Tops' season ends with NIT quarterfinal loss to Louisiana Tech

FRISCO, Texas — Western Kentucky’s season has come to an end.

Facing the same team for the third time this season, the third-seeded Hilltoppers couldn’t overcome fourth-seeded Louisiana Tech’s hot 3-point shooting and struggled to find an consistent offensive rhythm – ultimately falling 72-65 in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament on Thursday night at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.

"Wasn't the way we wanted to end our season – that's for sure," WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy tonight. Louisiana Tech's got a really good basketball team and when they shoot the ball the way they shot it, they're really, really good. We probably didn't anticipate that happening, and I'm sure they didn't either."

The Hilltoppers held a four-point lead with 3:25 remaining in the first half, but Louisiana Tech – which shot 11 of 18 from beyond the arc for the game – closed the frame with four straight triples to lead 39-31 at halftime. The Bulldogs remained in front throughout the entire second half, never allowing WKU to get back in front.

WKU – which finishes the 2020-21 season with an overall record of 21-8 – shot just 23 of 66 (35%) from the field and 9 of 30 (30%) from 3-point range. The Tops finished with three players in double figures: Jordan Rawls (20 points), Charles Bassey (15 points and 16 rebounds) and Taveion Hollingsworth (13 points).

"After a loss, it's never easy," Stansbury said. "We didn't want to finish our season this way. It's been abnormal from Day One. Naturally, you play someone in your conference again who's happy to be in the tournament. We were fighting to be at this point. After that tough loss (to North Texas in the Conference USA championship), for our guys just to find a way to get back up off that mat and find a way against Saint Mary's and win that game and find a way to keep competing tonight, that's not easy.

"Right now, they can't see it and understand it, but when all of this is said and done you look back and there's one thing they can take with them the rest of their lives: they still won a championship in this league. Anytime you win a championship, that's something you can take with you the rest of your life. That's a positive thing."

Kalob Ledoux led Louisiana Tech (23-7), which shot 47% overall, with 20 points.

The first half was full of runs.

While WKU scored the first five points of the game, Louisiana Tech followed with five straight of its own to make it a 5-5 contest at the 17:37 mark.

The Hilltoppers and Bulldogs traded baskets over a lengthy stretch from there, as Andrew Gordon and Ledoux scored on back-to-back trips before Bassey recorded two straight buckets to make it 17-16 in Tech’s favor at the 10:32 mark.

A jumper by Hollingsworth – followed by a 3-pointer from Luke Frampton – gave WKU a 21-19 lead, but Louisiana Tech put together a quick 8-0 run to go up 27-21 with 6:40 remaining in the half.

"The team just came out hitting shots," Hollingsworth said of Louisiana Tech. "They were hitting a bunch of 3s. There just wasn't really much we could come back from."

The Tops got hot, assembling a 10-0 run highlighted by 3s by Josh Anderson and Hollingsworth to take a 31-27 lead with 3:25 left, but the Bulldogs fired right back with 12 straight – all off 3s – to take a 39-31 advantage into the locker room at the break.

"I felt like the game kind of got separated a little bit that last three minutes of the first half," Stansbury said. "They made four 3s that last three-and-a-half minutes of the first half. That's kind of where it got separated. When you're on the road and fighting from behind, it's not easy."

Dayvion McKnight’s jumper and a pair of Rawls free throws brought WKU within 43-40 at the 15:53 mark of the second half, but Isaiah Crawford and Ledoux hit back-to-back 3s to put Louisiana Tech up 51-43 at the 13:42 mark.

"It definitely changes the game when a team is shooting like that," Rawls said. "We weren't able to get the defensive rebounds and push it in transition, so we had to run a lot of half-court offense today because they were hitting their shots. That definitely changed how we played."

Ledoux netted another triple – and Kenneth Lofton scored inside – to open up a double-digit advantage for the Bulldogs at 58-48 with 10:09 remaining.

Amorie Archibald’s basket made it 60-51 Tech with 6:24 left, and a jumper from Crawford kept WKU trailing 62-56 at the 4:06 mark.

Leading 66-60, Lofton recorded a steal and finished it off with an uncontested dunk to seal it for Tech with just under a minute left to tick.

"You could tell they wanted it," Hollingsworth said. "They were playing hard. We were obviously playing hard during the game, but just on offense we struggled. We knew what we were running into and what they wanted. The outcome just wasn't on our side tonight."

– Tyler Mansfield is the managing editor and primary beat reporter for InsideHilltopperSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RivalsMansfield. –