UA19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives Spring 2020 UA19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases WKU Athletic Media Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, and the Sports Studies Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WKU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS / MEDIA RELATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / January 1, 2019 Men’s Basketball / Contact: Zach Greenwell, WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations WKU Game Notes — https://goto.ps/2tn5HAk North Texas Game Notes — https://goto.ps/2FdNA2F Preview Video: Coach Stansbury | Camron Justice | Jordan Rawls HILLTOPPERS BEGIN 2020, C-USA PLAY AT HOME AGAINST NORTH TEXAS BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball opens Conference USA action at home Thursday against North Texas at 6 p.m. CT at E.A. Diddle Arena. The game will air on ESPNU. WKU finished non-conference play with two straight losses to Rhode Island and Belmont following the season-ending injury to Charles Bassey. North Texas has won two in a row entering C-USA play and has a top-40 strength of schedule. WKU is 22-5 all-time against the Mean Green and has won 10 straight in the series. Hilltopper head coach Rick Stansbury is 5-0 in his career against North Texas. GAME 13 North Texas (6-7, 0-0 C-USA) at WKU (7-5, 0-0 C-USA) January 2, 2019 | 6 p.m. CT E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky. BROADCAST Listen: Hilltopper Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), CUSA.tv Audio (free), TuneIn Radio (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis) Watch: ESPNU (Pat O’Keefe, pxp | King McClure, analysis) Live Stats: WKU Stats TOP STORYLINES • The Hilltoppers have won 10 of their last 12 conference openers, including three straight. • 2020 marks the 12th different decade the Hilltoppers have competed in. WKU is 8-3 all-time in its first game of a new decade. The Hilltoppers opened the last decade with a 55-52 win over Mississippi State on Jan. 4, 2010, beating a Bulldog squad led by current WKU head coach Rick Stansbury. • Since the injury to Charles Bassey, redshirt junior forward Carson Williams has led WKU in scoring and rebounding in each of the last two games. He’s averaging 19 points and 10.5 rebounds over the last two contests. • Junior guard Josh Anderson has entered the starting lineup with Bassey out. After reaching double figures in two of the first nine games of the year, Anderson has scored at least 10 points in three straight contests. • As of Tuesday, WKU ranked 36th in the country in field-goal percentage (47.8), 19th in free- throw percentage (77.4), 13th in fouls per game (14.1), 50th in scoring offense (78.8 ppg) and 43rd in blocks per game (4.8). • WKU has made 25 more free throws (195) than its opponents have even attempted (170) through 12 games. TICKETS WKU Ticket Office: Single-game tickets for the North Texas game remain available in person at the WKU Ticket Office, by phone at 1-800-5-BIGRED or online at WKUTickets.com. PROMOTIONS • Big Red Rascal’s Day • American Bank and Trust putt from 3pt line to win $1,000 cash • Wendy's Freeze Out Promo - If an opposing player misses two free throws in a row, every fan in the arena gets a free Wendy's Frosty • Smart Start Post Game Shootaround on court for all kids • Taco Bell Challenge – When WKU scores 70 points or more, all fans can redeem a free taco at Taco Bell LAST GAME AGAINST NORTH TEXAS: MARCH 14, 2019 WKU locked up North Texas defensively, opening Conference USA Championship play with a 67- 51 victory in the quarterfinals at Ford Center at The Star. The Hilltoppers held North Texas to just 16 points in the first half and limited the Mean Green to 30 percent shooting overall, and 18.5 percent from the 3-point line. Sophomore guard Taveion Hollingsworth paced WKU with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Sophomore guard Josh Anderson added 13 points and seven rebounds. Freshman center Charles Bassey tallied nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while redshirt senior guard Lamonte Bearden dished out eight assists. WKU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS / MEDIA RELATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / January 2, 2020 Men’s Basketball / Contact: Zach Greenwell, WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations Box score and postgame notes are attached. Video: WKU head coach Rick Stansbury — https://youtu.be/3TJ80xmd55o Video: Hilltopper guards Camron Justice and Jordan Rawls — https://youtu.be/OSZ_FNqHH6g SECOND-HALF OUTBURST POWERS HILLTOPPERS TO 93-84 VICTORY OVER NORTH TEXAS BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball