Box Score BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? The Arkansas-Little Rock junior Zack Wright scored a season-high 20 points on Thursday night, but it wasn't enough to lead the Trojans to a win, as Western Kentucky (11-4, 3-0 Sun Belt) prevailed 74-70 at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The Trojans (8-7, 1-2) trailed by 15 points, 25-10, with 12:09 to play in the first half, but battled back and took their first lead of the night, 63-62, with just 3:41 left in the game. But WKU's Courtney Lee, the Sun Belt's leading scorer, answered with a bucket on the ensuing possession, and then UALR missed its next four field goals en route to its second-straight loss.
Trailing 69-63, the Trojans showed signs of life as Lekheythan Malone delivered a basket which was followed by a steal by Wright and a breakaway layup by Elijah Muldrow to make it a two point game, 69-67, with 1:19 remaining. The Hilltoppers, however, came up with a crucial offensive rebound on the ensuing play, which led to a dunk by Elgrace Wilborn with 42 seconds on the clock. The Trojans then turned the ball over on their next two possessions to give Western the game.
Seventeen of Wright's 20 points came in the first half, helping the Trojans stave off a hot-shooting Hilltopper squad. WKU connected on 7-of-12 three-point attempts in the first half, compliments of Anthony Winchester (3-of-4), Ty Rogers (2-of-3) and Benson Callier (2-of-4). Winchester finished with a game-high 21 points on the night and moved into first place on the school's all-time list for made three pointers by going 4-of-6 from downtown.
Tied at 4-all early on, Winchester canned back-to-back treys to spark a 21-6 WKU run. Lee, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, capped off the run with a tip-in to put Western ahead 25-10 with 12:09 to go in the half.
Wright picked up the slack at that point and scored 10 of the Trojans' next 14 points to pull UALR within six, 30-24. The Trojans managed to close the half on a 6-0 spurt to cut their deficit to seven points, 39-32, at the break.
UALR slowly clawed its way back into the contest in the second half, but every time the Trojans made a move the Hilltoppers had an answer on the other end. After a jumper by freshman Buddy Harding pulled UALR within four, 45-41, WKU pushed its lead right back to nine points, 50-41, compliments of a Winchester three and two fouls shots by Boris Siakam.
A jumper by Muldrow at the 8:43 mark cut the Trojans deficit to three, 55-52, but Winchester followed with consecutive jumpers to extend Western's lead back to seven, 59-52.
Down six, 60-54, the Trojans rattled off a 9-2 run, with five points from Malone, to claim their first lead of the contest, 63-62. Jones-Jennings capped off the spurt by knocking down both of his foul shots to give UALR its first and only lead of the game.
WKU shot 53.3 percent in the first half and 50.0 percent for the game. The Trojans finished with a 47.2 shooting percentage and enjoyed their best performance of the year from the charity stripe by going 16-of-19 (84.2 percent).
The Hilltoppers outrebounded UALR 30-to-28 and held the Trojans to just nine offensive rebounds. Junior Rashad Jones-Jennings, the nation's leading rebounder entering the night at 12.1 per contest, matched his season low by grabbing just six boards.
Malone returned to the starting lineup against WKU and responded by scoring 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting. In addition to a season-high 20 points, Wright grabbed five boards and dished out a game-high six assists.
UALR returns to action Saturday when it takes on Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tenn. at 7 p.m.
