JONESBORO, Ark.?Courtney Lee scored a game-high 22 points including 16 in the second half as the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky escaped Arkansas State with a 72-70 win in both team's Sun Belt Conference openers.
The Indians (5-10, 0-1) led by as many as 14 with 13:21 left in the second half and never trailed in the game until WKU's Ty Rogers connected on a pair of free throws with 3:51 left. Lorenzo Hampton, starting for the second straight game for the injured Brandon Ballard, hit a layup for two of his 12 points, but the momentum had clearly moved to the ?Topper's side of the court.
Up one with 11 seconds left Anthony Winchester was fouled by Marcus Ardison. Winchester missed the front end and connected on the second to make the score 70-68. ASU drove the length of the floor where Jim Jones found an open Marcus Ardison for a layup to knot the score at 70 with just 11 seconds left. That is when the inexplicable happened.
Ardison quickly turned around and fouled Benson Callier of WKU with the game tied. Callier hit the first and missed the second with six seconds left, giving ASU a chance when Kitus Witherspoon wrapped his hands around the rebound.
But Witherspoon, off-balance on the rebound attempt, lost the handle on the ball and watched is squirt out of bounds, going to the Hilltoppers. A quick foul of Lee by Dereke Tipler with two seconds remaining helped seal the win for WKU. Lee hit one of two free throw attempts and the ASU's Jones desperation heave from half court came up empty.
Lee and Winchester entered the game as the two top scorers in the Sun Belt Conference at 19.6 ppg. The Indians did a good job on Winchester, holding the senior all-SBC guard to just seven points and four rebounds, including 0-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. But Lee's big night, along with Callier's 17 off the bench, were too much for ASU. Ty Rogers chipped in 11 for WKU to round out the ?Toppers' players in double figures.
The Indians got great balanced scoring overall, with four player reaching double figures on the night and another two with nine points.
ASU extended pressure defense over most of the court on the ?Toppers and then clamped down on the outside shooters. WKU entered the game hitting 42 percent from the arc but managed just 30 percent on Thursday.
The game started when Isaac Wells was found floating in the lane and dunked the ball off a good feed from Jones to put ASU up two. The game would not be tied or ASU fall behind until late in the second half. ASU led, 32-26 at halftime.
A layup by Joemal Campbell brought the WKU squad to within three at 13-10 with 12:24 left in the first. The Indians responded with a 13-6 run over the next seven minutes to push the margin to 12 at 26-14. Jones scored seven points during that stretch to ignite the ASU offense.
Jones and Hampton paced ASU with 12 points while Wells and Ardison each added 11. Tipler and Witherspoon came off the bench to add nine each in the loss for the Indians.
ASU travels to Miami, Fla., next to face Florida International on Saturday, Jan. 7. That game starts a swing for four consecutive road games in a seven day stretch.
