Photo - Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers held Florida Atlantic to 29.6 shooting in the second half Thursday and used a 14-5 run to end the game to pull out a 75-63 win at Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers (17-7, 9-2 Conference USA) trailed by four in the second half and led just 61-58 with 5:02 remaining, but they scored 10 of the next 11 points – capped by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Taveion Hollingsworth to make it 71-59 with 1:22 left.
Hollingsworth, playing his first game in a mask after suffering a broken nose last week at UTSA, scored a team-high 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting.
Senior forward Dwight Coleby added 15 points and eight rebounds, and senior forward Justin Johnson had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Florida Atlantic (10-14, 4-8) shot 53.6 percent in the first half and trailed by just one at the break, but the Owls struggled offensively in the second half. Their largest lead came with 15:32 left at 44-40 on a jumper by Ronald Delph.
Guard Gerdarius Troutman led FAU with 21 points off the bench.
WKU shot 47.3 percent from the field and netted 19 of 25 free throws, outscoring the Owls 44-16 in the paint. The Hilltoppers had just six turnovers and outscored FAU 19-6 in points off turnovers.
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)
