Down 12 – 64-52 – with 3:30 remaining, Western Kentucky completely turned its play around and used a 19-5 run to record a 71-69 comeback win over Old Dominion on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers (11-6 overall, 4-1 Conference USA) were led by Taveion Hollingsworth, who finished with a game-high 23 points – including the team’s final nine of the game.

WKU returns to action at 4 p.m. Saturday vs. Charlotte, who is off to a 4-0 start in league play.

Still searching for overall identity

With standout sophomore center Charles Bassey out for the season and sharpshooting guard Camron Justice currently out with a back injury, WKU is experimenting and searching for its overall identity.

A team that once ran its offense through Bassey in the post, the Hilltoppers are now tasked with playing small ball – meaning they have to shoot the ball well and score points in order to win most nights.

On top of that, with Justice out, Rick Stansbury is having to start a true freshman at point guard in Jordan Rawls – and his bench is really just two deep with redshirt freshman guard Jeremiah Gambrell and freshman forward Isaiah Cozart.

Sloppy, sloppy – and then that comeback

Western Kentucky came out of the gate and looked flatter than day-old beer in the first part of the opening half. The Hilltoppers missed their first four shots and dug themselves into an early 8-1 hole – and later trailed 16-10 at the 12-minute mark.

WKU’s fifth turnover of the first half – this one committed by Taveion Hollingsworth – led to an Old Dominion score to give it an eight-point lead halfway through the half.

The Hilltoppers were up 31-28 at halftime but again struggled to find any consistency in the second frame – until Hollingsworth took over in the final minute to give WKU the comeback victory.

Williams continues to lead

Carson Williams has been a leader for much of the season, but especially since Bassey suffered his season-ending injury.

Entering Thursday’s game averaging 16.7 points and 8.7 rebounds over the last six games, while shooting 59.3 percent from the field, Williams registered yet another strong outing – finishing with 12 points on 50% shooting with eight boards.

Williams is now averaging 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Toppers through 17 games.

More quality minutes from Gambrell

Jeremiah Gambrell picked up right where he left off Saturday at Middle Tennessee, putting together another solid performance off the bench for WKU.

Playing a total of 14 minutes after playing 19 at MTSU, Gambrell finished with two points and four rebounds and benefited the Toppers greatly while on the floor.

Gambrell’s play of the game was a pull-up jumper from the right wing at the 12:23 mark of the first half, which brought WKU to within 16-10 at the time.

Rawls steps up in starting role

True freshman point guard Jordan Rawls already made the first two starts of his collegiate career last week at UAB and MTSU, but his third start has been the best yet.

With Justice still sidelined, Rawls started Thursday and played 37 minutes – finishing with 11 points, an assist and a rebound while directing WKU’s offense another game.

In the three games he’s started, Rawls is averaging 8.3 points and 37.6 minutes.