Postgame: WKU 69 – ULM 51

Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Hey, guys, let’s do that more often. That was a fun 40 minutes.

It seems, if only temporarily, that the Hilltoppers have busted out of whatever slump they found themselves in versus Georgia State and UALR, because that was a great two halves of basketball. Okay, maybe not great, but by comparative standards, off the charts.

The Tops took the lead out of the gate, but in the middle of the first half, let it slip away, but unlike what we’ve seen within the past couple of weeks, they refused to give the lead up for good. So, with 6:21 to play in the first half, T.J. Price hit one of his 4 three-pointers in the first half to give WKU a 21-20 lead, and the Warhawks would never regain it.

The Hilltoppers (12-7, 4-2) were led by the aforementioned Price, who finished the evening with 26 points and 10 boards, and shot 60% from the floor (and, even better yet, went on to shoot 77% from beyond the arc). Outside of T.J., there wasn’t a whole lot to speak of. The next highest scorer was, you’ll never guess….

….give up? Caden Dickerson, as he finished with 9 points (going 4-5 from the field). In all, 8 Tops scored, making this one of the more complete and team-centered games they have played all year. And it certainly showed on the court.

ULM was lead by Tylor Ongwae, who posted 11 points and 6 boards (starting guard Nick Coppola also finished the evening with 6 rebounds), followed by Amos Olatayo, who finished with 10 points and 3 boards, but found himself in some injury trouble late in the game, making him unable to help spark a Warhawk comeback.

WKU beat ULM not just on the scoreboard, but in every team stat category as well, having a better shooting night (51% from the floor vs. 38.6%), grabbing more rebounds (35-25) and dishing out dimes (Tops finished with 14 assists, ‘Hawks with 10). The lone areas ULM had the advantage was forced turnovers (7-6) and the Warhawks, on paper at least, were the more disciplined team tonight, as they only committed 13 fouls compared to WKU’s 21, which explains why ULM attempted so many free throws.

We can go over the statsheet and scoreboard all night, but what this game really boils down to is two things:
1.) While watching the game, and go back and watch the ESPN3 replay, the team looked like they were having fun out on the court, something that has been lacking over the past couple of games.
and 2.) The re-emergence of T.J. Price, who time and time again proves to be the best and most important player to this Hilltopper squad.

So, the boys will get a day to travel, visit Duck Commander, and then take on the Ragin Cajuns in Lafayette, a game that’ll be broadcast on ESPN2 on Saturday.

Until then, stand up and cheers Bowling Green. Your Hilltoppers are victorious!