WKU Basketball: Tops Storm The Blue Raiders 69–53

Moving on with the remnants of a frustrating road loss to UAB on Thursday night, The Hilltoppers were needing to bounce back in the latest installment of the 100 miles of Hate rivalry. With a 2–1 C-USA record, the Tops entered the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro to take on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. Cam Justice missed today’s game due to injury, leading Head Coach Rick Stansbury to plug in freshman guard Jordan Rawls at the point position. The Blue Raiders had come into the contest with a struggling 4–12 record, causing some favor to head to the boys in the red jerseys. They were looking for their first win since December 3rd.

Starting the first half at the 15:21 mark, the Tops jumped to an early 9–7 lead. This would continue through the halfway mark as the lead increased by seven points. The Tops took advantage of the early woes of MTSU as turnovers had plagued them along with an 11–0 run where they did not score a basket.

The lead increased to 24–12 with 8:37 left in the first half. Within the last six minutes of the 3/4 period of the first half, the Tops went on an outstanding 19–2 run. This feat included back to back three-pointers from Jared Savage and Taveion Hollingsworth. This was a well deserved offensive onslaught that we’ve been hoping for all season, even against a heated rival. MTSU would start to put some points on the board to cut the deficit down to 18 points. At halftime, WKU would lead 42–24. Hollingsworth, Savage, and Josh Anderson would lead all Tops in scoring, with 10 points each.

The second half started with Middle taking advantage of a slow start from the Tops. Through the halfway mark, the lead still remained in favor of WKU as they didn’t let up defensively. The game would go to create more of a steady deficit for MTSU as they still could not gain any traction for a comeback. The Tops left the Murph happy as they went on to defeat the Blue Raiders 69–53.

Notes from the game:

• With the Justice injury, this made Stansbury use the services through the debut of Isaiah Cozart. He and Jeremiah Gambrell getting some minutes opened up more options within the depth of the Tops bench. These led to solid outings for both men, especially with Gambrell on defense.
• The Tops shot 15/24 from the free-throw line.
• The three-point shooting was more careful as the Tops focused on interior shooting and a strong defensive effort.
• Carson Williams continues to provide his efforts for the offense. This made another game for him approaching double-digit games.
• With the absence of Charles Bassey, Josh Anderson continues to shine as a true big man for the Tops. It’s no easy replacing the talents of Bassey but he’s pretty close in his own right.
• THE PAINT. My, my, we did great in the interior offense. During the first half, we were in double digits for points in the paint.
• Judging the latest results from tonight's game as a whole, this was a morale booster. Despite playing a surprisingly flailing MTSU ball club, this was a much-needed road victory for Stansbury and Company. If these two teams were to meet again in the CUSA Tournament, this may be the one game where MTSU would pencil in for revenge purposes.

The Hilltoppers move to 10–6 on the season. They’re 3–1 in conference play. They will return home for a Thursday night game versus the defending Conference USA champions, Old Dominion. Here are the final stats from the exciting win over our rivals in Murfreesboro: