Jim Mashek

HILLTOPPERS SNAP FOUR-GAME LOSING STREAK; BAYLESS FINISHES WITH A CAREER-HIGH 27 POINTS

Maybe it was Western Kentucky’s resolve.

Perhaps, it was the Hilltoppers’ preparation.

But, ultimately, the chips were down, way down, and Western Kentucky was facing a fifth consecutive defeat, with four regular-season Conference USA games remaining. So first-year WKU head coach Hank Plona put all his chips on the middle of the table, and told graduate senior guard Braxton Bayless to go get him some.

Bayless did just that.

“Coach (Plona) said, ‘You get it, and go,’ ” Bayless said after his last-gasp dash to the basket defeated Louisiana Tech, 64-63, in a memorable performance on Saturday night before a paid crowd of 4,123 at WKU’s historic E.A. Diddle Arena.

Western Kentucky improved to 15-12 overall, but more important, the Tops nudged their Conference USA record to 6-8, when a loss would have assured a losing record in league play. Louisiana Tech dropped to 17-10 and 7-8, respectively, as the Hilltoppers salvaged a split in the two-game C-USA series. Plona’s squad will get back in the gym before leaving for El Paso, Texas, and Thursday night’s game against the UTEP Miners, some 1,360 miles from the site of Bayless’ heroics on Saturday night.

Bayless, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound guard from Ankeny, Iowa, finished with a career-high 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including a 3-for-4 mark from 3-point range. He began his college career at Niagara University, in Western New York, but he was the toast of the town at Diddle on this night.

There were 5.4 seconds on the clock when the Hilltoppers put 6-foot-11, 245-pound Daniel Batchco, the Bulldogs’ big man, at the free-throw line. Batchco put Louisiana Tech in front, 63-62, when Plona used his last timeout, hoping to disrupt Batchco’s concentration but mapping out the Tops’ strategy for the final seconds in either scenario.

“Make or miss, we were in the same situation at that point,” Plona said. “Either tied, or down one, with five seconds. It was the same exact situation. You can’t let the result of the free throw affect you … and the guys did a great job of executing, and pushing that ball down the court.

“Braxton obviously had a couple different options, but if nobody’s going to stop him, then he made the right play.”

Nobody dressed in La Tech’s ‘reflex blue’ uniforms stopped Braxton on his 94-foot journey downcourt, and he scored on the drive to the basket before officials stopped play to determine how much time was actually left in the game. Then, with 0.4 seconds showing on the clock, 5-foot-11 WKU defensive specialist Jalen Jackson got a piece of Sean Newman’s baseline heave, and the Hilltoppers and their fans could celebrate a hard-earned victory.

“Jalen is such a ‘utility weapon,’ ” Plona said. “He continues to be a defensive menace.”

WKU’s victory was all the more impressive when you consider Plona used just eight players to complete the task at hand. WKU senior forward Enoch Kalambay, who didn’t play in the second half of Thursday night’s 76-62 home loss to Sam Houston State — a listless performance, to be sure — was not dressed for Saturday night’s game against the Bulldogs.

Plona said Kalambay was “still a part of this team” and that he has been on the mend from an illness earlier this month. “We’re at the point of the season,” he said, “where we need everybody’s best effort in that locker room on that game day.”

Likewise, senior WKU guard Khristian Lander didn’t play against La Tech, nursing a back injury that has limited his effectiveness of late.

Injuries have riddled the Tops all season, and they’ve struggled to find their early form since senior WKU forward Babacar Faye injured his right knee in an overtime victory over Murray State in mid-December. The Hilltoppers put all that aside and found a way to get in the win column, escaping a dire situation with a lift they surely needed.

“They showed the mental toughness,” Plona said.

Louisiana Tech coach Talvin Hester was none too pleased with his team’s defense in the final 5.4 seconds of the game.

“We did not execute, at all,” Hester told La Tech media communications after Saturday’s defeat. “We just let them drive right by us. Nobody took the initiative to guard the ball. Everybody thought it was somebody else’s job. Nobody was in the position they were supposed to be in, and they got all the way to the rim.

“The sad part is we had a timeout to call the play. Everybody knew their assignment in the huddle. We work on this every day. It should have taken (Bayless) at least four seconds to get across half court, let alone get all the way to the rim.”

Bayless was having a career night, mind you, and the Hilltoppers led for nearly the entire second half. Louisiana Tech got back in the game at the free-throw line, hitting 23 of 25 foul shots. Junior guard Amaree Abram, formerly of Georgia Tech University, led the Bulldogs with 21 points, and teammate A.J. Bates finished with 14.

Batchco, a senior from Paris, France, had 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, but the Hilltoppers’ big men, Blaise Keita and Leeroy Odiahi, held their own against him. WKU shot 57 percent in the second half, hitting 16 of 28 shots, and the Hilltoppers were particularly effective inside.

The Tops outscored La Tech 36-16 in the paint, and that seemed to be by design. Western Kentucky seemed to play in a trance in its loss to Sam Houston State, but the Hilltoppers found their resolve when they needed it most.

“I knew it was coming, soon, just the way we practiced (Friday),” Bayless said.

Don McHenry, the Hilltoppers’ All-Conference USA senior guard, was quick to concur.

“We’re kind of short on bodies, but we just wanted to play hard,” McHenry said. “The practice we had (between games) went heavily on defense, getting under people, blocking out. That was our main focus.”

McHenry had a solid performance, finishing with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Four of WKU’s starters — Bayless, McHenry, Jalen Jackson and senior forward Tyrone Marshall — seldom left the floor, while A.J. Bates and the Bulldogs’ bench gave them a lift, outscoring the Tops 22-4.

Marshall had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, and the game stayed tight throughout. The Hilltoppers figure to need a similar type of effort to succeed at UTEP, which stands at 17-10 overall and 7-7 in C-USA play. The Miners dropped their third straight game on Saturday night, falling to Jacksonville State, 73-65.

The Hilltoppers broke an 11-year drought from NCAA Tournament play just 13 months ago, when first-year WKU coach Steve Lutz guided his team to three consecutive victories in the C-USA Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama. Hank Plona, his lead assistant, moved over one seat and seemingly had assembled the talent to make another run at the tournament in November.

A rash of injuries, particularly Babacar Faye’s wounded right knee, has been a major obstacle for the Tops. But they’ve shown toughness in getting ready for the stretch run.

Mix in some resolve, good news on the injury front and a little luck, perhaps the Tops can do the same in 2025.

“You win when you build success,” Plona said.