The Hilltoppers fall to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Liberty came out on fire from behind the arc, going 3-for-3 from downtown in the first two minutes to take a 9-0 lead. Cam Haffner disrupted the run with a mid-range jumper, but the Flames extended their advantage to 15-2 with 15:22 left in the first half.
- WKU rallied, putting together an 11-0 run that grew into a 15-1 stretch to take a 20-16 lead. Ryan Myers and Teagan Moore powered the surge with six points each, while Leeroy Odiahi added a three-point play on an and-one dunk. Armelo Boone and Grant Newell each converted layups to push the Hilltoppers' advantage to four with 9:46 on the clock.
- Boone and Moore knocked down two-point baskets to maintain WKU's four-point edge at 26-22, but Liberty answered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead. A driving layup from Terrion Murdix cut the deficit to 29-28, before the Flames connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to go up by seven.
- To close the half, Moore went 1-of-2 at the line, and Newell beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to trim the Liberty lead to 35-32 heading into the break.
- WKU then grabbed a 37-36 lead at the 17:02 mark of the second half after a 3-pointer from Boone and a jumper by Newell. That would be the Hilltoppers' final lead, as Liberty responded with an 18-2 run to build a 52-39 cushion.
- The Hilltoppers slowly chipped away over the final 11 minutes of the half. Moore accounted for 10 points during the stretch, knocking down two 3-pointers and four free throws, with his second triple making it a 56-50 game with 7:38 to play.
- After a 3-pointer from Newell cut the Flames' lead to five with 1:31 remaining, WKU made it a one-possession game, 70-67, with 47 seconds left when Myers went 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. A late moving-screen call, however, halted the comeback bid, and Liberty hit five free throws in the final 11 seconds to secure a 76-69 victory.
NOTABLES
- WKU falls to 11-8 overall, 4-4 in Conference USA play and 2-3 all-time against Liberty.
- Tonight's starting five featured Terrion Murdix, Ryan Myers, Armelo Boone, Teagan Moore and Noah Boyde.
- The announced attendance was 3,512.
- Four Hilltoppers finished in double figures, led by Moore with 19 points. Grant Newell added 16, Myers had 14 and Boone chipped in 13.
- Moore finished with a game-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 32 minutes.
- Newell tallied 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range while adding four rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
- Myers stretched the floor for the Hilltoppers with 14 points, going 4-of-8 from deep. He chipped in two assists and a steal over 26 minutes.
- Boone recorded his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, adding two assists and two blocks in 33 minutes.
- Murdix posted six rebounds, four assists, two points and a steal across 33 minutes.
- Leeroy Odiahi made a strong impact off the bench, contributing four rebounds, two points and a block in 21 minutes. The Hilltoppers outscored Liberty by five while he was on the floor.
- The Hilltoppers led in points in the paint (26-8), second-chance points (15-5), fast-break points (8-3), bench points (21-12), rebounds (34-28) and blocks (4-2).
QUOTABLES
- Tough day at the office right there. That game was a back-and-forth battle with some drastic runs there at the beginning, but also some smaller runs where you try to hang in there, and I thought we did a good job. We ran a play that I thought tied the game at the very end. I haven't seen that play yet, but I feel like there's nothing I'm going to see that is going to make me super thrilled. We'll see what that looked like, but obviously the guys did a good job to fight back to get to that point. That's a very good team. To be in that game when they shoot 17-of-29 from 3, there are probably some things we'll see on film that we did pretty well to be at that point. We had a couple cold stretches during the game that we have to clean up. This goes without saying, we have a long way to go as a basketball team. It feels like we've been right there quite a bit. We had a rough day at the office on Saturday, but I think we moved in the right direction the last couple days, and with a three-game road trip, we're going to figure out and kind of reveal who we are at this current time. They're obviously the favorite in the league. They're a very good team for a lot of reasons. They deserve all the recognition that they get, and they certainly played a great game to win tonight." — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Men's Basketball Coach Hank Plona, on the loss to Liberty.
- "It was a tough loss. I mean, we played hard. They went on like a 10–0 run and we just came back, then that last quarter to the end. So, that was tough." — F/C Leeroy Odiahi, on the loss to Liberty.
- "It was a tough loss. I mean, we played hard. They went on like a 10–0 run and we just came back, then that last stretch at the end was tough. So, that was tough." — F/C Leeroy Odiahi, on the loss to Liberty.
NEXT UP
- WKU begins a three-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 24, at Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas. Tipoff inside the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will stream live on ESPN+.
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.
