4:44 local time

Western Kentucky goes into halftime with a commanding 50-28 lead. The Hilltoppers led by as many as 23 points in the second quarter.

Justin Johnson has 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting and six rebounds. Taveion Hollingsworth has 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Lamonte Bearden has chipped in with six points.

The senior Johnson is the only WKU big man playing today due to Dwight Coleby’s injury and Moustapha Diagne’s current ineligibility. Coach Rick Stansbury has played guard/forward Jared Savage at the center spot when Johnson exits the game.

WKU shot 20-of-35 (57.1 percent) as a team in the first half. The Toppers are 4-of-16 from 3-point range and 16-of-19 inside the arc.

4:20 local time

Western Kentucky has a 27-14 lead on Laurentian University after the first quarter.

The Hilltoppers trailed the Voyageurs much of the way Tuesday before finally taking the lead in the fourth quarter.

This time, WKU led by as much as 27-11 in the first quarter.

Justin Johnson has nine points and six rebounds early for the Toppers. Lamonte Bearden and Marek Nelson have four points each.

3:46 local time

Western Kentucky will finish the game-playing portion of its foreign tour Thursday afternoon against Laurentian University.

The Hilltoppers beat the Voyageurs from Ontario 104-98 in their first game of the week Tuesday night.

WKU is 2-0 on its trip, having also defeated the Costa Rican national team 99-69 on Wednesday.

The Toppers will start Lamonte Bearden, Jordan Brangers, Taveion Hollingsworth, Justin Johnson and Darius Thompson.

Bearden has led WKU in scoring each of the first two games and is averaging 22 points per game. Fellow guard Jordan Brangers added 17 points Wednesday night for the Hilltoppers.

Forward Dwight Coleby has gone through warmups for the second straight night after leaving Tuesday’s game early with what coach Rick Stansbury called a sprained heel. The graduate student Coleby didn’t appear Wednesday night.