MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Western Kentucky’s hopes for a road win Thursday skidded off the rails right before halftime and never got back on track.

No. 24 Middle Tennessee closed the first half on a 9-2 run Thursday, hitting three 3-pointers over the period’s final two minutes. The Blue Raiders pushed their halftime lead to 43-34 and controlled the second half to win 82-64 at the Murphy Center.

The sequence was highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from MTSU guard Antwain Johnson. His banked-in 3 from the left corner made the halftime lead nine points and blew the lid off a packed house at the Murphy Center.

“We just kind of lost it,” WKU guard Taveion Hollingsworth said. “We were thinking too much and weren’t in the game at all the final few minutes. That last bucket with a few seconds to go, that gave them momentum going into halftime.”

The Hilltoppers (22-8 overall, 14-3 Conference USA) fell into an early 7-0 hole and trailed 34-28 with 3:30 left. WKU then got to within two points, at 34-32, thanks to a Justin Johnson jump shot and two Lamonte Bearden free throws.

Guard Giddy Potts responded for the Blue Raiders (24-5, 16-1), nailing a 3-pointer with 1:57 left in the first half. After guard Darius Thompson missed a jumper for WKU, Potts found Edward Simpson for another 3 to make it 40-32 with 1:26 to play.

Forward Dwight Coleby got the Toppers back to within 40-34 on a made jumper 23 seconds later. After an empty Middle Tennessee possession, WKU had the ball with a chance to cut further into the lead before halftime.

Hilltopper coach Rick Stansbury instructed Hollingsworth, dribbling the ball at halfcourt, to hold for an attempt at the end of the shot clock. The freshman went in for a shot with four seconds left that bounced off the rim.

Blue Raider forward Nick King got the rebound and passed it forward to Simpson, who kicked to a wide-open Johnson in the left corner. No Hilltoppers were there to challenge that attempt.

The junior Johnson let the 3-pointer fly just before the buzzer sounded, and it glanced off the glass and fell through the net with 0:00 showing on the game clock.

“You’ve got to finish it,” Stansbury said. “You’ve got to get back. We all kind of stopped like it’s over.

“It’s a huge momentum play – huge. It goes from a six-point game where we’re battling to nine points. It sounds funny that one play could be huge, but it was.”

That trio of 3-pointers from MTSU late in the first half seemed to have a mental effect on WKU.

The Hilltoppers quickly fell behind 47-34 to begin the second half on layups from Potts and Brandon Walters. WKU got to within nine points on two more occasions but never any closer, as MTSU went on to the 18-point win.

“It’s only one possession but it really was a big shot,” guard Lamonte Bearden said of the first half’s final play.

Stansbury often talks about the “fine line” and narrow margin for error in road games, and he repeated that mantra Thursday after the loss.

Part of playing on the road comes down to mental focus, Stansbury said. WKU lacked that for a few minutes at the end of the first half, especially on the final play, and never recovered.

“Again, we’ve got to be guarding,” Stansbury said. “ … Most of the first half we were right there battling.

“It gave them a little separation, but it gave them more than separation. It gave them some energy. It takes something out of you, puts some energy in that crowd.”{&end}