The Hilltoppers fall to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA play.
HOW ITÂ 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).Â
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.
- "I feel like the guys played hard for sure. The whole team stuck together throughout the whole 40 minutes, you know. So yeah, that last stretch was tough, but we got to keep going forward." — G Armelo Boone, 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.
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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.
