Sophomore guard Derek Robinsons eyes lit up when he talked about guarding Arkansas State Universitys Chico Fletcher.This was Monday after Western Kentucky University downed New Orleans, and Robinson, the Hilltopper point guard, said he hoped he would get the assignment to guard Fletcher. At Diddle Arena on Thursday, Robinson played Fletcher the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year tough enough to hold him to four of 13 from the floor during Westerns 84-72 conference win.Coach had been talking to me about it all week, said Robinson, who finished the game with seven assists and two turnovers. It was a tough challenge. Hes quick. I just had the mind set of coming out and competing. Perhaps more important for the Hilltoppers (9-16 overall, 7-7 in the conference) on Thursday was that the team had only 12 turnovers. Or maybe it was that Western again outrebounded an opponent. The Hilltoppers won the board battle 43-34.Maybe it was that senior forward Lee Lampley overcame his recent stretch of poor shooting games by pumping in 19 points.That was a game, wasnt it? an obviously excited Western coach Dennis Felton said as he walked into the Hilltoppers study room long after Diddle Arena was empty. That was nice. There were other high points for the surging Hilltoppers: Sophomore Chris Marcus, a 7-foot-1-inch center, had 19 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Western shot 54.8 percent in the second half. The Hilltoppers drained 21 of 26 free throws, a nearly 81 percent clip. Freshman forward David Boyden poured on a career-high 11 points, all in the first half. But for the Indians (10-16, 7-8), it was a lost temper and a resulting blown whistle indicating a technical foul that began to sink their shot at sweeping Western this season. Arkansas State beat the Hilltoppers 77-70 on Jan. 15 in Jonesboro. With Western leading 64-58 at the 6:10 mark, Lampley was preparing to shoot a second free throw when Arkansas State center Geoff Williams was whistled for a technical foul. Indians coach Dickey Nutt said his players inability to stop talking when a referee had told him to be quiet led to the whistle and the ensuing momentum change. A baseline jumper by sophomore guard Tremain Rowles after free throws by Lampley and Robinson gave Western a 68-58 lead with 6:04 to play. The Indians cut the lead back to four with 2:55 to play, but Marcus responded with a hard dunk and the Hilltoppers never led by less than seven points the rest of the way. We apologize to the program for getting the technical foul, Nutt said. That was inexcusable, especially at that time of the game like that. I thought it ruined a good basketball game.Emotions were key before the technical. Lampley said the Hilltoppers talked about playing with more intensity and emotion to match that of the Indians, who he said always play with a lot of energy. It was an emotional game, he said. When we play at home, were always pretty hyped. The Hilltoppers have two remaining regular season games at home Saturday against University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and the season finale at Denver on Monday. Felton said Thursdays win illustrated what hurdles his team continues to overcome.I think were much more stable emotionally right now, he said of his young teams decreasing tendency to turn over the ball. Another good thing is we are getting shots. Earlier in the season we werent because we were turning it over.