{"id":5549,"date":"2023-01-06T18:53:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T18:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2023-01-06T21:26:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T21:26:02","slug":"hilltoppers-skid-hits-five-games-north-texas-turns-back-late-wku-bid-claims-70-66-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=5549","title":{"rendered":"HILLTOPPERS’ SKID HITS FIVE GAMES\/North Texas turns back late WKU bid, claims 70-66 victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"
NORTH TEXAS GUARD TYLOR PERRY
HAD 22 POINTS ON 7-of-16 SHOOTING.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKNIGHT’s 29 POINTS NOT ENOUGH IN LOSS TO MEAN GREEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It unraveled, in a matter of mere minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turnovers. Bad shots. Missed assignments. Poor rebounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky University’s promising men’s basketball season — a campaign bolstered by the return of mainstays Dayvion McKnight and Jamarion Sharp from the NCAA’s Transfer Portal — is taking shape as a monumental letdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas, the Conference USA squad that beat Rick Stansbury’s Hilltoppers in the C-USA Tournament title game just two years ago, arrived in Bowling Green as a team on a mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas likes to milk the shot clock, find the open man at the 3-point line, and hit the boards like nobody’s business when it matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s DAYVION McKNIGHT
LED ALL SCORERS WITH 29 POINTS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It mattered for Western Kentucky, late Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It mattered a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing for the third consecutive game without seventh-year head coach Rick Stansbury, who is sidelined with an illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing before thinning crowds at E.A. Diddle Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
AARON SCOTT WAS ONE OF SIX
NORTH TEXAS PLAYERS TO HIT
A 3-POINTER THURSDAY NIGHT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing themselves into a corner, into a fifth consecutive defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas turned back a late challenge from the Hilltoppers, knocking off WKU 70-66 on Thursday night at Diddle Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas used a deliberate offense, deft 3-point shooting and a solid defensive effort to torpedo the Hilltoppers’ comeback bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s DAYVION McKNIGHT HIT 13 OF 15 FREE THROWS … <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
… AND FINISHED WITH
A GAME-HIGH 29 POINTS.
IT WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our offensive efficiency was good for most of the game,” North Texas coach Grant McAsland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good for the Mean Green, bad for the ‘Toppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve just got to find a way to win a game,” WKU associate head coach Phil Cunningham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas outplayed, outhustled and outlasted the Hilltoppers, who fell behind 21-2 in the game’s first nine minutes or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
NORTH TEXAS SEEMED TO GET
A BIG BREAK WHEN OFFICIALS CALLED
THIS FOUL ON WKU’s LUKE FRAMPTON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
NORTH TEXAS GUARD TYLOR PERRY
SCORED A TEAM-HIGH 22 POINTS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davyion McKnight, the Hilltoppers’ tough-as-nails leader, pretty much got Western back in the game by himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With valuable sixth man Jordan Rawls sidelined with a hand injury, compounded by Stansbury’s absence approaching two weeks, the Hilltoppers seem like a lost team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing before thinning crowds at Diddle Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless things change quickly, and drastically, playing out the string for a season with considerable promise beforehand.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve just got to keep working hard,” McKnight said when it was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s DONTAIE ALLEN, LEFT,
AND DAYVION McKNIGHT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’ll be a big step, but the Hilltoppers are going to need a lot more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’ll need better shot selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better rebounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better defense, against the 3-point shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better rebounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas outrebounded the Hilltoppers 26-9 in the first half, when the Mean Green were building a double-digit lead and keeping it until the final moments before halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas finished with a 40-26 rebounding edge on the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
NORTH TEXAS HAD A HUGE 26-9
REBOUNDING EDGE IN THE FIRST HALF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western got back in the game, slowly but surely, and the Hilltoppers were a defensive stop or two away from giving themselves a legitimate shot at a comeback victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Cunningham, scrambling to get the Hilltoppers back in the game, went primarily with a small lineup, with the shot-blocking skills of 7-foot-5 senior Jamarion Sharp rendered idle because of the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharp is basically a one-dimensional player, on the defensive end of the floor, but his presence can alter an opponent’s offensive approach, sending them back to the perimeter and out of his reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE HILLTOPPERS SCRAPPED
