Jax State dominates in paint to down Tops 73-67
Published 4:32 pm Friday, January 10, 2025
The Hilltoppers fall 73-67 to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Don McHenry (2) shoots a layup in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Enoch Kalambay (23) shoots a layup over Jacksonville State sophomore forward Iaroslav Niagu (99) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Khristian Lander (4) tries to move the ball around Jacksonville State senior forward Marcellus Brigham Jr. (4) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Braxton Bayless (0) shoots a layup between Jacksonville State sophomore forward Iaroslav Niagu (99) and redshirt senior guard Jaron Pierre Jr. (5) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. (24) shoots a layup over Jacksonville State sophomore forward Iaroslav Niagu (99) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Men's Basketball Coach Hank Plona gathers the team in a huddle at the start of their 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky freshman guard Julius Thedford (13) dunks the ball in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Enoch Kalambay (23) shoots a layup as Jacksonville State redshirt junior center Mason Nicholson (50) reaches to block in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. (24) shoots a layup around Jacksonville State redshirt junior center Mason Nicholson (50) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Don McHenry (2) shoots a layup as Jacksonville State sophomore forward Iaroslav Niagu (99) reaches to block in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Braxton Bayless (0) moves the ball around Jacksonville State redshirt senior guard Jaron Pierre Jr. (5) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky redshirt senior forward Blaise Keita (1) communicates with his teammates in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky freshman guard Julius Thedford (13) shoots a three-pointer in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Enoch Kalambay (23) shoots a layup over Jacksonville State redshirt junior center Mason Nicholson (50) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Jalen Jackson (3) shoots a layup as Jacksonville State freshman guard Quel’Ron House (2) reaches to block in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Khristian Lander (4) shoots a layup over Jacksonville State senior forward Marcellus Brigham Jr. (4) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Braxton Bayless (0) shoots a three-pointer over Jacksonville State redshirt sophomore guard Jao Ituka (10) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. (24) shoots a three-pointer in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky graduate guard Khristian Lander (4) shoots a three-pointer over Jacksonville State senior forward Marcellus Brigham Jr. (4) in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior guard Don McHenry (2) shoots a layup as Jacksonville State sophomore forward Iaroslav Niagu (99) and senior forward Michael Hogue (6) jump to block in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky freshman guard Julius Thedford (13) shoots a layup in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky senior forward Leeroy Odiahi (21) shoots a layup as Jacksonville State redshirt junior center Mason Nicholson (50) reaches to block in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Men's Basketball Coach Hank Plona communicates with his players in the Tops’ 73-67 loss to the Jax State Gamecocks at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Despite leading for a good portion of Thursday night’s game against Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky men’s basketball coach Hank Plona did not like what he was seeing from his team.
Sure enough, the Gamecocks’ rebounding dominance and lethal mid-range shooting caught up to the Hilltoppers in a 73-67 loss at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Jacksonville State (9-6 overall, 1-1 Conference USA) wore out the Hilltoppers on the glass, finishing with a 50-30 rebounding advantage.
“That was not the overall performance that we were looking for,” Plona said. “Even when we had a lead there for a lot of the game, I didn’t think we were playing in a way that resembled when we’ve been successful this year.
“I just said on the radio that I hope this is our lowest valley and we’re able to (use) this as a little bit of a wake-up call and we’re able to turn the corner. We have a lot of areas to improve. There’s no breaks in our league so we need to make that improvement very, very fast.”
WKU (10-6, 1-2 CUSA) dropped its second straight league game and has lost three of four since putting together a six-game win streak. Unlike the previous losses at Michigan and Florida International, and even the win at Liberty in between, the Hilltoppers didn’t get off to a terrible start.
Senior guard Don McHenry’s high-arcing layup off a turnover gave the Tops their largest lead of the night at 27-22 with 2:28 left in the first half and still had a 27-24 lead at halftime.
But troubling signs were there. The Gamecocks already had a sizable 28-16 edge in rebounding by the break, which the Tops managed to blunt by winning the first-half turnover battle (7-1) and holding Jax State to 1-of-12 from the 3-point line – a marked improvement over the FIU game, when the Panthers shredded WKU with an 11-of-22 day from beyond the arc.
“They had eight offensive rebounds in the first half and only one second-chance point,” Plona said of Jacksonville State. “If you’re allowing offensive rebounds at that rate, it’s going to catch up with you and it certainly did in the second half.”
Jax State finished with a 10-2 advantage in second-chance points and had a 34-24 edge in points in the paint.
The Tops still looked in decent position to claim the win in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with Enoch Kalambay’s breakout performance factoring large. The 6-foot-6 senior guard from Gatineau, Quebec, delivered a career-high 24 points in the loss – his previous best was 12 points.
A 3-pointer by Braxton Bayless gave the Tops a 43-41 lead with 12:33 left and the game was tied at 45-all before the Gamecocks put together a decisive 9-0 run to push ahead 58-49 with 5:19 to to go.
Jax State stretched its lead to 62-51 with 3:52 to play. Freshman guard Julius Thedford finally ended a WKU field goal drought extended to more than five minutes to cut the deficit to nine with 2:33 to play.
WKU cut it further to seven but Jao Ituka’s 3 pointer pushed the Gamecocks’ lead back to 10 with 1:58 to go.
Kalambay’s three-point play punctuated a quick 5-0 run that got the Tops back within five, and WKU was back to within four on a long 3-pointer by Khristian Lander with 23.5 seconds to play.
Jax State went 2-of-4 from the the free-throw line after that and the Tops came up empty on their final two possessions.
“I think we probably should’ve done a better job on rebounding, defending the ball,” Kalambay said. “But I feel like we played hard, we just came up short.”
Thedford added 17 points for the Tops. McHenry, the team’s leading scorer this season, had a rough shooting night (3-of-15) and finished with eight points.
Jax State center Mason Nicholson dominated in the paint, tallying a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Quel’Ron House added 14 points. The Gamecocks had five players finish in double-digit scoring.
The Tops don’t have long to dwell on Thursday’s loss. First-year CUSA member Kennesaw State comes to Diddle for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. ESPN+ will have the broadcast.
The Owls were also in action Thursday, losing 84-79 at Middle Tennessee. Kennesaw State is 9-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
“They are young, hungry, they play fast, they play confident, they play aggressive – I know that,” Plona said of the Owls. “We’ll have to figure out exactly what they do, but they were very impressive on film vs. Jacksonville State last week.”
