Louie Semona got his opportunity Monday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Western Kentucky junior forward, who had not yet made a field goal through nine games this season, got increased minutes against Campbellsville and made the most of them – when Semona got his shot, he made his shots in the Tops’ lopsided 102-59 win.

Semona’s night was filed with season highs – 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, plus a career-high four steals, three rebounds and three assists in the win.

“I’ve been working every day since the summer,” said Semona, in his first year at WKU after transferring from Stonehill College. “I think we played really well as a team tonight, and I worked hard to space the floor and give my teammates space. If my man helps off, I’m always there for the kick, and I’ll do the same for them, so basically all of my buckets came from my teammates just finding me and me being in the right place.”

Semona’s additional minutes came at least in part due to a devastating injury to teammate Bryant Selebangue, a fellow forward who tore his Achilles tendon in last week’s road loss to Marshall. WKU announced Selebangue, a graduate senior who was leading the team in rebounding at the time of his injury, was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season.

“Louie’s a good player,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “Louie’s just been adjusting to us and to our team and playing at the level and all that normal-type stuff. Louie deserved to play based on the last three or four days. I decided late last night that I was going to play him there pretty early. Even if Bryant was healthy, I would’ve played him.”

WKU (7-3) traded baskets with NAIA-level Campbellsville (12-2) through the first five minutes. After the Tigers took a 13-10 lead on a Dalton Kramer 3-pointer, the Tops answered with a 13-0 run to take control.

The Hilltoppers maintained that double-digit lead through the first half, finally turning the game into a blowout with a 19-2 surge to close the first half. Graduate senior guard Ryan Myers (game-high 19 points) scored nine point during that stretch. Myers, who has led the team in scoring three straight games, hit four 3-pointers, tallied four assists and matched his career high with eight rebounds.

Leading 54-28 at halftime, the Tops continued to roll in the second half. Campbellsville briefly rallied with a seven-point run to cut the deficit to 26, but the Tops answered with a 10-2 surge to move ahead 74-40 with 13:46 to go. A 20-0 run later in the half pushed WKU’s lead to 50.

Semona wasn’t the only Hilltopper to post a season-best performance. Senior forward/center Noah Boyde, a transfer from LSU who barely played last season as he recovered from an injury, earned his first start for WKU and responded with a strong performance. Boyde played a career-high 19-plus minutes, tallying a career-best 13 points and tying his career high with seven rebounds.

“Unrelated to Bryant, I think Noah has been moving in the right direction these last two weeks,” Plona said. “Noah came here to be an important part of this team and as he’s gotten in shape – it’s been a couple years since he played consistent minutes, so I think it’s been maybe a little bit more challenging early. But man, we’ve seen the signs the last two or three weeks or so from Noah.”

Boyde, a 7-footer from Monchy, Saint Lucia, said the increased workload is something he thinks will help accelerate his skill level.

“I’m someone like the more I’m put into a situation, then the better I’ll get at it,” Boyde said.

Freshman guard Armelo Boone also delivered a standout performance with 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting, setting career highs in field goals made and rebounds (eight) while adding two steals.

Senior forward Grant Newell finished with 12 points, including a 9-for-9 night at the free-throw line, and redshirt sophomore guard Teagan Moore had 10 points for the Tops.

WKU dominated the rebounding totals with 49-25 edge and shot 50% from the field.

Ra Briggs scored 11 points to lead Campbellsville.

UP NEXT

The Hilltoppers close out the nonconference portion of the schedule Friday night with a 6:30 p.m. matchup against Tulsa (10-1) at Diddle.

The Golden Hurricane have won seven straight games, including an 83-70 neutral-site win against New Mexico State on Saturday.

“It could be kind of a good kick-start for us on the second half of the season and good exclamation point on the first half of the season,” Plona said. “ … It’s a heck of an opportunity. I mean, they’re 25, 30, 35 in the NET – something like that. I mean, they’re an elite-level team.”

ESPNU will televise Friday’s game.