WKU Basketball: Tops Fall Short in Overtime, 61–57, North Texas Wins C-USA Title
Saturday night was the final game of the 2021 C-USA Championship Tournament, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers took on the North Texas Mean Green. A trip to the NCAA National Championship Tournament for the first time since 2013 was hanging on the line. North Texas was the regular-season champions of 2019–2020 but did not have a chance to compete due to the Covid-19 cancellations. It was also the first time that both teams have played each other all season.
The opening tip-off was won by North Texas and started with a bang by defending CPOY Javion Hamlet shooting a three-pointer. This concocted an 8 point run by the Mean Green at the 17:33 mark of the first half. The lead was extended to a 15 point deficit early, putting the Tops in an abysmal hole. Also, having four early turnovers didn't help to salt the wounds one bit.
After having enough of being throttled, the Tops started to dive right back in. Jordan Rawls was instrumental as he came off the bench to help lead WKU into a 10–2 run. This was bringing the score to a Mean Green 24–14 lead at 8:56 in the first half. Throughout the half, the Tops put on a disappointing stat of being 4 out of 19 from the field.
The Tops ended another scoring drought that was ended by a bucket from Carson Williams. Luke Frampton chimed in with a much-needed triple as time was winding down in the first half. It was also another quiet first half from Charles Bassey as he only scored two points. In what were the fewest points scored by the Tops in the first half all season, the nightmare was halfway over. At halftime, North Texas was leading 34–23.
In the second half of the game, WKU came out singing with a battle-ax. After a few misfortunes, the Tops went on the offensive attack. They were able to cut the lead to six points at the 11:30 mark of the second half. North Texas was still leading the contest, 39–33.
Then, WKU pulled ahead within one point at the 10:35 mark. The strong defensive play held the Mean Green toa seven-minute scoring drought. The Tops then took the lead, 40–39. The lead extended to four points after a strong surge of Bassey’s defense. Nine points were the only total for the Mean Green in the entire second half. They would eventually cut the deficit to just three points in the last two minutes of the game. On the next to the final possession, Tavieon Hollingsworth drove the ball down the lane and was called for traveling. North Texas took a commanding tie at 48 points scored with 22 seconds left. Mardrez McBride was the score of the tying triple. The Mean Green were also on a nine-point run.
After the last timeout, the ball was turned over after Bassey had lost the possession out of bounds. Javion Hamlet tried a last-second three-point shot and missed. The game was now heading into overtime with both WKU & UNT tied at 48-all.
In overtime, Jordan Rawls quickly scored a three-pointer, bringing the game to 51–48. Bassey was later called for goaltending (it was a BLOCK but okay) and UNT took back the lead 52–53 with 3:00 left. Thomas Bell III stored a triple to extended the lead to 55–53. Rawls later followed through on a floater to tie the game at 55.
North Texas scored the next basket from Hamlet. The game was now 59–57. Starting with 14.7 seconds left in the game, the ball went to Hollingsworth. It was unsuccessful after getting blocked which resulted in Bassey getting fouled out. North Texas went on to make both free throws to win the game with the final score of 61–57.
Overall, it was a predictable but heartbreaking end to the season for a foreseeable future. The Tops had come up short for the third straight year but this season had all the stakes to prove themselves. With a few losses this season, it’s concerning how much further this team could've gone. Now we’re left with what could've been. The 20–7 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers now wait for what could end up being the make-or-break moment for the season.
Here are the final stats from tonight’s loss at The Star in Frisco:
