BOWLING GREEN — LJ Hackman turned things around for Western Kentucky on Sunday afternoon.
The 6-foot-3 junior guard scored seven points in the final 2 minutes, 51 seconds to help the Hilltoppers beat Louisiana Tech 66-61 in Conference USA basketball action at EA Diddle Arena.
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WKU improved to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Bulldogs fell to 8-6 and 1-2 in league play.
“At the end of the day I’m really proud of our team,” West coach Hank Ploner said. “We led for 39 minutes and then they took the lead with a minute left – that’s a tough thing to overcome mentally. We responded right after that on both ends of the court, which is a great thing for our basketball team.
“L.J. is a very successful player, he hit shots late in the game and played great defense. He had four fouls, but we had to get him back on the floor with about nine minutes left in the game and he made a huge contribution for us.”
The Hilltoppers led 37-25 at halftime and extended their advantage to 15 points in the first three minutes of the second half, but the Louisiana Tech battle was just beginning.
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The Bulldogs scored eight of the next 11 points and made it 45-37 on Will Allen’s follow-up shot with just over 15 minutes left.
WKU center Noah Boyde scored inland at 13:39, but that would be the Hilltoppers’ final field goal over the next 9:44, allowing Louisiana Tech to methodically close the gap.
Hackman’s two free throws gave West a 51-46 lead with 7:06 left, but the Bulldogs scored seven of the next nine points and tied the game at 53 on a Kaden Cooper dunk at 4:20.
Hackman’s corner 3-pointer tied the game at 55 with 2:51 left, but Louisiana Tech scored six of the next eight points and took its first and only lead at 61-60 on Melian Martinez’s short jumper in the paint with a minute left.
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The Bulldogs never scored again.
Ryan Myers hit two free throws to give the Hilltoppers the lead back with 0:53 left, and Hackman nailed four free throws in the final 26.4 seconds to seal the win.
WKU controlled the offense in the first half, shooting 46% from the field and 9-for-18 from three-point range, but it was a completely different story in the final 20 minutes, as Tech limited the Hilltoppers to 3-for-18 from beyond the arc and began to dominate the glass.
“They’re a very good defensive team and they shut us down in the second half,” WKU forward Grant Newell said. “We had shots in the first half, but after that, those shots that I thought looked good for us, they just didn’t fall.
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“Credit to them for fighting back but we made a big difference at the end of the game – we did what we needed to do to win the game and that’s the bottom line.”
The leader of the Western team was Teagan Moore, who scored 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Myers scored 13 points and Newell scored 12 points. The 7-foot Boyd excelled in the paint, grabbing eight rebounds.
“Noah is doing that for us — he played a critical role in our defense down the stretch,” Plona said. “He hustled, he fought, and he kept playing.”
WKU was limited to 32 percent shooting in this game, shooting just 7 of 31 (23 percent) in the second half — and 3 of 18 (17 percent) from long range. But the Hilltoppers made 12 of 14 (86%) from the free throw line in the second half and finished 20 of 25 (80%).
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Louisiana Tech’s leading scorers were AJ Bates (13 points), Martinez (12 points), Scooter Williams (10 points) and Cooper, who grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Bulldogs shot 38 percent from the field but were just 4-for-20 (20 percent) from long range. The visitors rallied and won the rebounding battle (45-40), but their performance was marred by a 9-for-19 foul streak (47 percent).
The Hilltoppers are currently preparing for two CUSA road games at New Mexico State (Thursday) and UTEP (Saturday) before returning to Deidre for a league game against Missouri State on January 14.
