BOWLING GREEN — The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers fought fire with fire on Thursday night.
Facing one of the nation’s best defensive teams, WKU turned the tables on visiting UTEP and upended the Miners 78-74 in E.A. Diddle Arena — continuing their overall dominance of a proud program that won the 1966 NCAA Championship when they were known as Texas Western.
WKU improved to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA, while the Miners — who lead the nation in forced turnovers — slipped to 15-6 in all games and 5-3 within the league. The Hilltoppers are 12-2 all time versus UTEP.
“That was a very good basketball team we played tonight, and I thought our guys really responded the right way,” WKU first-year head coach Hank Plona said. “To get to the top of the league standings you have to beat good teams and protect your home court, and we were able to do that in this one.
“We’re moving in the right direction and we’ll keep getting better. We’re doing a better job of being disciplined at both ends of the court, and we’re making that extra pass to take quality shots at the offensive end — we’ll keep improving as the season rolls along.”
It was tough, physical grind the whole way, and UTEP went on a 9-4 spurt to move in front 68-66 following a layup by Otis Frazier with 3:05 to play.
But Khristian Lander and Don McHenry combined for every point in a stupendous 10-3 run that pushed the Hilltoppers in front 76-71 with 14.9 seconds to play.
UTEP pulled within 76-74 on a conventional three-point conversion by David Terrell with 10.8 seconds to go, but WKU’s Tyrone Marshall got behind the Miners’ defense for a breakaway layup with 5.5 seconds to play to seal the deal.
“I was pretty pleased with our defense the whole way,” Plona said. “We have guys on our team with championship pedigrees and they’ve been solid in terms of defense and rebounding the entire season.
“Offensively,, that’s three halves of basketball in a row where we’ve really shot the ball well from 2-point range by playing together and being very efficient at the offensive end.”
The opening half featured runs by both teams, and a 16-foot jumper by Jalen Jackson near the end of the frame left WKU with a 34-32 advantage at intermission.
Lander was magnificent for the Hilltoppers, finishing 11 of 15 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from deep, to finish with a game-best 28 points.
“”I saw some shots go down early and I was just able to get on a roll tonight,” Lander said. “UTEP loves to play right up in your grill and I like that because it allows me to use my speed and quickness to get to the rack. When they back off a little, I’ve got room to step back and shoot the 3.
“The chemistry of our offense is really starting to come together. You can feel the confidence growing for our basketball team, and it’s just exciting to get a big win like this in front of our home crowd. I felt like we got the job done at both ends of the floor.”
In addition to Lander’s production, Western got 20 points from McHenry, 10 points and six rebounds from Enoch Kalambay, and team-highs of eight rebounds and four steals from Tyrone Marshall.
The Hilltoppers shot 56% from the field, including 32% from 3-point range, and were 23 of 32 from 2-point range (72%). WKU made 11 of 16 free throws (69%) and won the rebounding battle, 33-31. Western outscored the Miners 42-26 in the paint.
“We’re using adversity to strengthen us,” said Plona, whose team continues to play without forward Babacar Faye (15.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and guard Julius Thedford (12.4 ppg), who are sidelined with knee injuries. “We just need to continue to work hard and become a better team as we go along. This group is responding to the challenge in the right way.”
Leading the way for UTEP was Terrell, who scored 15 points and dished eight assists. Frazier and Devon Barnes each scored 11 points, and Elijah Jones added 10.
The Miners were limited to 41% shooting, but stayed in the game by making 19 of 24 foul shots (79%).
WKU is back in Diddle at 2 p.m. on Saturday to face New Mexico State (12-9, 5-3 CUSA), which won at Middle Tennessee on Thursday.
