Hilltoppers crush FIU, 91-58

Jim Pickens, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·3 min read

Mar. 1—BOWLING GREEN — Smarting from a 24-point setback at highly regarded Houston on Thursday, Western Kentucky took its frustrations out on overmatched Florida International on Sunday.

Carson Williams scored 21 points and All-American candidate Charles Bassey produced 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Hilltoppers cruised past the overmatched Panthers 91-58 in E.A. Diddle Arena.

With its seventh victory in eight games, Western improved to 16-5 overall and an East-leading 9-2 in Conference USA.

"We came and did what we were supposed to do," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "In the first half we were very efficient, turning the ball only one. It was just really good execution by our basketball team.

"In the second half, we played a lot of different guys and had a lot of different rotations going on, and I thought our bench picked us up really well in this one."

After building a 44-26 halftime lead, the Hilltoppers put the game away quickly in the second half.

WKU got six points from Bassey and 3-pointers from Jordan Rawls and Taveion Hollingsworth in an 18-2 run capped by Dayvion McKnight's runner at 14:52 that pushed the Tops in front 62-28.

FIU (9-16, 2-14) trimmed the lead to 25 on three occasions over the next seven minutes, but the Hilltoppers went on a 19-5 late-game run to eventually pushed their advantage to 38 points inside the final three minutes.

WKU took early control, getting five points from reserve forward Kevin Osawe in a torrid 17-2 run that left the Hilltoppers with a 23-7 lead at the 11:32 mark.

Williams (12 points) and Bassey (11 points, nine rebounds) took over after that as Western, despite shooting just 39% from the feld, zipped to a 44-26 advantage at intermssion.

"Carson and Charles just punished them on the inside, so we kept going inside," Stansbury said. "They combined to go 15-of-20 from the field, so that's a pretty good performance.

"Defensively, I thought our zone was good against their shooters. We defended very well, all things considered."

In addition to the production provided by Williams and Bassey, Western got 11 points and six rebounds from Hollingsworth and five assists from Rawls.

The Tops went 35-of-71 from the floor for 49% and made 7-of-19 shots from 3-point range for 37%. The Hilltoppers dominated the boards, outrebounding the Panthers by a whopping 51-30 margin.

Tevin Brewer scored 13 points and Radshad Davis added 11 for FIU.

The Panthers — who have lost 36 of 45 games all-time against the Hilltoppers — were 23-of-63 from the field for 37%, including 10-of-31 from distance (32%).

WKU 3-point shooting specialist Luke Frampton (undisclosed) missed his second consecutive game and senior swingman Josh Anderson (ankle) also was unavailable.

FIU and WKU go at again on Monday in Diddle Arena, with a noon tipoff scheduled.