Hilltoppers beat Old Dominion to capture regular-season conference title
After 12 years, Western Kentucky has won a regular-season conference championship.
Following a tough 71-69 loss in Friday night’s series opener, the Hilltoppers bounced back Saturday by pulling out a 60-57 win over Old Dominion at E.A. Diddle Arena to capture the Conference USA East Division title and the best overall record in the league.
"Very obvious that it wasn't easy – winning championships never are," WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. "We were tired, they were tired, both teams were tired – but our will found a way to win the game."
With Saturday’s victory, WKU (18-6 overall, 11-3 C-USA) earned its first regular-season conference title since 2009 when it was in the Sun Belt Conference and will be the No. 1 seed for next week’s C-USA Tournament in Frisco, Texas. The Hilltoppers will play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ford Center at The Star.
"We've got three games to play, so we're just gonna focus up and get ready for those," WKU guard Taveion Hollingsworth said.
WKU held a 36-33 lead at halftime, but came out sluggish to begin the second half and trailed 45-41 with just over 10 minutes remaining. It remained tight down the stretch, and the scoreboard was even at 57-57 with 1:28 left, but Hollingsworth scored the final three points of the game to send the Hilltoppers out on top.
Hollingsworth scored 19 points to lead the Hilltoppers, who shot just 34% from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
Malik Curry finished with a game-high 23 points to lead the Monarchs (15-7, 11-5), who shot 39% and committed 11 turnovers.
Old Dominion started hot, as Curry made a pair of layups in the span of 23 seconds and Mekhi Long also recorded a make inside to put WKU in an early 6-0 hole just over two minutes in.
The Hilltoppers answered a Curry 3-pointer with a 7-0 run to take a 10-9 lead at the 14:48 mark of the first half, but he remained streaky and knocked down another triple to put ODU in front 16-14 at the 12:41 mark.
Luke Frampton and Jordan Rawls made back-to-back 3s to put the Tops in front 21-16, and another triple – this one by Kevin Osawe – made it 27-21 WKU with 8:55 remaining in the half.
The Monarchs responded with a 7-0 burst – highlighted by another 3 from Curry – to get back in front at 28-27, but Hollingsworth knocked down a 3 to make it 31-30 in the Hilltoppers’ favor with 3:55 left – and they were soon up 36-33 at the break.
Josh Anderson made a jumper and Hollingsworth connected on a 3 to open the second half and give WKU a 41-33 advantage at the 17:04 mark, but it quickly – and completely – fell apart.
While going scoreless for over seven minutes and committing five turnovers in a five-minute span, the Hilltoppers allowed Old Dominion to go on a 12-0 run and take a 45-41 lead at the 10:26 mark.
"From about that seven-minute mark on, there were about four or five plays that won't show up on the stat sheet that were wills to win," Stansbury said. "I thought we defended and rebounded as well as we could. We were both totally fatigued and knew it wasn't going to be easy."
WKU finally snapped the run with three straight free throws – and a layup by Charles Bassey, followed by a Hollingsworth 3 – had the Hilltoppers back in front at 49-48 with 7:13 remaining.
Frampton made three straight free throws to make it a 54-53 WKU lead, and Rawls then made two of his own to keep the Tops in front at 56-55 with 4:28 left.
Curry’s layup tied things at 57-57, but Hollingsworth drove inside, scored a tough basket while being fouled and completed the three-point play to put WKU up 60-57 and seal it.
"It feels great," Hollingsworth said. "The guys definitely deserve it. We've been working so hard for this."
– Tyler Mansfield is the managing editor and primary Western Kentucky beat reporter for InsideHilltopperSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @RivalsMansfield. –