WKU wins third straight with rout of Jackson State
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Fresh off of a win in Diddle Arena over Lipscomb on Sunday, the WKU Hilltopper men’s basketball team kept their positive momentum rolling, taking down Jackson State tonight 79-62.
The Tops took an 11-0 lead at the start behind a pair of threes from forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. and an additional five from big man Babacar Faye, and the team held the Tigers scoreless for the first six and a half minutes.
That early scoring advantage held throughout the contest, and 10 of the 13 Hilltoppers who saw the court managed to put up points on the Tigers, including three guards who ended with double digits in Khristian Lander, Don McHenry, and Julius Thedford.
“I was happy to see a lot of different guys contribute tonight and hopefully get their feet under themselves a little bit,” head coach Hank Plona said postgame. “It’s good that multiple guys got on the floor and were able to get some game minutes.”
From beyond the arc, WKU saw its second-best performance of the season so far, rattling in 14 threes at a 45.2% rate, and the top shooter from range was Lander, who followed up an 0-5 game against the Bisons by making 4-5 on Wednesday, marking his best shooting night.
“Last game I felt like I was shooting the same shots I was shooting tonight, they just weren’t going in,” Lander said. “I feel like my misses last game were good misses, so I just gotta keep shooting them, keep getting reps up.”
Next up for Coach Plona and his team is the conclusion of the BBN Invitational, where they will travel to Rupp Arena in Lexington to face off with Mark Pope and the ninth ranked Kentucky Wildcats. The game is set for a 5:30 pm tipoff and will can be streamed on ESPNU.
