Hilltoppers roll past New Mexico State 93-70 for fifth straight win

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball earned its fifth straight win with a wire-to-wire, 90-73 rout of New Mexico State on Thursday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers (17-11, 10-7 CUSA) exploded to a 17-0 start and never looked back, stretching their lead to as many as 32 points behind a balanced attack that saw five Hilltoppers score in double figures in the win over the Aggies (13-14, 6-11 CUSA). The starting lineup of Terrion Murdix, LJ Hackman, Teagan Moore, Grant Newell and Blaise Keita improved to 6-0 this season, as Moore finished with 23 points and seven boards and Newell added 18 points. Ryan Myers provided 17 points off the bench, Hackman recorded his first Division I double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Leeroy Odiahi chipped in 10 points on perfect shooting.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Hilltoppers exploded out of the gate with a 17-0 run before the Aggies scored their first points. Grant Newell set the tone early, pouring in eight points in the first five minutes on two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. LJ Hackman added six points during the surge with an and-one finish and a triple, while Teagan Moore capped the opening blitz with a 3-pointer to make it 17-0 at the 15:34 mark.

WKU continued to build on its momentum, stretching the lead to 33-9 with 11:36 remaining in the first half. Armelo Boone scored his first points of the night with a layup, followed by an and-one finish at the rim from Moore and paint touches from Leeroy Odiahi, including anl alley-oop connection from Boone. Ryan Myers and Newell kept the pressure on as Myers buried a 3-pointer, knocked down two free throws and Newell added a bucket inside.

The Hilltoppers controlled the remainder of the half at the foul line and around the rim. Newell, Moore, Hackman and Myers combined to hit eight free throws down the stretch, Terrion Murdix attacked the basket for a score, Newell added another interior finish and Cam Haffner drilled a 3-pointer with one minute left in the half. WKU carried a commanding 48-26 advantage into the locker room.

WKU’s offense stayed in rhythm after the break. Moore and Blaise Keita split a pair of trips at the line, and a Moore layup pushed the lead to 24. Myers then connected on a jumper before Newell and Hackman knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the margin to 60-32 with 14:40 to play.

The Hilltoppers pushed their lead to as many as 32 points at the 5:58 mark behind another sustained run. Moore caught fire with 10 points over an eight-minute stretch, Myers added five points, and Odiahi chipped in four in the paint. Boone joined in with a 3-pointer and Hackman slashed in for a layup.

WKU closed out the wire-to-wire victory with more balanced scoring in the final minutes. Moore finished at the rim, Myers drilled another 3-pointer, Haffner connected on a jumper and Odiahi sealed the night at the line with two free throws to punctuate the Hilltoppers’ 90-73 win.

NOTABLES

• WKU improved to 17-11 overall, 10-7 in Conference USA play, 11-4 at home and 13-4 all-time against New Mexico State.
• The win marks WKU’s fifth win in a row. The program’s longest streak since winning six in a row from Nov. 30-Dec. 21 during the 2024-25 season.
• The 23-point win marks back-to-back wins by 20 points or more for the first time since the 2021-22 season when WKU defeated Ole Miss 78-41 on Dec. 12 and defeated Centre College 90-52 on Dec. 14.
• WKU’s starting lineup featured Terrion Murdix, LJ Hackman, Teagan Moore, Grant Newell and Blaise Keita — a group that remains unbeaten at 6-0 this season.
• With the win, WKU earns its 10th victory in CUSA play, marking the first time the Hilltoppers have achieved double-digit wins in conference play since 2021-22.
• Announced attendance for the game was 3,847.
• Five Hilltoppers scored in double figures, led by Moore with 23 points. Newell posted 18, Ryan Myers had 17, Hackman added 12 and Leeroy Odiahi chipped in 10.
• Moore poured in 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, adding 6-of-11 at the free throw line, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in 29 minutes, marking his fourth straight 20-point outing since returning from injury.
• Newell totaled 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, knocking down 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 at the line while contributing five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes, posting a game-best plus-27 when on the floor.
• Myers gave WKU a big spark off the bench with 17 points in 25 minutes, going 4-of-8 from the field, 3-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 6-of-6 at the stripe while chipping in two assists and a steal.
• Hackman delivered 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-2 from long range, and went 2-of-4 at the line while ripping down 10 rebounds in 23 minutes for his first Division I double-double.
• Odiahi provided efficient production off the bench with 10 points in 17 minutes, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 at the free throw line.
• Armelo Boone had six assists to go along with five points on 2-of-5 shooting, including 1-of-2 from downtown. He grabbed two rebounds and collected two steals in 17 minutes off the bench.
• Murdix impacted the game all over the floor, finishing with seven assists, four rebounds, three steals and two points in 25 minutes. It’s his fifth straight game with five or more assists and sixth straight game with two or more steals.
• WKU shot 50.8% from the field (30-of-58), 44.0% from beyond the arc (11-of-25) and 71.0% at the free throw line (22-of-31). WKU has shot over 40.0% from the field in four straight games, including over 50.0% in the last two games.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in nearly every statistical category, including points off turnovers (15-6), points in the paint (32-24), fast-break points (33-9), bench points (37-35), assists (20-13) and steals (9-4).
• WKU led for 39:41 without trailing. The game was tied only in the opening 19 seconds.

QUOTABLES

“Obviously, a very satisfying win tonight. I think sometimes when you get a win like we had on Saturday at Liberty, everybody all week, I heard how great we were playing and how we should just win these games now and things like that. I think as coaches and players, you know that that is the farthest thing from the truth. Every game is a challenge in its own way. I thought we did a good job of continuing to build on our togetherness and the way that we’re playing from Saturday. With the start of that game, we had a very intense focus and purpose to what we did, and it’s definitely the best start we’ve gotten off to this year. We were able to sustain that lead the rest of the game. So, very proud of the kind of approach we’ve taken this last month plus, to be honest with you. I know I’ve said it a couple times the last month, we’ve been building, and I know that maybe it didn’t quite fully all the way show yet, but obviously these last two games have certainly probably been our best two basketball games of the year. We’re not just going to continue to have success because of that. Hopefully we have a great practice tomorrow and a great effort on Saturday, but in the meantime, very proud of the guys for how they’ve bonded together and how they’ve been playing, and hopefully we can keep moving in the right direction.” — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on the win over New Mexico State.

“It’s definitely a good feeling. It makes us feel more comfortable, makes us feel good when shots are falling and we’re playing good defense. It all feels great. I think part of the reason why we’re getting out to good starts is because we’ve been doing good defensively.” — F Grant Newell, on the win over New Mexico State.

“I think just having the juice from the tipoff that we didn’t have when we went to their place. I mean that was probably our worst start of the year by far and we’ve had to live with that for a lot of weeks and a lot of games. So, it definitely felt good to come out and punch them in the mouth like they did to us at their place.” — G Teagan Moore, on the win over New Mexico State.

NEXT UP

WKU will play its final home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 28, against UTEP. Tipoff inside E.A. Diddle Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT, with the game airing on ESPN+.