OVER IN THE FINAL SECONDS.
WESTERN DROPS THIRD STRAIGHT GAME IN CONFERENCE USA OPENER
Western Kentucky’s Conference USA opener leaves the Hilltoppers scrambling with the impending arrival of the New Year.
Junior guard Dayvion McKnight was injured with 5:14 remaining in the second half of the Hilltoppers’ C-USA game against Rice, resulting in a 15- to 20-minute delay, and he left the E.A. Diddle Arena floor on a stretcher before the Owls pulled out an 81-78 victory before a paid crowd of 4,018 on Thursday night.
It was a significant defeat, on multiple levels.
WKU was without seventh-year head coach Rick Stansbury, who was home with an illness. Longtime assistant Phil Cunningham, the WKU associate head coach, filled in for Stansbury, who was on the sideline for last week’s 65-58 loss at South Carolina.
THE COURT ON A STRETCHER LATE IN THE GAME.
The absence of Stansbury, and the departure of McKnight, the Hilltoppers’ leading scorer and offensive catalyst, was critical as Western Kentucky lost its third straight game to drop to 8-4 on the season. Rice (10-3, 1-1 in Conference USA) used a 9-of-15 shooting performance from 3-point range in the second half to take control of the game.
REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT DAYVION (McKNIGHT).”
“Our players are really concerned about Dayvion,” Cunningham said. “Our initial reports from our medical staff were positive. Dayvion took a hard fall, a very hard fall on the floor … The stretcher was probably a precautionary measure, as much as anything.
“With (Stansbury), Coach is home, resting tonight. We’re really day to day, hour to hour with Coach … He was really sick at South Carolina, and he had trouble, physically, on the entire trip.
“Obviously, it was a tale of two halves. We played very well defensively, in the first half … They shoot the 3, really well. We didn’t have the same zip, defensively, in the second half. It’s a tough loss, with your coach out and you take a lead and can’t finish it off.”
HAD A GAME-HIGH 24 POINTS.
The Hilltoppers have a quick turnaround before playing longtime rival Middle Tennessee State — from the OVC, to the Sun Belt and now Conference USA — on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Junior guard Travis Evee hit 6 of 13 shots, including a 4-for-8 showing from 3-point land, to lead Rice with 24 points. All five Rice starters finished in double figures, with sophomore swingman Cameron Sheffield and junior center Max Fiedler each scoring 15 points in extensive minutes.
ON SATURDAY AGAINST MTSU.
Senior WKU forward Jairus Hamilton led the Hilltoppers with 18 points, but he couldn’t pull the trigger on a drive to the basket in final 15 seconds, forcing a pass to 7-foot-6 center Jamarion Sharp that bounced out of bounds for a turnover with 8.7 seconds left.
Evee was then fouled before hitting two free throws, giving Rice an 81-78 lead, and Hamilton’s inbounds pass bounced off Jordan Rawls’ foot with 6.1 seconds on the clock.
McKnight had 17 points before he was injured, hitting 7 of 14 shots and adding five rebounds in nearly 30 minutes on the floor. Senior guard Luke Frampton finished with 11 points and WKU teammate Jamarion Sharp had 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
DEFENDS AGAINST THE OWLS.
“They made the shots when they needed to. That’s what it came down to,” Frampton said. “With any adversity, we’ve got to stay together. We have a lot of things to work on. Defensively, we’ve got to do better.
“Credit to them. They’re a good team. They know how to share the ball. (Cunningham) took control of this team, we just fell short.”
Jairus Hamilton was more succinct about what went wrong.
“They got 14 3-pointers, and they came out with the victory,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got to do a better job of rebounding, and getting to the free-throw line.”
Rice was deadly at the line, hitting 17 of 18 free throws, while the Hilltoppers struggled with a 15-fo4-22 showing.
3-POINT RANGE IN THE SECOND HALF.
“They took us out of it, they took the crowd out of it (in the second half),” Cunningham said. “We made a couple good runs … When you play in a Thursday-Saturday league, there’s a lot less time to prepare, with MTSU coming up. It’s a quick turnaround.
“We need to get that hunger back … We were in a position to win it, and it’s a shame that we couldn’t close the game out.”
I’ll have a more comprehensive look at the game on Friday morning. Thanks for reading.
