Western Kentucky has made one thing clear this season.
You can never count it out.
The Hilltoppers have overcome deficit after deficit and have had to battle – literally – until the final horn to win games – and they’ve had no problem doing it.
On Thursday night, WKU added yet another unbelievable comeback win to its resume – overcoming a 17-point deficit with 5:51 remaining and climbing out of a 15-point hole with 3:23 left to earn a 95-91 overtime victory over Louisiana Tech in front of 5,030 fans in its home finale at E.A. Diddle Arena.
“To our guys’ credit, we just never quit believing,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “It’s helped because we’ve come from behind so many times, but these guys never faded – never quit believing. This team has never shown quit. They don’t mean you play perfect, it don’t mean you make every shot, it don’t mean you don’t turn it over.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a team that’s been down and out as many times and find ways to claw back – against really good basketball teams.”
The Toppers (19-9 overall, 12-4 Conference USA) are now in sole possession of second place in the C-USA standings and are one game back of first-place North Texas entering Sunday’s game between the two top teams at 1 p.m. in Denton, Texas.
Taveion Hollingsworth put the team on his back in the second half, scoring 28 of his game – and career-high – 43 points to send WKU, which honored seniors Jared Savage, Camron Justice and Matt Horton prior to the game, out on top on Senior Night.
“I really just don’t think there’s any desperation in this team,” Justice said. “We never feel like we’re out of it. There may be a lot of people who do think we’re out of it, but there’s not one person sitting there on that bench that doesn’t think we’re going into every game coming out victorious.
“Every single time we go out there, we’re going out there to be victorious.”
Alongside Hollingsworth’s dominant performance, which made him the first Hilltopper to score 40-plus points in a game since Anthony Winchester did in 2004, Carson Williams finished with 17 points, Justice scored 14, Savage had eight and Josh Anderson tallied seven.
“Honestly, I was just hoopin’,” Hollingsworth said. “I was just out there hoopin’. We were hustlin’ and just playing our hearts out, man. It got us the win.”
Derric Jean led Louisiana Tech (20-8, 11-5) with 16 points and was one of five Bulldogs in double figures.
Louisiana Tech started hot and jumped out to a 7-0 lead just 1:55 in, but Hollingsworth scored four straight points to bring WKU within three at the 16:55 mark of the first half.
Jacolby Pemberton recorded a put-back layup to put the Bulldogs up 14-7, and Cobe Williams made a steal, drove down the court and threw down a dunk to make it 18-9 LA Tech at the 11:19 mark.
Another transition basket by Williams gave Tech a 22-11 advantage with 9:23 remaining in the half, and the Bulldogs had a 30-16 lead after a Pemberton layup at the 5:27 mark.
Williams’ 3 cut the Toppers’ deficit to 30-21, and one from Hollingsworth gave WKU an 8-0 run and brought it within 30-24 with 3:31 left in the frame.
An acrobatic dunk by Anderson – followed by a deep triple from Justice – had the Hilltoppers within 34-31, and they soon trailed 37-33 at the break.
Savage’s 3 at the 16:48 mark of the second trimmed WKU’s deficit to 42-38, and he soon knocked down another off a sweet pass from Hollingsworth to make it 42-41.
“This one is up there at No. 1,” Savage said of the comeback. “Not just cause it was Senior Night, not just cause (Hollingsworth) scored 40-plus – I mean, we’re still fighting for a championship. We’ve still got a chance and we’re still fighting. We’re going to Texas with a big opportunity in front of us.”
Louisiana Tech answered with a 9-0 run – and took advantage of a 2:45 Topper scoring drought – to take a 51-41 lead at the 13:07 mark, and DaQuan Bracey’s bucket made it 61-47 with 6:37 remaining.
Hollingsworth nailed a deep ball to cut WKU’s deficit to 72-65 with 1:22 left, and then scored inside to get the Hilltoppers within 74-69 with 50 seconds to go. Justice followed up with a 3 of his own to make it 76-72, and Hollingsworth banked in a triple to get the Tops within 78-75 before Anderson hit two at the line to make it 79-77.
Down 80-77, Hollingsworth drilled yet another 3 to even the scoreboard and send the contest into overtime.
“I looked at the clock and it was 10 seconds left and we were down three,” Hollingsworth said. “I had the ball with 10 seconds left, so I was just thinking, ‘I’m gonna shoot the shot.’ We ain’t got nothing to lose – you either make it or you lose the game.
“I made it.”
The two sides went back-and-forth throughout the extra frame as things were knotted 86-86 at the 1:17 mark, but WKU was the better team down the stretch and made clutch free throws – highlighted by the final two from Jordan Rawls – to seal it.
