It wasn’t perfect, as with most things.

Western Kentucky needed to come up with one final defensive stand after letting a double-digit lead nearly melt completely away against Liberty in Saturday’s Conference USA men’s basketball opener at E.A. Diddle Arena.

After Tyrone Marshall Jr. missed a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left that could have made it a two-possession game, or at least prevent a potential game-winning 3-pointer by the Flames, the Tops had to race back down court to prevent just such an occurrence.

They got there, as Khristian Lander contested a 3-point try to Brody Peeples from the wing. The shot clanged off the rim, the Flames’ Kaden Metheny grabbed the rebound and raced back out beyond the perimeter for a last-second 3 – he missed, and WKU (12-3 overall, 1-0 CUSA) claimed a 70-68 win in front of a season-high crowd of 5,057 fans.

No doubt it was a too close for comfort result after the Tops had built a 13-point lead with less than five minutes to go – so no, not perfect.

What is perfect is WKU’s home record, now 7-0 at Diddle. The Tops are perfect in CUSA play too, 1-0 and atop the standings after downing preseason league co-favorite Liberty. And while an eight-game winning streak isn’t perfection, it’s pretty nice. It continues the best start by the program since the magical 2001-02 season, when WKU won 18 after starting the campaign 10-3 and reached the NCAA tournament.

“I think we have a good basketball team that cares,” WKU first-year head coach Steve Lutz said. “A team that wants to win, wants to play the right way. Are we perfect? No, we’re not perfect by any means but no basketball team is and at the end of the day they play for the name on the front of their jersey rather than the back of their jersey. And I think that more times than not, that’s going to win you games.”

A sluggish start against the Flames’ pack-line defense put the Tops in a hole for much of the first half, with Liberty (11-5, 0-1) leading by as many as seven at 31-24 on a 3-pointer by Kyle Rode. That made 3 was more the exception than the rule for the Flames, who struggled all night to make shots from that range – contested or not (8-of-35 for 22.9%).

WKU answered with a 10-0 run sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Marshall and point guard Don McHenry, and still held a slim 34-33 lead at halftime.

McHenry, who finished with team-high 18 points in the win, said the Tops wanted to push tempo to open up the floor.

“Just making them play our game and imposing our will,” McHenry said. “What we like to do as a team is run and play fast and we’ve got to impose that on them and not let them (play) like they like to play defense which is stack it up and pack it in. That’s why its really tough. So coaches wanted us be emphasizing more of getting out in transition and beat them down the court.”

Tied at 44 in the second half, the Tops dashed off a 9-0 run sparked by consecutive baskets under the goal by 6-10 forward Rodney Howard. WKU maintained a solid margin of never less than seven for the next five minutes before stretching it out to 13 after McHenry hit a pull-up jumper in the paint and Dontaie Allen drilled a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to put his team up 65-52 with 4:42 to play.

The Tops cooled down after that and the Flames started cutting into that lead, with a Peeples 3-pointer from the corner getting his team back within three at 69-66 with 1:18 to play.

Howard split a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game after WKU got a defensive stop, but Liberty’s Colin Porter hit a short jumper to cut the lead to two. Marshall went to the free-throw line and missed both with 11 seconds to go, setting up the Flames’ final flicker before the Tops closed out the win.

WKU forced only 15 turnovers as opposed to Liberty’s 21, but the Tops’ sticky defense created numerous deflections that kept the Flames out of rhythm for much of the night.

“That’s something that we talked about going into this game is that because they have such good shooters that we had to get deflections, we had to have great ball pressure so that it could buy us time when they put you in tough positions on the rotation and stuff like that,” Lutz said. “If you can get a deflection, then now that gives your defender maybe a second or two to recover and then be there on the catch when the guy gets the ball and contest the shot.”

Joining McHenry in double-digit scoring for the Tops – who shot 46.3% from the field (25-of-54) and 38.9% from 3-point range (7-of-18) was Allen (13 points), Howard (11) and Brandon Newman (11).

Zach Cleveland scored a game-high 23 points for Liberty, which lost its CUSA debut after moving over from the ASUN Conference. Rode added 15 points, but shot just 4-of-14 from 3-point range.

“I think that’s a really good basketball team and the metrics tell you that they’re a good basketball team, both offensively and defensively,” Lutz said. “And for us to beat them at home shows that we’re a good basketball team, right? From day one, I’ve said that our goal is to win the conference and win the conference tournament, and go to the NCAA tournament. Those goals have not changed. And today is another step forward in that direction.”

WKU is on the road to face another CUSA newcomer Wednesday when the Tops take on Sam Houston State. ESPN+ will have the 6:30 p.m. broadcast from Huntsville, Texas.{&end}