Western Kentucky’s second game at E.A. Diddle Arena in the span of about 72 hours bore little resemblance to the first the Hilltoppers played on their home floor – except for the final result.

After lighting up Sam Houston on Friday for 102 points – with a season high 60 in the second half – the Tops scuffled for offense against the Bulldogs’ stout defense before ultimately pulling out a 66-61 win Sunday to make it a two-game homestand sweep.

WKU (9-5 overall, 2-1 Conference USA) endured a stretch of nearly 10 minutes without a field goal – with 11 straight missed shots – in the second half before finding a little bit of offense over the final three-plus minutes. Three field goals, six free throws and two key defensive stops later and the Hilltoppers locked up a gritty win.

“We think we can win any type of game, if we score 100 points or even as low as 50,” WKU senior forward Grant Newell said. “I just feel like we have to stay together, play defense and make shots.”

Louisiana Tech (8-6, 1-2 CUSA) entered Sunday’s game ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense (58.5 points per game allowed) and fifth in field goal percentage defense – even after getting scorched for 22 3-pointers in a lopsided 88-51 road loss to Middle Tennessee on Friday.

The 3-pointer was there for the taking again Sunday, and in the first half the Tops did just that by making 9-of-18 from beyond the arc to build a 37-25 halftime lead.

But after shooting a respectable 45.5% from the field in the first 20 minutes, WKU struggled mightily to make anything for much of the second half. The Tops managed to hit just 7-of-31 shots (22.6%) over the final 20 minutes.

“They’re a tricky team to play because of the amount of 3s they kind of force you to shoot,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “I watched the Middle Tennessee game and they took 44 3s and 14 2s. And obviously we took 36 3s and (17) 2s … kind of a unique way of playing. It looked all fine when the 3s were going in in the first half. When the 3s start missing and maybe you’re expecting them to go in, and all of a sudden you’re not rebounding, not getting back on defense. Things kind of snowball and they certainly did.”

The Bulldogs wiped out a 15-point deficit in the second half as the Tops went ice cold. Ryan Myers’ short pull-up jumper in the lane finally ended WKU’s frozen stretch to push his team out to a 55-53 lead with 3:58 to play. Louisiana Tech tied it with a basket at the other end, but junior guard LJ Hackman drilled a huge 3-pointer from the corner with 2:55 to go, then Teagan Moore scored on a drive through the lane after another Tech bucket to stretch the Tops’ lead to 60-57.

Louisiana Tech wasn’t done. After AJ Bates sank a pair of free throws, Tech took a 61-60 lead on a Melian Martinez layup with 59 seconds to play.

The Bulldogs fouled on the other end and Myers hit both free throws on a one-and-one opportunity to give the Tops the lead for good with 53 seconds to go.

WKU got then got a defensive stop, Hackman hit both of his one-plus-one free throws and the Tops got another stop on Tech’s missed 3-pointer. Hackman iced the win by hitting two more free throws.

Plona said a defensive adjustment to push 7-foot senior forward Noah Boyde further out on the perimeter helped throw off the Bulldogs’ offensive attack.

“They were really good at getting the ball to about the center of the free-throw line and everything opens up – the lobs, pull-ups, the 3s, so we basically brought Noah a little bit higher to try to keep the ball out of there,” Plona said. “We were hoping – we didn’t want them to get an in-rhythm shot. We were hoping to at least make them make a second play.”

The Tops separated at the free-throw line, sinking 20-of-25 including 12-of-14 in the second half. The Bulldogs were just 9-of-19 overall and 5-of-12 on free throws in the second half.

After scoring a career-high 28 points in the Tops’ 102-91 win against Sam Houston on Friday, Moore again led the Tops with 19 points along with team highs of nine rebounds and four assists.

“I think these type of games – low scoring, kind of boxing match type of games just absolutely give you confidence going into league play because that’s how most of these teams are,” Moore said. “They are super physical, they’re going to crash the glass hard. It’s going to be a fight every single night. So to not shoot it the way that we wanted to in the second half but still come out with a win, it’s a big confidence boost.”

Myers added 13 points, Newell finished with 12 and Hackman tallied nine despite missing a significant stretch with foul trouble.

WKU returns to action Thursday at New Mexico State for a two-game swing to the far west. After taking on the Aggies, the Tops will play at UTEP on Sunday.