For the second straight night, Western Kentucky began a game with virtually no energy on either end of the floor.

On Monday, a late surge bailed the Hilltoppers out.

On Tuesday, the last-minute push was just a bit too little, too late in a 64-63 loss to Indiana State in a consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at E.A. Diddle Arena.

WKU shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half and at one point was being outrebounded by a 20-6 margin.

The lesson? WKU must play the first 35 minutes with the urgency it has shown in the final five.

“If you watch tape of the last eight minutes of this game and the first eight minutes, I think you’ll see a drastic change in the energy and focus,” said WKU coach Ken McDonald after Tuesday’s loss. “We talked about our team and how good we can be once we’re all on the same page and going together, and right now we’ve got a couple guys off point and teams will expose you.

“We have to know we’re going to get everyone’s best shot and the respect of other teams and we have to deal with that. We have to play with energy and with focus.”

Not only did WKU struggle to solve Indiana State’s zone in the first half at the offensive end, but the Hilltoppers allowed the Sycamores to constantly get open looks at the basket - both inside and out. ISU shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half and ripped down 23 rebounds.

In the second half, when WKU picked up its intensity, the Sycamores shot just 33 percent and only pulled down 15 boards. WKU, conversely, shot 52 percent in the second half, forced nine turnovers and grabbed 20 rebounds.

Quite the difference.

“The biggest thing is energy,” WKU senior A.J. Slaughter said. “Some guys come in with it, some don’t - it’s really the whole team, we all have to be ready to play at the defensive end and the offensive end.”

There’s no question that WKU is off to a rocky start in the much-hyped 2009-10 campaign. Preseason talks of an at-large NCAA Tournament berth suddenly seem like a distant memory.

But not all hope is lost, according to McDonald, as long as the Hilltoppers recognize a simple solution to their problems.

“Energy,” WKU junior Steffphon Pettigrew said. “If we came out like the way we did the last eight minutes and showed that type of intensity the whole 40 minutes - it’s a totally different team.

“We’ve just got to start clicking together and start playing as a whole.”

-- Click here for a photo slideshow from the game.

Slaughter guts it out

For the first 23 minutes Tuesday, Slaughter was lost in the woods - and so was WKU.

When things looked like they couldn’t get any worse, the WKU senior guard took a shot to the ribs and crashed to the floor.

Diddle Arena was silent as its team was down 16 and its team’s best player was helped off the court.

But Slaughter found his way back on the court and found a way to inject some life into the Hilltoppers - scoring all 20 of his points Tuesday after his second-half injury.

While it wasn’t a perfect game, McDonald said folks caught a glimpse of just how good Slaughter can be this season.

“You see what kind of player he is there,” McDonald said. “The hardest thing right now for us is trusting each other and moving the ball, we’re a little too one-on-one oriented right now and I think A.J.’s putting a little too much pressure on himself right now and that’s my fault - I’ve got to settle him down.

“But you see he can make big plays, there’s no question, he was huge during that run and he can be a defensive stopper for us also. ... After he got hit, he showed a lot of heart.”

Tipping steps up

Despite not getting major minutes Tuesday, redshirt freshman Jameson Tipping found a way to contribute.

Tipping’s last-second 3-pointer that tied the game is the most obvious boost Tipping gave WKU, but he also finished with an assist, two steals and six points in just nine minutes.

Both of his steals came at crucial points in the second half, the second directly leading to a Slaughter 3-pointer that brought WKU within two possessions in the closing minutes.

He might have not played big minutes early, but during WKU’s final stretch drive - it was Tipping who was in the backcourt with Slaughter, while struggling Anthony Sally watched from the bench.

Tip-Ins

After getting blood on his jersey in the first half, WKU senior Jeremy Evans sported a new number in the second half - none other than the familiar No. 32 of former WKU great Courtney Lee. ... Sally’s final line Tuesday read seven points, five rebounds, two assists, five turnovers. ... After making a big bucket to silence a WKU run in the second half, ISU guard Harry Marshall told Diddle Arena to quiet down - literally - by bringing his finger to his lips as he ran back down the court.