Hilltoppers drop 77-67 road decision to LA Tech
Published 9:26 am Friday, January 24, 2025
Western Kentucky graduate senior forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. puts up a shot against Louisiana Tech during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (RALPH DILLIHAY)
Western Kentucky senior guard Enoch Kalambay looks for a driving lane against Louisiana Tech during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (RALPH DILLIHAY)
Western Kentucky graduate senior guard Braxton Bayless drives for a layup against Louisiana Tech during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (RALPH DILLIHAY)
Western Kentucky senior forward/center Leeroy Odiahi (right) defends against Louisiana Tech freshman guard AJ Bates during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (WKU ATHLETICS)
Western Kentucky graduate senior guard Braxton Bayless puts up a 3-point shot over Louisiana Tech's Al Green during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (WKU ATHLETICS)
Western Kentucky redshirt senior forward/center Blaise Keita (right) and graduate senior guard Khristian Lander (4) flank Louisiana Tech redshirt senior forward Daniel Batcho as they await a free-throw attempt during WKU's 77-67 loss Thursday night in Ruston, Louisiana. (WKU ATHLETICS)
Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team fell on the road at Louisiana Tech, 77-67, on Thursday night in Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana.
With the loss, the Hilltoppers drop to 11-8 overall with a 2-4 record in Conference USA play.
“We are just struggling to put the ball in the basket,” WKU coach Hank Plona said during his postgame interview on the Hilltopper Radio Network. “And whether that’s finishing inside the arc or whether that’s from 3 … I always think scoring and shooting is a mental thing. And we have a bunch of older guys that have been very successful scoring the ball in their careers.
“I would just make sure I encourage everybody to stick with this team because we figure out how to put the ball in the bucket like we know we are capable of and we have done, we did the other things tonight that go into getting a road win. We rebounded the ball, we played hard, we guarded, we showed toughness, we were physical.”
WKU senior guard Don McHenry led all scorers with 21 points along with a team-high four assists, three rebounds and a steal. Tyrone Marshall Jr. followed with 13 points off 5-for-11 shooting from the field while posting a tie with teammate Leeroy Odiahi for a game high in rebounds with eight total. Jalen Jackson tied a career-best for steals with a total of six, and Enoch Kalambay rounded out the Tops scoring in double figures with 10 points.
After a scoreless period of 2:37 to open the game, McHenry connected from 3-point range to give WKU the first points of the game and a 3-0 lead. The Tops jumped out to a six-point lead five minutes in after a 3 by Kalambay followed by a made pair of free throws by McHenry gave WKU an 8-2 lead with 14:37 to play in the first.
The Bulldogs battled back, bringing the score to 8-7 before a made jumper in the paint by Blaise Keita extended the Tops’ lead to 10-7 at the 10:12 mark of the first. LA Tech responded with a 3, but buckets by Marshall, Jack Edelen and McHenry pushed the WKU lead back out to six, 16-10, a minute later.
LA Tech took its first lead of the game, 17-16, with 7:33 to play in the first. A made layup by Kalambay regained the lead for WKU, 18-17, before the Bulldogs outscored the Tops 16-10 for the remainder of the first half and the teams entered halftime with the Hilltoppers trailing by five, 33-28.
The teams returned for the second half and WKU cut the Bulldogs’ lead to three, 33-30, off a made jumper by Khristian Lander 40 seconds in. LA Tech extended its lead to eight and maintained a cushion until a made layup, and one, by Braxton Bayless following a steal by Jackson cut the Tops’ deficit to just two, 43-41, with 14:14 remaining in regulation.
LA Tech pushed its lead back out to six, 54-48, with 10:07 to play before a 3-pointer by Lander made it a 54-51 game with less than 10 minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs continued to answer and eventually pushed the margin out to 10, 67-57, with 3:54 remaining. A made pair of free throws by Kalambay cut the Bulldog lead to five, 67-62, with 3:02 to play, but LA Tech continued to connect on the other end, pushing its lead back out to double digits and securing the 77-67 win over WKU.
The Tops shot 33.8% from the field for the game compared to the Bulldogs’ 42.6%, and hit from beyond the 3-point arc at a 21.4% clip to LA Tech’s 30.8%.
“We were battling,” Plona said. “From a basketball perspective, we clearly need to figure out how to effectively and efficiently put the ball in the basket and that’s what we just talked about after the game. All the intangibles – we have a bunch of guys who have been champions, a bunch of guys that have been champions here and they played like it tonight. We just were unable to put the ball in the bucket at an efficient enough level to win the game.”
Despite WKU connecting on a 81.0% mark from the free-throw line compared to LA Tech’s 69.0%, the Bulldogs managed 42 attempts at the line with 29 makes to the Tops’ 21 attempts with 17 makes.
WKU continues conference play on the road at Sam Houston on Saturday. Tipoff from Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
