MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — That was exactly what Western Kentucky needed.

Coming into Saturday still winless and desperately needing a victory, especially with it being an important game, the Hilltoppers took care of business and scratched the goose egg from their record by defeating longtime rival Middle Tennessee 20-17 at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium.

WKU (1-2 overall, 1-0 Conference USA) and MTSU (0-4, 0-2) were scoreless after the opening quarter and tied 10-10 at halftime. The Tops then used a 13-0 scoring run to build a 10-point lead and remained in front from there.

WKU will try for back-to-back wins next Saturday as it hosts C-USA East Division rival Marshall at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Hilltoppers’ Homecoming game is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Stadium.

After both teams punted on their first two drives and played a scoreless opening quarter, WKU struck first with a 47-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson to take a 3-0 lead just 51 seconds into the second.

Middle Tennessee put together a lengthy 14-play, 75-yard drive that knocked 6:18 off the clock and capped it with a one-yard TD run from quarterback Asher O’Hara to jump in front 7-3 at the 7:51 mark.

Another consistent series by the Blue Raiders — this one covering 42 yards with eight plays — earned MTSU a 44-yard field goal by Crews Holt and increased its lead to 10-3 with 2:59 remaining in the half.

The Hilltoppers answered MTSU’s drive with a successful one of their own. Covering 75 yards with 13 plays, quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome hit wide receiver Xavier Lane with a six-yard TD pass to help WKU tie it at 10-10 at the break.

WKU tallied 158 total yards of offense in the first half and finished with 326. MTSU recorded 319 yards, with 171 of those coming in the first half.

Pigrome went 11-of-17 passing for 108 yards over the course of the first 30 minutes and finished 21-of-36 for 188 yards. He also rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries.

Lane finished as the Hilltoppers’ leading receiver with 73 yards on seven receptions.

WKU took a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter with Narveson’s second made field goal — this one a 53-yarder — and capped a 14-play, 64-yard series that lasted 4:30.

The Toppers pushed their advantage to 20-10 with 6:04 remaining as Pigrome threw an 11-yard TD pass to tight end Joshua Simon to finish off a 13-play, 68-yard drive.

Pigrome received the snap, stepped back, took his time and found Simon wide open in the back left corner of the end zone for the score — which gave WKU the double-digit advantage.

MTSU cut its deficit to 20-17 with O'Hara's two-yard TD pass to CJ Windham, but there was just 2:07 remaining and WKU was able to recover the onside kick and use the clock to its advantage to hold off the Blue Raiders.