loose ball and found Marshall Jr. for the alley-oop to give WKU a 72-61 lead with 2:52 left to play in regulationn. With the dish to Marshall Jr., McHenry picked up a fifth assist for the game. The Marshall Jr. dunk would mark the final field goal of the game for WKU as McHenry and Lander would each hit a pair at the stripe to cap a 76-67 win over FIU.
NOTABLES
- WKU utilized the starting lineup of Bayless, Keita, McHenry, Jackson and Marshall Jr. for the fourth time this season, marking the most consecutive games WKU has used the same starting five this season.
- The Hilltoppers are now 41-13 all-time against FIU and hold a 21-4 mark against the Panthers at home in Diddle Arena. This marks a sixth straight home win over the Panthers, a streak dating back to 2021.
- The Hilltoppers finished with four players in double figures with Don McHenry leading the way posting a 13th 20-plus point game for the season. McHenry went for 20 points along with five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
- McHenry's five assists are the most recorded by the guard this season and the most since Feb. 15, 2024 when he charted five against UTEP.
- Khristian Lander managed 19 points with a 3-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. 18 of Lander's 19 points were scored in the second half. The guard added four steals, three rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes off the bench.
- Tyrone Marshall Jr. was one rebound shy of a double-double, charting 11 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Marshall Jr. added four assists and a steal in the effort.
- Marshall Jr.'s four assists are tied for second most for the forward this season and mark the most since charting four against Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 21.
- Braxton Bayless was the fourth Hilltopper to chart double figures with 10 points on a 4-for-7 clip from the field. Bayless added two assists in 22 minutes of action.
- WKU connected on 12 three pointers as a team (12-of-31) marking the 10th time the Hilltoppers have hit 10 or more this season. WKU holds a 9-1 mark when doing so. Last season, the Tops only connected on 10-or-more from range on six occasions.
- As a team, the Hilltoppers dished out 18 assists to mark the sixth time the team has managed 15-or-more this season.
NEXT UP
Hilltopper Basketball will wrap the 2024-25 regular season with a home matchup facing Liberty for Senior Day on Saturday, March 8. Tipoff from Diddle Arena is set for 2 p.m. CT with the game set to be streamed live on ESPN+.
Follow the team on social media (@wkubasketball) and visit wkusports.com for the latest news and updates on all things Hilltopper Basketball as the team continues its 2024-25 campaign.
