RECORDS A BLOCKED SHOT AGAINST
WKU’s L.J. HACKMAN LATE IN THE GAME.
WKU COACH HANK PLONA: ‘THEY CAME IN HERE TRYING TO BE CUTE AND MANIPULATE’ …
Opportunity was knocking again for Western Kentucky men’s basketball on Thursday night at WKU’s historic E.A. Diddle Arena.
And the Hilltoppers got chased out of their own arena, falling short in a brutal 71-66 defeat to visiting Jacksonville State before the home crowd none too pleased with the way the game was officiated.
Jax State head coach Ray Harper won his fourth straight game against his former squad, while sending the Hilltoppers to their fifth loss in six games.
Jacksonville State used a deliberate, take-it-to-the-rack approach that tested the Tops’ thin bench, and in the end, Western had just six or seven players available, after WKU teammates Terrion Murdix and Armelo Boone were ejected for technical and/or Flagrant Two fouls.
Jacksonville State took 50 free throws in the game, and the Gamecocks’ trouble at the line helped the Tops stay within striking distance until the game’s final minute or so.
Western Kentucky struggled in every way imaginable, on offense, hitting 7-of-30 from 3-point range while shooting 31 percent from the field including two-point tries. The Hilltoppers dropped to 12-11 overall and 4-7 in Conference USA, none too pleased about the manner in which the Gamecocks completed their two-game sweep of a league rival.
“They came in here, trying to be cute and manipulate and do whatever it took to win the foul game,” WKU head coach Hank Plona said when it was over. “It looked like they wanted a review (from the officials) on everything we did (offensively). And they were just trying to plow it to the basket and jump into us.
“A lot of their (half-court) plays were odd looking to me. At the same time, as the game went on, we lost our composure, and our discipline, in some areas … So when teams try to muck it up and try to get a little chippy with you …
“That was clearly their game plan, at the beginning of the game, and I didn’t think we handled that as a championship level, mature team.”
‘THEY WERE JUST TRYING
TO PLOW IT TO THE BASKET …’
A TWO-GAME SWEEP
OF THE HILLTOPPERS.
FIVE OF THEIR LAST SIX GAMES.
THE GAME’s LAST SEVEN MINUTES
BECAUSE OF A FLAGRANT 2 FOUL.
Experience was supposed to be one of the Hilltoppers’ strengths, although the bulk of the team arrived through the NCAA’s Transfer Portal with limited experience at WKU. Jax State improved to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in Conference USA, trailing only Liberty (11-0 in C-USA) and Sam Houston State (8-4). Missouri State, like the Gamecocks, check in at 7-4 in league play.
“I’m glad we play Saturday, it’s another opportunity,” Plona said.
Plona’s squad squares off with Florida International University (11-11 overall, 4-7 in C-USA) on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. at Diddle Arena. WKU’s leading scorer, Teagan Moore, has missed four consecutive games because of the concussion protocol, and he wasn’t on the Hilltoppers’ bench Thursday night.
Western Kentucky picked up a little momentum on Saturday night, claiming a 65-60 road victory over traditional rival Middle Tennessee State. And the Hilltoppers have had to adapt because of multiple injuries, over the season, including a torn Achilles that has sidelined senior WKU center Bryant Selebangue since mid-December.
For the moment, nothing seems to be working.
“We definitely should have, could have, fouled less,” said WKU senior guard Ryan Myers, who led the Hilltoppers with 20 points. “We need to use our length, just being on a string more, defensively, as a team more. Being more effecient on both ends, making the winning plays.”
WAS A DEFENSIVE PRESENCE ALL NIGHT.
AND RYAN MYERS AFTER THURSDAY’s GAME …
WAS GETTING THE ‘STAR TREATMENT’
FROM CBS SPORTS NETWORK.
Instead, it was the Gamecocks making the winning plays, often through gamesmanship and a pugnacious approach that is reflected in their coach, former WKU head coach Ray Harper.
