Jim Mashek

WKU WILL HAVE TO “WIN THREE GAMES IN THREE DAYS” IN HUNTSVILLE TO REACH NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Western Kentucky men’s basketball team threw everything it had at Conference USA co-leader Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Aggressive defense. A deeper bench. Pushing the tempo.

The Bulldogs were unfazed. Louisiana Tech hit 8 of 13 shots from 3-point range in the first half, and only modestly cooled off in the second, in racing to an impressive 90-84 victory before a season-high crowd of 5,658 at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers came up short in their second consecutive bid at earning their 20th victory of the season, dropping to 19-9 overall and 8-6 in Conference USA. They came to life behind freshman WKU guard Teagan Moore in the second half, but the Bulldogs from Ruston, Louisiana, answered every run, every challenge that fell in front of them.

Louisiana Tech improved to 21-8 overall and 11-3 in Conference USA play. First-year C-USA member Sam Houston State (17-11, 10-3) is only a half-game behind La Tech, but the Bearkats swept Western Kentucky in the home-and-home series, meaning the Tops can’t get an automatic berth in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament that begins March 12 in Huntsville, Alabama.

Over the next nine days, the Tops will face Florida International (9-19, 4-9) and Liberty University (16-11, 5-7) on the road, with a collective eye cast for the tournament that will decide the league’s one bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NIT is unlikely, under new qualification guidelines, and WKU administrators have already decided the Hilltoppers won’t accept a berth to the lower-tier postseason tournaments, the CBI and the CIT.

First-year WKU coach Steve Lutz was quick to point out the obvious after Wednesday’s defeat.

“We have to worry about finishing third or fourth (in the standings),” Lutz said, “and then winning three games in three days (in the C-USA Tournament).”

The Hilltoppers’ defense, particularly in the first half, gives Lutz cause for concern in the stretch run of the regular season. Louisiana Tech had four players hit as many as two 3-point field goals — Tahlik Chavez led the way with a 4-for-7 showing from downtown — while leading the entire second half.

Chavez and La Tech Isaiah Crawford both played the game’s entire 40 minutes, and Crawford, a 6-foot-6 senior from Fort Worth, Texas, led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. The Bulldogs’ Sean Newman, Jr., finished with 19 points while Chavez and 7-foot center Daniel Batcho added 16 and 15, respectively.

“You can’t allow people to come into your gym and score 90 points,” Lutz said. “We obviously scored 84 … (and) 84 is enough to win a basketball game, but you just can’t do it. We allowed them in the first half to shoot 62% from the 3-point line, 52% from the 2. So you’re not locked in, defensively, in the first half if you’re allowing that to happen.

“In the second half that team that fought and scratched was much more like the team that we have seen throughout the course of the year … We need to see that team more often

The Hilltoppers went 12-2 at E.A. Diddle Arena this season, and did their customary “Diddle Lap” arena the arena after the disheartening defeat on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs avenged an earlier loss to WKU in Ruston, while winning their third consecutive road game.

“I saw the willingness not to lose,” second-year La Tech coach Talvin Hester said. “The team understands that for us to be who we want to be, they’re going to have to do the tough things. They have continued to show that on the road. They continue to show they are willing to improve, and fight.

“There were hard times in this game, when things were going wrong, but we stuck together and closed the game out.”

There was a shot-clock malfunction — it was shut down during the second half, forcing the PA announcer to inform the players of critical spots in possession time — and the Hilltoppers mounted one challenge after another. WKU’s Brandon Newman hit a deep 3-pointer to pull the Hilltoppers to within 84-82 with about 90 seconds left in the game, but they’d get no closer as Louisiana Tech completed the task at hand.

“We’ve just got to guard the ball better,” WKU’s Khristian Lander said.

Freshman swingman Teagan Moore was a bright spot for the Tops, leading the team with 22 points. Lander had more extensive minutes than any other game since returning from a concussion and a six-game absence, finishing the night with 14 points.

Don McHenry, the Hilltoppers’ scoring leader, and Newman each had 13 points, while former UK swingman Dontaie Allen finished with 12. While Louisiana Tech burned it up from 3-point land, hitting 11 of 20 shots (55 percent) from beyond the arc, the Tops were a far more pedestrian 12-of-31 (37 percent).

“They were the aggressor,” Lutz said, “and they were better defensively, which got them out in transition more … I thought Teagan took what they gave him … The team you saw in the second half is more like the one we’ve seen the rest of the season.”

The Hilltoppers will leave for Florida International on Friday, squaring off against the Panthers on Saturday evening in Miami. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. CST.

“It starts with practice, at noon (Thursday),” Lutz said. “I think we have the talent to win the conference tournament … You’ve got to practice better, to play better.”