Hollingsworth keys WKU comeback

Mar. 2—BOWLING GREEN — After sleepwalking through most of the first half, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers finally woke up on Monday afternoon.

Taveion Hollingsworth scored 12 points — including 10 in succession — in a vicious 21-2 second-half run to drive WKU past Florida International 71-59 in a Conference USA basketball game at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers are now 17-5 overall, 10-2 in conference play, and have won eight consecutive C-USA games.

"Taveion got on a roll for us there in the second half, and we needed it," WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "He got that midrange game of his going and when he does that, he can be very effective.

"He has a great ability to put the ball in the basket when we need it, and we needed that in this one."

The Panthers led by five points at intermission and still led by two with just under 16 minutes to play, when Hollingsworth went wild — converting a conventional three-play play, hitting a pair of midrange jumpers, and making a 3-pointer to put the Tops ahead for good.

All-American candidate Charles Bassey hit four consecutive free throws to cap the big run, which left Western with a 62-45 advantage at 8:48.

The Panthers (9-17, 2-15 C-USA) never recovered and drew no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

FIU took the fight to the Hilltoppers in the latter stages of the first half.

Sloppy and lethargic, Western turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes and the Panthers got hot from 3-point range.

WKU led 20-11 after a 3-pointer by Jordan Rawls at 10:16, but fired-up FIU made four 3-pointers in the final 7:35 and outscored the Tops 22-8 down the stretch to claim a 33-28 halftime lead.

The Hilltoppers did not get to the foul line in the first half.

"Playing the same team back to back is tough, but it is what it is," said Stansbury, whose team routed FIU 91-58 on Sunday afternoon. "FIU came out early and played with a lot of emotion, hit six 3s in the first half, and scored 11 points off 10 turnovers for us.

"Give our kids credit because we were able to turn things around after halftime. We still had too many loose turnovers, but we limited them to three second-half 3s, and that was a big difference."

For the game, Bassey led WKU with 22 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, Hollingsworth had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Rawls added 14 points, going 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Dayvion McKnight dished five assists.

The Hilltoppers shot 52% from the floor, including 31% from distance, and made 8-of-10 free throws. WKU outrebounded the Panthers, 43-28.

FIU, which was limited to 36% shooting, including 27% from 3-point land, got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Radshad Davis.

The Hilltoppers played without the services of guard Luke Frampton (undisclosed) and swingman Josh Anderson (ankle).

WKU returns to the hardwood for a 7 p.m. game on Friday against visiting Old Dominion, coached by former Apollo High School star Jeff Jones.