Harper and WKU’s Hank Plona were hit with technical fouls in the first three minutes of the game, AFTER the Tops’ Terrion Murdix and JSU’s Mostapha El Moutaouakki were slapped with technical fouls their own selves.
Murdix’s second technical came in the opening moments of the second half, when he took an elbow to the face from Jax State’s Jacoby Smith before responding with a shove in plain view of the officials. Murdix took a seat on the WKU bench before the officials sent him to the locker room.
The same thing happened to Boone, the Hilltoppers’ talented freshman swingman from Lexington. His Flagrant 2 foul was a little less obvious, at least to the WKU faithful, who expressed their displeasure with the work of game officials Byron Jarrett, K.B. Burdett Jr., and Lee Cassell.
The Gamecocks’ 50 free throws definstuck in WKU’s collective craw. The Hilltoppers’ free-throw shooting — they hit 21 of 24 attempts from the line — helped keep Western Kentucky within striking distance for the entire second half.
Jakcsonville State never led by more than seven points, and there were 15 ties and 14 lead changes.
Iaroslav Niagu, the Gameocks’ 7-foot, 235-pound sophomore center, had a night to remember, collecting a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. JSU teammates Jaye Nash, Mostapha El Moutaouakkii and Jacoby Hill all finished in double figures.
Senior guard Ryan Myers led the Tops with 20 points, while hard-charging guard L.J. Hackman turned in a gritty performance, finishing with 17 points, two assists and two rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes on the floor.
Former Greenwood High School star Cade Stinnett, who has been getting more minutes of late, couldn’t connect on a 3-pointer from the corner in the game’s final two minutes.
That shot would have put the Hilltoppers in front for the first time since WKU’s Armelo Boone left the court after his Flagrant 2 foul. Former Warren Central star Kade Unseld hit just 1 of 11 shots from 3-point range, with only Myers showing any prowess from the perimeter in this game for the Tops.
FIT TO BE TIED WHEN IT WAS OVER.
FINISHED THE GAME WITH 11 POINTS.
HIT ONLY 7 OF 30 SHOTS FROM 3-POINT RANGE.
WAS ONE OF FIVE JSU PLAYERS
TO FINISH IN DOUBLE FIGURES.
All of which left Hank Plona, in his second year as the Hilltoppers’ head coach, fit to be tied.
“I didn’t think they were trying to score,” Plona said. “I thought they were trying to get FOULED. We try to score, so maybe I’m wrong for teaching our guys to try and score … But the discrepeancy (in fouls called) … I mean, bottom line, statistically, that’s the ballgame.”
Jax State coach Ray Harper had reason to be more philosophical. The Gamecocks have won four of their last five games, heading into Saturday’s home game against C-USA rival Kennesaw State.
“I just thought our kids competed, that’s the biggest thing,” Harper told JSU media relations. “It wasn’t a thing of beauty. We’ve played a lot better before, but sometimes you have to not play well, and find a way to win.
“That’s what we did, on the road, at a tough place to win.”
The Hilltoppers are 7-4 at E.A. Diddle Arena this season, with home games remaining against Florida International (Saturday), MTSU (February 14), New Mexico State (February 26) and UTEP (February 28). They’ll leave for Huntsville, Alabama, for the Conference USA Tournament in mid-March, but they’ve got a lot of work to do if they plan to make a run in that compressed format.
As Plona put it, “An observation as a whole … these games are very physical, and you can’t back down …”
Florida International, the Hilltoppers’ next opponent, has won two of its last three games, including Wednesday night’s 88-84 overtime loss at MTSU. FIU is led by 6-foot-6, 220-pound Corey Stephenson, the Owls’ forward averaging 18.5 points per game.
ARE JUST 4-7 IN CONFERENCE USA PLAY.
AFTER WKU’s ARMELO BOONE WAS EJECTED
FOR A FLAGRANT 2 FOUL WITH 7:16 LEFT.
THE ICE IS FINALLY MELTING IN
AND AROUND BOWLING GREEN …