(BOWLING GREEN, Ky.) – WKU Hilltopper Basketball secured its first win of the 2024-25 season with a 104-76 victory over Campbellsville on Tuesday night at Diddle Arena. Khristian Lander led the Hilltoppers with a career-high 23 points, marking the first win of head coach Hank Plona’s tenure.

The game opened with Jalen Jackson assisting Don McHenry on a three-pointer just 90 seconds into play. WKU struggled with shooting early, recording a 30% shooting clip for the first four minutes. However, the Hilltoppers gained momentum quickly. Lander scored eight points, including two three-pointers, and helped push WKU to a 21-13 lead after an 8-0 run. Lander finished the first half with 14 points, and the Hilltoppers went into halftime with a 49-32 lead.

In the second half, McHenry added a layup to start the scoring, and Babacar Faye hit a three-pointer to extend the WKU lead to 22. Campbellsville briefly cut the lead to 62-49, but back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Julius Thedford and Tyrone Marshall Jr. kept WKU’s lead intact. Lander continued his strong performance, finishing with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Thedford added 16 points, hitting 5-of-7 from three-point range, and Marshall Jr. contributed 12 points, three steals, and five assists.

WKU finished the game with 16 made three-pointers, shooting 50% from beyond the arc, and recorded 27 total assists. The Hilltoppers also dominated from the bench, contributing 66 of their 104 points. The team’s 16 three-pointers were the most since they made 19 in a win over Kentucky State on Nov. 12, 2022. The team finished the game with just five turnovers, the fewest since February 2023.

Head coach Hank Plona said, “Good to get a win. Not sure last Monday night we played well enough to beat a Wichita State team that’s very good. On Saturday at Grand Canyon, we played well enough for most of that game to beat a GCU team that’s very good, and obviously that left a tough taste in our mouth. It was good to get back on the floor a couple days later and, certainly on the offensive side, to play pretty well, build some confidence, get a win and start building some momentum for what could be a special season for us.”

The Hilltoppers improved to 8-0 all-time against Campbellsville. They will host Lipscomb on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. CT in Diddle Arena, with the game available for streaming on ESPN+.