Rick Stansbury mixed things up a bit Thursday for Western Kentucky’s 75-63 victory against Florida Atlantic.

The Hilltopper coach tinkered with his team’s lineup after a dismal performance Saturday in a 74-63 loss at Texas-San Antonio. Stansbury lamented his team’s “energy and toughness” in that defeat and spoke of “complacency” that had set in around the program.

Stansbury made a rare change to his starting five for Thursday’s game, giving Josh Anderson his first career start. The freshman Anderson was inserted in place of fellow guard Lamonte Bearden, who started 21 of WKU’s first 23 games this season.

Anderson finished with six points for the Hilltoppers (17-7 overall, 9-2 Conference USA), shooting 2-of-3 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed one rebound and tallied one block in his 16 minutes.

Anderson’s six points were WKU’s first six of the night. He got to the rim for layups off assists from Dwight Coleby and Taveion Hollingsworth, then hit two free throws after drawing a foul on the Owls’ Jaylin Ingram.

Anderson has now appeared in nine of the Toppers’ 24 games this season. The former four-star recruit missed WKU’s first 15 contests while the NCAA examined his high school academics before clearing him Jan. 5.

“The thing that’s hard for Josh right now is defensively, understanding things,” Stansbury said. “That game is moving fast. That ball is coming hard in transition.

“Understanding all that defensive transition stuff, it’s just hard for him this time of year. But he’s a guy still we’ve got to keep finding ways to work him in because we need his athleticism in that game.”

Bearden came off the bench for 11 first-half minutes before staying on the court for 14 in the second. The redshirt junior finished with five points (2-of-7 FGs, 0-of-3 3-pointers, 1-of-2 FTs), three assists, two steals and one rebound against one turnover.

Bearden made one of the game’s biggest plays with just over two minutes left and WKU leading 65-59.

After the Hilltoppers’ Justin Johnson missed a shot, FAU center Ronald Delph grabbed the defensive rebound. He sent an outlet pass toward the right sideline, but Bearden saw it coming and intercepted the ball.

Bearden then fired a pass in low to the forward Coleby, who scored a basket and was fouled. His three-point play made it 68-59 with 2:00 left, and the Owls never cut into that margin the rest of the way.

The guard Hollingsworth suggested Bearden likes coming off the bench because he can affect a game with his energy.

“I thought he was really in tune,” Stansbury said of Bearden. “We need that from him every night.”

Stansbury gave forward Marek Nelson seven first-half minutes – his most playing time since another seven-minute outing Jan. 13 in a win at Charlotte.

The freshman Nelson scored six points (2-of-3 FGs, 1-of-2 3-pointers, 1-of-1 FT) and tallied a block and a turnover. His six points marked the first time he’d scored since a Dec. 30 win over Southern Mississippi.

Stansbury said Nelson can improve on playing within his skill set rather than trying to do too much. He pointed to a turnover where the Plano, Texas, native tried creating off the dribble and it resulted in an FAU steal that led to a basket.

“We love Marek’s energy he can bring,” Stansbury said. “But again, when you’ve got some energy and you do something not very smart, it takes away. It takes away from your team.

“We don’t need guys off the bench taking away. We need those guys off the bench to add to.”

Forward Moustapha Diagne came out on the short end of Stansbury’s lineup shakeup. He didn’t appear Thursday, marking the first time he hasn’t played in a game since gaining NCAA clearance Jan. 10.

Diagne has played in seven contests since joining WKU’s active roster, averaging 1.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game with one steal.

Diagne has come off the bench in recent weeks to spell Coleby, but Stansbury went elsewhere with those minutes Thursday.

“(The game) tightened up the second half and again, now is not experiment time,” Stansbury said. “You can’t experiment. You’ve got to find a way to win this game. So that’s where it is.

“There was nothing wrong at all. (Diagne has) got a great attitude and great work ethic. It was just probably the way we played tonight.”