The Hilltoppers took a 29-24 lead into halftime and pushed their advantage to 13 early in the second half before the Falcons rallied to make it a one-possession game in the closing minutes. Sharron Young, Teagan Moore and LJ Hackman delivered key baskets and free throws down the stretch to help WKU secure the victory.
WKU was led by Teagan Moore, who finished with 22 points, three rebounds and two blocks. Sharron Young added 11 points, while Hackman contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. Armelo Boone chipped in six points and matched Hackman with a team-high eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bowling Green opened the game with a 7-2 spurt before WKU answered with six straight points to take an 8-7 lead at the under-16 timeout. LJ Hackman sparked the run with a layup, Sharron Young beat the shot clock with a turnaround jumper and Teagan Moore sank two free throws to give the Hilltoppers their first lead.
- With the game tied at 13 at the under-12 timeout, WKU put together its largest run of the half, scoring eight unanswered points to take a 21-13 lead. Trevion LaBeaux, Gabe Weis and Armelo Boone contributed during the stretch, forcing a Bowling Green timeout with 7:58 remaining.
- The Hilltoppers carried a 29-24 advantage into halftime. Moore added four points down the stretch, while Emondrek Erkins-Ford scored two and LaBeaux chipped in a pair of free throws to help WKU maintain its lead.
- Moore opened WKU's second-half scoring with the team's first 3-pointer of the game. Young followed with three free throws after drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt, and Hackman added four free throws to help stretch the Hilltoppers' lead to 41-28.
- Bowling Green responded with a 12-1 run to pull within two before Boone ended the surge with a layup, giving WKU a 44-40 advantage with 8:48 remaining.
- After the Falcons trimmed the margin to one, Young connected from beyond the arc. Moore followed with a free throw and a layup to put the Hilltoppers ahead 50-46 with 6:47 to play.
- Bowling Green again pulled within one, but a Moussa Konare layup and two Moore free throws helped WKU maintain a 54-50 lead. Young then knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half to extend the advantage to 57-51 with 3:42 remaining.
- The Falcons cut the deficit to two before Moore answered with a fast-break layup, making it 59-55 with two minutes left. Following another Bowling Green basket, Hackman converted a three-point play to give the Hilltoppers a 62-57 lead with 1:18 remaining.
- Bowling Green made two free throws before Konare finished an alley-oop dunk to push WKU's advantage to 64-59 with 58 seconds left. The Falcons answered with a 3-pointer, but Hackman added a free throw with six seconds remaining to help the Hilltoppers hold on for a 65-62 victory.
NOTABLES
- WKU improves to 1-0 in exhibition play with the win. This game does not count toward WKU's 2026-27 record.
- WKU's starting lineup was Sharron Young, Armelo Boone, Teagan Moore, EJ Walker and Emondrek Erkins-Ford.
- Announced attendance for the exhibition was 2,102.
- Moore led WKU with 22 points, adding three rebounds, two blocks and one assist in 32 minutes. He shot 7-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line while knocking down one 3-pointer.
- Young finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting, including a 2-of-4 mark from beyond the arc. He made all three of his free-throw attempts and added one steal in 25 minutes.
- LJ Hackman scored 10 points and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. He shot 2-of-5 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, adding two steals and one assist in 27 minutes.
- Boone recorded six points and eight rebounds, adding two assists, two steals and one block in 23 minutes.
- Moussa Konare finished with six points on 3-of-5 shooting and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
- Trevion LaBeaux contributed four points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.
- Eleven Hilltoppers saw action, with eight playing at least 20 minutes.
- WKU shot 39.3% from the field, making 22-of-56 attempts. The Hilltoppers went 3-of-13 from beyond the arc and 18-of-26 from the free-throw line.
- The Hilltoppers scored 36 points in the paint and received 22 points from their bench.
- WKU pulled down 39 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards, and scored 12 second-chance points.
- The Hilltoppers forced 12 turnovers and committed 12 of their own, scoring 11 points off Bowling Green's miscues.
- WKU led for 34:51 of the contest.
QUOTABLES
- "We have a great group of young men, and they're very connected and very together. And they're a little bit too thoughtful, if anything. I thought we played just a tad hesitant and caring and not wanting to step on anybody's toes. And to win basketball games, you have to play with an edge and play with confidence." — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on his team's togetherness.
- "I think it's just being more vocal, especially in that late-game situation when they're making that surge that they did. Just telling our guys to calm down, like, it's all good, we got it. We just need to keep being ourselves, and it's going to pan out how it did." — Redshirt junior guard Teagan Moore, on taking a more vocal leadership role.
- "I thought we did good, but there's a lot of stuff we can still get better at. The season's long. Our coaches are great coaches, so they're going to find out what we need to get better at, and we're just going to go from there and just keep being a great team and find each other when we're open and just playing together." — Junior guard Sharron Young, on the team's first exhibition performance.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will conclude preseason play with a neutral-site game against Indiana in Evansville, Indiana, on Sunday, Oct. 25. Tipoff inside the Ford Center is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT, with the game airing on B1G+. Tickets to the exhibition can be purchased HERE.
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.
