Highlights by: Cole McIntire, Sports Director, The Extra Point
Story by: Ryan Murphy, Sports Director, The Extra Point
(BOWLING GREEN, Ky.) – Injury plagued. Down and out. Lacking their best. All words used to describe the WKU Hilltoppers (13-8, 4-4 CUSA) midway through Conference USA play. Some of which may be true.
But not tonight.
The Hilltoppers showed out in force. Despite lacking two of their three leading scorers in Babacar Faye and star-studded freshman Julius Thedford, WKU showed why they’re the reigning Conference USA champions with strong adjustments from head coach Hank Plona.
“Very good win tonight for our team,” Plona said following the win. “It’s great to come back in front of our home crowd here in Diddle Arena and get a win over a team that was tied for 1st place [in CUSA] going into the day.”
UTEP nearly doubled the number of steals the Hilltoppers tallied (14-8), but it was the consistent shooting efforts down the stretch that allowed WKU to claim the win.
“We can still wear people down,” Plona said. “After that [last] timeout I thought we made a run and we were able to stay in front the rest of the way.”
Tonight’s star was fighting for more than just a win. Khristian Lander had his mother’s birthday to celebrate, and he gifted her an 11-15 FG performance and a career high 28 points.
“11 for 15 is not bad,” Plona said with a grin on Lander’s shooting performance. “He deserves a night like that. He works his tail off. He does a lot for us.”
Lander’s big night propelled the Hilltoppers to a 78-74 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 3,000 inside Diddle Arena. The crowd acted as the 6th man for WKU.
“[The crowd] felt really good,” Lander said. “The crowd came out and it was pretty good energy.”
Enoch Kalambay shared similar sentiments after a solid 10-point, 6-rebound performance.
“It was a great feeling just playing, looking around, you see the whole arena packed… the energy was just perfect,” Kalambay said. “We’re really grateful for that.”
THE BREAKDOWN
The Hilltoppers love playing hard to get, but it was back-and-forth for much of the first half. UTEP’s David Terrell Jr. would be the first to score for either team, eventually leading to an early 5-0 lead for the Miners.
WKU responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead, and the two teams would duel back and forth for the next ten minutes of regulation before the Miners retook the lead 23-19.
The first half duel would end triumphantly for the Hilltoppers with a Jalen Jackson bank shot, securing a two-point lead at the half (34-32).
Depth has been a consistent question mark for the Hilltoppers due to injury, but a shift in the lineup for Hank Plona has WKU looking fresh.
The adjustments at halftime proved evident from the opening whistle. Khristian Lander, continuing his career night, drained, not one, but two 3-point baskets in the opening minute.
The strong start pushed the red and white to their largest lead of the game (9), but the Miners slowly battled back and took the lead once again off a 3-point completion from UTEP’s Ahamad Bynum.
Enter the wildcard: reigning CUSA Tournament MVP Don McHenry.
McHenry came off the bench for the second straight game and dropped 20-points, bringing much needed scoring to the alternate rotation of Hilltoppers.
Tyrone “Woo” Marshall Jr. put the exclamation point on the win, completing a layup off a pass from Khristian Lander to seal the final score (78-74).
WKU will continue a two-game home stand on Saturday against New Mexico State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. CDT with coverage on ESPN+.
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