Western Kentucky had to come from behind to win its last three games.
This one was a different story.
After playing sluggish first halves in comeback wins over Old Dominion, Charlotte and in Wednesday's game at Marshall, the Hilltoppers flipped the script Saturday and used a strong opening half to lead them to their second victory of the week against the Thundering Herd -- this one a 91-84 decision in front of 6,270 fans at E.A. Diddle Arena.
WKU (14-6 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) -- which has won five straight -- scored 50 points in the first half and remained in front throughout the second to hold off Marshall and come out on top.
The Toppers' entire starting lineup -- plus one off the bench -- finished in double figures as Taveion Hollingsworth finished with 18 points, Jared Savage scored 16, Jordan Rawls had 15, Josh Anderson and Carson Williams each tallied 14 and Camron Justice added 11.
Taevion Kinsey led Marshall (9-12, 3-5) with 16 points, while Marko Sarenac, Andrew Taylor and Jarrod West each had 15.
The Hilltoppers return to action Thursday on the road at Florida Atlantic.
Tipoff is schedueld for 6 p.m. (CT). WKU couldn't have asked for a better first half.
Sarenac made a 3-pointer to put Marshall up 12-7 at the 16:15 mark and later led 18-12 just under two minutes later, but WKU responded with a 10-2 run -- highlighted by 3s from Savage and Jeremiah Gambrell -- to lead 22-20 at the 11:45 mark.
A pull-up jumper by Justice put the Hilltoppers up 28-26 with 7:54 remaining in the half, and they later assembled a 9-0 run -- led by back-to-back Williams and Hollingsworth buckets -- to build a 48-35 advantage with 2:04 to go in the frame.
The Herd outscored the Toppers 5-2 to close the half, but WKU still took a 10-point lead of 50-40 into the locker room at the break.
Rawls was already up to 13 points after 20 minutes of action, while Hollingsworth and Williams had both scored 10 points. WKU was shooting 21-of-39 (54 percent) from the floor and 7-of-16 (44 percent) from 3.
WKU opened the second half on a positive note, scoring four quick points -- highlighted by a Anderson put-back dunk -- to go up 54-40 and trigger a Marshall timeout. The Herd regrouped out of that break, hitting five of seven shots -- including Taylor's triple -- to get within 58-53 at the 13:01 mark.
Justice netted a 3 from the right corner to put WKU up 61-53, and Savage drilled one from deep to make it 64-56 at the 10:49 mark. Taylor's fourth 3 brought Marshall to within 68-63, but Justice hit a pair of free throws to give the Tops a 72-65 advantage with 8:02 remaining.
Darius George's layup cut the Herd's deficit to just 74-71, but Anderson made a pair of free throws to put WKU up 79-73 with 5:10 left -- and Hollingsworth made two of his own with 2:51 to go to make it 83-77.
Hollingsworth stepped up big again, making another pair at the line to put WKU up 87-80 and seal it.
