Lander leads way as Tops take down Miners 78-74

Published 12:06 am Friday, January 31, 2025

by Jeff Nations

Khristian Lander went into full attack mode Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Western Kentucky graduate senior guard knew visiting UTEP tended to pressure far out from the goal to create extra turnovers — that was no secret to Hilltoppers.

Beat that initial pressure, though, and the driving lanes were bound to be a little more open. That’s where Lander headed early and often on his way to a game-high 28 points in the Tops’ 78-74 victory.

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“It was just me continuing to shoot the ball,” said Lander, who was 11-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. “They kept not closing out hard enough, so I felt like I had to catch and shoot, and they were falling tonight.”

The work of Lander and senior guard Don McHenry (20 points on 5-of-11 shooting) consistently punished UTEP (15-6 overall, 5-3 Conference USA) with an assortment of drives to the basket, mid-range jumpers and runners in the paint, and the occasional 3-pointer off drive-and-kicks from teammates.

The Miners did turn the Tops over 18 times, right at their CUSA-leading best. But WKU (13-8, 4-4 CUSA) was efficient when it mattered, shooting a stellar 55.6% (30-of-54) from the field. The Tops held a commanding edge in points scored in the paint (42-26).

“It’s a little bit about how they play,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “We haven’t turned the ball over and we’ve struggled scoring at the rim a little bit. Well they really stretch out. Early on, I think we had (11) turnovers at halftime — that’s usually as many as we have in a game. So they extend out where they’ll force you to turn it over, but if you’re able to get past them there’s a little bit less protection at the rim. We knew that going in. We watched other teams score on them, we watched our film from last year.”

Plona said he wanted his players to finish shots near the rim “with a ton of confidence,” and no one was more confident than Lander on Thursday. His 28-point outing marked a career high for the Evansville native, whose previous best was 23 against Campbellsville on Nov. 11.

“He deserves a night like that,” Plona said of Lander. “He works his tail off, now. Khristian does a lot for us. On Saturday he guarded (Sam Houston leading scorer) Lamar Wilkerson most of the game. Tonight, obviously the kid (Ahamad) Bynum, who’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the country … man, Khristian was chasing him around. So sometimes Khristian spends so much energy on the defensive end that sometimes I wonder if that affects his offense a little bit. But as I tell him, elite players gotta do both.”

The Tops, who have won two straight, took down CUSA’s co-leading Miners despite a dangerous surge in the second half. WKU led 34-32 at halftime on the strength of Lander’s 12 first-half points, and opened the second half with an 8-1 run — with back-to-back 3-pointers from Lander — to take a 42-33 lead.

The Miners and pulled within two on several occasions over the next eight minutes, and then UTEP put together a 10-0 run of its own to claim a 59-54 lead with 9:17 to play.

WKU senior forward Enoch Kalambay finally stopped the surge with a basket in the paint, and that was just the start of an 8-0 run that had the Tops back in front 62-59 after McHenry’s short jumper with 6:58 to go.

UTEP wasn’t done, with an Otis Frazier III bucket in the lane giving the Miners back the lead at 68-66 with 3:06 to play.

McHenry answered with a jumper, Lander gave the Tops the lead with a layup, then Tyrone Marshall Jr. came up with a huge steal on the other end and Lander scored on another drive to push the lead to 72-68.

Frazier hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul to make it a one-point game with 1:22 to go, but missed the free throw. McHenry connected on a floater in the lane and was fouled — he hit the bonus free throw and the Tops led 75-71 with 1:01 left.

UTEP still had a chance when Marshall missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity, but the Miners drew a technical foul by calling a time out they didn’t have — McHenry hit one free throw with 14 seconds to go.

David Terrell Jr. completed a three-point play the other way to get his team within two with 10 seconds left, but the Tops iced the game when Lander took the inbounds and sent a long pass downcourt to Marshall for a clinching layup.

“I thought they were very, very good tonight,” Plona said. “And I think some of the ups and downs that we’ve been through led to that. I thought we had moments early on … I think we won four or five games before Christmas where we were losing at halftime. We almost got this confidence like, ‘Hey man, we’re always going to be good.’ Then we had a little stretch after Christmas where some doubt got in our minds. Our day-to-day habits, like I said, for the last 21 days have been very, very good.

“We talk in time outs — I think with three minutes to go we said, ‘Hey guys, we’re going make mistakes and things are going to go wrong. They’re going to make mistakes and things (will) go wrong. Whoever is able to stay strong through it is the team that’s going to win the game.’ ”

Kalambay added 10 points and six rebounds, and Marshall had eight points, eight boards and four steals.

WKU is back in action Saturday at home against New Mexico State, which won 61-57 at Middle Tennessee on Thursday. Game time Saturday is 2 p.m. with ESPN+ set to broadcast.

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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