THEIR WAY BACK INTO THE GAME.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas wanted to go there, regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mean Green unleashed a deliberate, 3-point-centric offense that capitalized on the Hilltoppers’ defensive lapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of which there were plenty, especially with Sharp on the floor for just eight minutes and change, after halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our game plan,” Cunningham said, “we felt like you’ve got to drive against their pressure. And we’re not built to drive.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, they’re built to find open 3-point shots, which was the difference Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Mean Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
TYLOR PERRY DID IT
ALL FOR NORTH TExAS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Texas hit 11 of 26 shots from 3-point land, with junior guard Tylor Perry leading the way with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western, as a team, had six assists for the entire game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dayvion McKnight basically willed the Hilltoppers back into the game, driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you’re in a perpetual comeback mode, it’s easiest to score with the clock stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers were 25 of 30 from the line, a strong showing that helped them keep it close in the last four or five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not enough to get them over the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We were going to drive it and move it and drive it,” Cunningham said. “And they did a good job of keeping us keeping us out of the paint.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s JAIRUS HAMILTON (LEFT) HAD 16 POINTS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defensively, the Hilltoppers are obviously a better team with Jamarion Sharp under the basket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not watching from the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharp played 36 minutes, 44 seconds in last week’s 81-78 loss to Rice University, a season high. But the Owls scored a staggering 55 points in the second half, when Rice was more efficient (14 for 34, or 42 percent, from 3-point range) than the Hilltoppers (7 of 20, or 35 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar development unfolded in the North Texas game, as the Mean Green’s Jayden Martinez — a 6-foot-7 reserve forward — hit two 3-pointers in the first half, scoring all of his eight points before the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That start ultimately doomed us,” WKU associate head coach Phil Cunningham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s PHIL CUNNINGHAM MEETS
WITH OFFICIALS BEFORE THE GAME.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After last year’s disappointing 19-13 finish, WKU teammates Dayvion McKnight and Jamarion Sharp chose to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers had been bounced in their first game of the C-USA Tournament, a 59-57 loss to Louisiana Tech, one year after losing in the championship game to North Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’ve yet to reach the NCAA Tournament under Rick Stansbury, the seventh-year head coach who took Mississippi State to the NCAA tourney six teams — including four in a row, from 2002 until 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re running out of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
NORTH TEXAS HIT
13 OF 16 FREE THROWS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cunningham was quick to remind us that “it’s a long season,” but the season is taking definitive shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, Stansbury, Cunningham and the other WKU coaches have to find a way to stop the bleeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A loss to Texas-San Antonio on Saturday at UTSA’s Convocation Center would mean Western will have gone an entire month without a single victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to extending the Hilltoppers’ losing streak to six games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s a bottom-line business,” Cunningham said. “Our guys know there’s no moral victories around here.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phil Cunningham understands. He spent six seasons as the head coach at Troy University, after an extensive stint as Stansbury’s lead assistant at Mississippi State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s PHIL CUNNINGAM:
“THESE GUYS ARE FIGHTERS.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These guys are fighters,” Cunningham said. “They’re in a storm right now … We’re coming out of that storm …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s the kind of DNA they have.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe these back-to-back games on the road — at UTSA on Saturday, and then UAB next Thursday — will give the Tops a chance to re-invent themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s the only way they can change the narrative on the 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU IS ON THE ROAD AGAINST
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO ON SATURDAY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU HAS NOT WON
A GAME SINCE DECEMBER 10.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s JAMARION SHARP LOGGED
ROUGHLY 20 MINUTES ON THE COURT …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
… AND I’M FAIRLY CERTAIN PIPER WAS A
PROFESSIONAL LOGROLLER IN ANOTHER LIFE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McKNIGHT’s 29 POINTS NOT ENOUGH IN LOSS TO MEAN GREEN It unraveled, in a matter of mere minutes. Turnovers. Bad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wkusports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5549"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5584,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions\/5584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}