Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball opened Conference USA competition for the 2024-25 season with a 71-70 road victory over Liberty on Thursday night at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia.

With the win over the Flames, the Hilltoppers improve to 10-4 overall for the season with a 1-0 mark in CUSA league play.

Freshman guard Julius Thedford led the Tops’ scoring effort with 18 points highlighted by a go-ahead 3-pointer to give WKU a three-point lead with 32 seconds remaining in regulation.

“He’s fearless,” WKU coach Hank Plona said of Thedford during his postgame radio interview. “That shot to go up by three, just trying to put guys in position to try and go make a play. Don made the pass to him – I think it was a great drive-and-kick, catch-and-shoot 3.”

WKU’s Don McHenry and Tyrone Marshall Jr. each accounted for 12 points in the win, with Marshall finishing 6-for-7 from the field while charting a team-high eight rebounds and McHenry adding six rebounds with a pair of assists.

Khristian Lander rounded out the Tops in double figures, connecting on 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc and 3-for-7 from the field for 10 points, three rebounds and a team-best two blocks. Braxton Bayless led WKU in assists and steals with three each.

Thedford opened scoring for the Tops with a turnaround jumper to even the count at 2-2 a minute into the game. After a five-minute scoreless drought for WKU, Liberty went ahead 11-2 with 14:01 left to play in the first half. A made free throw by Lander and a pull-up jumper off a fast break by Bayless brought the Tops to within six, 11-5, at the 12:41 mark of the first.

A pair of 3-pointers by the Flames extended the Liberty lead to 17-7 with 11:07 to play in the half. Liberty maintained the cushion, leading by as many as 16 in the first period before the teams entered halftime with the Flames ahead in the count, 35-21.

WKU ended the first half shooting just 1-of-9 (11.1%) from beyond the arc with an 8-for-22 (36.4%) shooting clip from the field. Despite the poor shooting, the Tops managed to limit Liberty to 4-of-15 (26,.7%) from range while connecting on 4-of-6 (66.7%) from the free-throw line compared to the Flames’ 1-of-4.

Thedford once again opened scoring for WKU in the second half with a second-chance tip-in to bring the count to 35-23 in Liberty’s favor. After trading buckets for three minutes, WKU’s Enoch Kalambay connected on a layup in the paint off a fast break assisted by Bayless, then Thedford notched a steal and took it cross court for a made floating jumper, and one, to cut the Flames’ lead to just 10, 39-29, with 16:03 remaining in the game.

A made driving layup and one by Kalambay brought the Tops back to within single digits, now down nine, 41-32, with 13:55 to play in the game. After Liberty responded with a basket to again push the Flames’ lead to 11, followed by a nearly three-minute-long scoreless drought by both teams, Lander connected from deep to cut the margin to just eight, 43-35, with 10:59 remaining.

Liberty pushed its lead back out to 14 with 9:33 to play. With 5:22 remaining in regulation and Liberty maintaining a 12-point, 62-50 lead, Lander connected on a long 3 to cut the deficit to nine, 62-53. McHenry later dialed up a 3 of his own to bring the Tops to within six, 64-58, with less than four minutes to play. Another second-chance driving layup, and one, by McHenry brought the count to 64-61 with 3:06 remaining.

Liberty pushed its lead to four before a made free throw by Thedford brought the deficit back down to three, 65-62. McHenry again hit on a second-chance layup in the paint, and WKU trailed by just one, 65-64, with under two minutes to play.

With 1:18 left in regulation, Thedford drove to the rack and converted, and one, to give the Tops a 67-65 lead for the first time in the game. Liberty responded with a pair of made free throws to even the count at 67-all with 56 seconds remaining.

With 32 seconds remaining and the score deadlocked at 67, McHenry dished to Thedford who pulled up from beyond the arc and drained the 3-pointer in the face of a defender to put the Tops ahead by three, 70-67.

Thedford connected on a free throw following a foul to push the WKU lead to 71-67 with 17 seconds remaining, but a 3-pointer by Liberty with six seconds to play made it a one-point game, 71-70.

In the final second of regulation following a steal on the inbound, Liberty attempted a game-winning 3 that fell short, and WKU secured the comeback victory in the conference opener.

“We’ve won quite a few games now losing at halftime and that shows what we’re capable of,” Plona said. “The fight of this group is impressive, the togetherness is impressive. They were challenged pretty significantly at halftime as far as what was expected and these guys, I mean they want to win for Western, they want to win for each other as well as our great fans.”

The win marks the second consecutive season the Hilltoppers have opened league play with a win over Liberty and gives WKU a 2-1 all-time edge in matchups against the Flames. WKU enters its conference slate now standing with a 1-0 record in CUSA.

WKU utilized the starting lineup of Bayless, McHenry, Thedford, Leeroy Odiahi and Marshall for the first time this season.

Thedford has now scored in double figures in 10 of the Tops’ 14 games this season. Thedford added five rebounds, one steal and a block in the win.

The Tops trailed by 14, 51-37, with 9:33 to play in regulation before outscoring Liberty 34-19 in the final nine minutes and securing the come-from-behind victory. The Flames led for the first 37:27 of the game before WKU took the lead for the first time with 54 seconds remaining in regulation.

WKU held Liberty to a 29.6% (8-of-27) shooting clip from 3-point range, the third-lowest mark from beyond the arc for the Flames this season. The Hilltoppers also limited Liberty to 43.5% (27-of-62) from the field, the fourth-lowest shooting percentage for LU this year.

WKU benefitted from 23 points scored by its bench while limiting Liberty’s bench to just nine points.

The Tops earned 19 second-chance points compared to the Flames’ nine, and outscored Liberty in the paint with 46 points to the Flames’ 38.

WKU continues its conference slate with a matchup at Florida International (6-8 overall, 0-1 CUSA) on Saturday. Tipoff from Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami is set for 1 p.m. CT with ESPN+ broadcasting the event.

“FIU is a good opponent,” Plona said. “Don’t look a their record … they play high-pressure defense. It’ll be a unique game and a unique style.”