Western Kentucky a win away from NCAA Tournament after edging UAB
Freshman point guard Dayvion McKnight hit a pair of clutch free throws with 34 seconds to go and Western Kentucky held on to defeat UAB 64-60 in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon in Frisco, Texas.
Western Kentucky big man Charles Bassey, who had been questionable to play in the game because of a back injury, didn’t score in the game’s first 10 minutes. But he responded with nine points before halftime and finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. He was 2-for-4 from three-point range.
“It’s all mental,” Bassey said afterward of playing despite the injury. “I was, like, man, I got to go get this win. …
“We’re going to come in tomorrow and be ready. We want to win, we want to play in March Madness. The team we’re going to play tomorrow, they’re going to want to win, too. It’s going to be a dog fight so we’ve just got to come in tomorrow ready and get the win.”
WKU (20-6) will face the North Texas in the C-USA championship game at 9 p.m. ET Saturday. The Mean Green (16-9) defeated Louisiana Tech 54-48 in Friday’s other semifinal matchup.
The Hilltoppers haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since the 2013 season when they were still part of the Sun Belt Conference. As a No. 16 seed that year, they lost to top-seeded Kansas 64-57 in the first round.
McKnight, the 2020 Kentucky Mr. Basketball winner from Collins High School, ended up with 13 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals against the Blazers (22-7).
“It’s huge,” McKnight said. “Coming in my freshman year and being able to be on this stage and be in the conference championship tomorrow is a big thing. It’s huge for me.”
Taveion Hollingsworth, the 2017 Mr. Basketball winner from Paul Laurence Dunbar, added seven points, six rebounds and two assists.
“Just a hard-fought game, could go either way,” WKU Coach Rick Stansbury said. “But our guys jumped up, made plays when they had to. And I thought defensively we were pretty good. Bassey around that rim blocked a couple of shots.”
WKU went 10-for-20 from three-point range. They came in averaging 8.6 made threes per game but hadn’t reached double digits since Feb. 13 against Rice when they made 14 of 28 attempts.
“They decided today to zone us,” Stansbury said. “We had some guys step up, make some shots.”
Tavin Lovan, the son of former Hilltoppers star Tony Lovan, scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds for UAB. The junior guard, who starred in high school at Franklin-Simpson, also reached the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career during Friday’s game. Tony Lovan averaged 14.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in two seasons at WKU from 1995 to 1997.
▪ The Hilltoppers reached the 20-win mark for the 47th time in program history. That ranks seventh in NCAA men’s basketball history, according to WKU.
▪ According to the Associated Press, the Hilltoppers are 16-0 when holding opponents to 42.6 percent or worse from the field, and 4-6 when opponents shoot better than that. UAB shot 39.0 percent Friday.
The Blazers are now 19-1 when they hold opponents to 64 points or fewer and 3-6 whenever opponents exceed 64 points.
▪ The Hilltoppers reached the semifinals by defeating UTSA (15-11) 80-67 in the quarterfinals on Thursday night.
Bassey led the way in that one, too, with 21 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Carson Williams, Kentucky’s 2016 Mr. Basketball winner from Owen County, added 15 points and nine rebounds and the Hilltoppers dominated the paint.
Saturday
Western Kentucky vs. North Texas
What: Conference USA Tournament championship game in Frisco, Texas
When: 9 p.m. ET
TV: CBS Sports Network
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 2:19 PM.
