Check it, y’all—WKU men’s basketball took a tough L Thursday night in Diddle Arena, fallin’ 78-62 to Sam Houston. Hilltoppers slipped to 14-12 overall and 5-8 in Conference USA, and the shop’s buzzin’ about this one.
Blaise Keita was straight cookin’, droppin’ a career-high 11 points, snaggin’ a team-best nine boards, swattin’ two shots, and swipin’ one steal—big man was everywhere! Four Tops hit double digits: Keita, Don McHenry, Tyrone Marshall Jr., and Jack Edelen all with 11. Jalen Jackson was dishin’, leadin’ the squad with five assists.
How It Went Down
Tops kicked it off at the 18-minute mark with Keita hittin’ a runner under the hoop, makin’ it 4-2 early. McHenry shook a dude and splashed from deep to flip it, 5-4, with 17:29 left in the first. Bearkats snatched the lead back, but Khristian Lander came off the bench firin’ a trey to put WKU up 8-7 at 14:51. Then Sam Houston went off—11-0 run while WKU went dry for damn near five minutes. Timeout at 10:08, Tops down 18-8. Edelen’s wing jumper at 9:13 finally got ‘em goin’ again, 18-10, but Sam Houston answered with another triple. McHenry found Edelen in the corner for a three, cuttin’ it to 21-13 with 8:22 ‘til the half.
McHenry kept ballin’, fakin’ out another dude for a baseline layup, 25-16, with 7:00 left. But them Bearkats hit back with another 11-0 run, and WKU couldn’t buy a bucket—Sam Houston jumped out 36-16 with 4:24 ‘til the break. Braxton Bayless finally snapped a 5:28 drought with a trey, 38-21, and Jackson’s floater beat the halftime buzzer, but WKU still trailed 43-25 at the half.
Second half kicked off with Bayless hittin’ early, then Keita banged a three-point play to trim it to 46-30 with 16:20 left. Jackson fed Edelen for his third triple, and Marshall Jr. hit a hoop-and-harm, makin’ it 57-39 with 12:18 to go. Bearkats stretched it to 67-42, but McHenry swiped one and scored in transition, 67-46, with 9:18 left. A 6-0 run—Keita’s three-point play and Marshall Jr.’s trey—cut it to 69-52, forcin’ Sam Houston to call timeout with 6:59 on the clock.
Jackson splashed one from deep, 72-57, with 3:55 left, but Sam Houston pushed it back to 19, 78-59, with 1:18 to go. McHenry hit two freebies with 30 ticks left, but that was it—78-62, Bearkats took it.
Notables
WKU rolled out a fresh lineup—Bayless, Keita, McHenry, Jackson, and Jaylen Dorsey—for the first time this season, their 17th different combo. Sam Houston’s now 3-1 all-time against the Tops, 2-0 in Diddle. Keita was one board shy of a double-double, shootin’ 4-of-7. McHenry added three assists, two boards, and a steal. Edelen balled out with a career-high 11, hittin’ 3-of-6 from deep off the bench. Marshall Jr. grabbed six boards with his 11 points. Tops shot a rough .338 (22-of-65)—tied for their third-worst in CUSA play. They kept turnovers low at seven, flippin’ Sam Houston’s nine into 14 points—fifth time under 10 in conference action.
Next Up
Hilltoppers ain’t done—Saturday, February 22, they’re hostin’ Louisiana Tech in Diddle at 7 p.m. CT, streamin’ live on ESPN+. Time to bounce back, fam—what y’all think, they got this?