fell behind by 15 in the second half Thursday night, but caught fire from deep and scored 61 after the break to power past North Texas 93-84 in the Conference USA opener at E.A. Diddle Arena. WKU (8-5, 1-0 C-USA) trailed 49-34 with 18:18 left, but rattled off 16 straight points – the start of a 35-8 run that saw the Hilltoppers go from 15 down to up 69-57 in a span of just eight minutes. WKU shot 54.9 percent from the field, including 69.2 percent in the second half, and made 9 of 13 3-pointers after the break. At one point in the second half, the Hilltoppers made nine straight shots. “Our guys found a way,” WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “We got down and never really got enough stops in that first half to take advantage of making some adjustments defensively. But I thought in the second half, I thought once we really started getting stops – when you make shots, the world goes round. … I think they were giving up 61 points for the game this season, and we score 61 in the second half.” The offensive outburst, coupled with WKU’s defensive pressure in a new 1-2-2 press, led to some eye-popping statistics. Five Hilltoppers reached double figures, led by junior guard Josh Anderson’s 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. Graduate senior guard Camron Justice and freshman guard Jordan Rawls each scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers, while Justice added seven rebounds. Redshirt senior guard/forward Jared Savage scored 15 points and also made three 3s, and redshirt junior forward Carson Williams tallied 14 points and four assists. “I think it increases our confidence overall,” Justice said. “I think we were just kind of dry, and it was good to get us going, motivate us a little bit. We just had to rally around each other.” North Texas (6-8, 0-1) used a 16-2 run in the first half to build a double-digit lead, and the Mean Green took a 42-32 advantage into halftime. WKU scored the first basket of the second half, but North Texas scored the next seven to open its largest lead at 49-34 with 18:18 left. The Tops punched back with a 16-0 burst in just three minutes, capped by a Rawls 3-pointer that made it 50-49 WKU with 15:12 remaining. The 3-point shooting barrage continued from there, and Anderson brought the house down with a transition dunk at the 8:39 mark that made it 73-61. The Hilltoppers led by as much as 14 with 5:57 remaining. “We worked on it a lot in practice,” Rawls said of the improved ball movement. “We told each other that we probably weren’t going to win games playing the way we did against Belmont (a 79-62 loss Saturday), so we took it upon ourselves to make sure we moved the ball today.” WKU finished the game with 17 assists and just five turnovers, including 10 assists and zero turnovers in the second half. The Hilltoppers outscored North Texas 21-4 on fast breaks and 21-10 in points off turnovers. WKU is now 23-5 all-time against the Mean Green and has won 11 straight in the series. It also improved to 11-2 in its last 13 conference openers. Javion Hamlet paced North Texas with 19 points and eight assists. The Hilltoppers stay at home to host Rice at 4 p.m. CT Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena. The game will stream online on ESPN3, as well as air locally in Bowling Green on WKU PBS. Official Basketball Box Score - End of 2nd Period Game Time: 6:00 PM North Texas at Western Ky. Game Duration: 2:04 Attendance: 3,716 01/02/20 E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green 2019-20 Men's Basketball Officials: James Breeding, Tyler Kumpf, John St. Clair North Texas - 84 FG 3P FT Rebounds Fouls Blocks Shooting By Period TP AS TO ST +/- NO. Name Min M-A M-A M-A OR DR TOT PF FD BS BA 1st FG% 17-28 60.7% 23 Deng Geu F 21:43 8-9 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 4 2 18 0 2 1 1 0 -4 3PT% 3-9 33.3% 24 Zachary Simmons F 11:21 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 FT% 5-5 100% 0 James Reese G 29:58 5-10 3-8 0-0 0 5 5 3 1 13 3 0 1 0 0 -6 2nd FG% 15-27 55.6% 1 Umoja Gibson G 32:50 3-7 1-4 2-2 0 3 3 2 1 9 5 5 0 0 0 -8 3PT% 7-15 46.7% 3 Javion Hamlet G 35:46 7-13 1-2 4-4 1 2 3 1 4 19 8 2 0 0 4 -11 FT% 5-5 100% 13 Thomas Bell 33:01 3-7 2-5 2-2 0 5 5 2 1 10 3 2 0 2 1 -6 GM FG% 32-55 58.2% 55 DJ Draper 22:28 3-5 3-5 0-0 0 3 3 3 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 -7 3PT% 10-24 41.7% FT% 10-10 100.0% 4 Jalen Jackson 01:30 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 10 Jahmiah Simmons 11:23 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 -4 Dead Ball Rebounds: 0, 0 Team 2 2 4 0 1 Totals 32-55 10-24 10-10 4 25 29 24 14 84 21 13 2 3 5 -9 Technical Fouls: NONE Western Ky.