FINAL SCORE: Evansville 52, Western Kentucky 47

RECORDS:
WKU “Hilltoppers” — 0-2 overall
Evansville “Aces” — 2-0 overall

PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS:

First Half — WKU scored first two baskets of game when Lee Lampley hits
consecutive baseline jumpers at 19:07 and 18:31 ... Hilltoppers extend lead to
11-3 over next 9½ minutes with a putbacks from Nashon McPherson (16:03) and
David Boyden (9:04) sandwiched around a Derek Robinson 12-foot jumper in the
lane at 13:49 ... Evansville misses first 13 field-goal attempts, but stays
close making 5 of 6 from the free-throw line ... Craig Snow ends UE drought
with three-pointer from the right wing making score 11-8 with 8:21 remaining
... Aces close to within a point on two Adam Seitz free throws 13 second
later, but WKU answers with a pair of layups from Robinson and Filip Videnov
and a Nashon McPherson free throw in the next minute ... Jimmy Boykin builds
Western lead to 18-13 with 6:04 left on 18-foot jumper from the wing ... UE
ends half with 12-2 run over the final 5:08 ... Game tied twice (18-18 at 4:40
and 20-20 at 3:13) before Aces take first lead on Seitz free throw with 2:29
left — he missed both, but got another attempt when Videnov was called for
lane violation ... Snow hits three from right wing and Jeremy Stanton makes 1
of 2 from the line in final two minutes to give Aces largest lead of half.

Second Half — UE opens half with 6-2 spurt to take biggest lead of game
(32-23) at 17:18 mark ... Videnov hits three straight shots, including
three-pointer from right wing, to pull Toppers within two at 32-30 with 14:11
left ... After trading threes from Snow (UE) and McPherson (WKU), Lampley ties
the score (35-35) at 10:44 with layup ... Clint Keown gives Aces the lead for
good with three from right wing at 10:13 ... Western goes 5:44 without a field
goal until Robinson makes 15-foot pullup jumper to draw Hilltoppers to within
42-40 at 4:53 — Toppers make 3 of 7 free throws during that stretch ... Koewn
makes a pair of free throws at 4:07, but Lampley hits trey at other end of
floor to pull WKU within one with 3:44 left ... With time running out on shot
clock, Snow answers for UE with 22-foot three pointer in front of Aces’ bench
at 3:08 ... Stanton follows with layup on next possession to push advantage to
six points with 2:44 left ... Lampley makes 12-foot pull-up jumper at 2:24 to
make score 49-45 ... Videnov lay in after Western steal draws Toppers to
within two with 31.3 seconds remaining ... Aces make 3 of 4 free throws in
final 22.6 seconds to seal win.

COACHES' QUOTES:

WKU Head Coach Dennis Felton — “I thought it was a slugfest. Many times
during the game, each team looked like it was too weary to go on. ... We
defended well. I’m pleased from the standpoint that we showed great
improvement from our last game. I told the guys at halftime that this game
would come down to one possession, and it did. ... I don’t expect this team to
have great chemistry right away. We went toe-to-toe with an excellent team
that I have a lot of respect for. ... We’ve got to defend more like the way we
did tonight.”

Evansville Head Coach Jim Crews — “Every bucket was like a holiday tonight.
... Both teams played great defense, Western however, played better defense
because they made our shots difficult. ... Tonight’s game could have gone
either way because both teams played their hearts out. ... The score indicated
a slow pace, but in all reality it was not that at all.”

NOTES — 47 points are the fewest by a Western team at Diddle Arena — previous
low of 49 against Virginia Commonwealth on Jan. 21, 1984, and Arkansas State
on Jan. 24 last season ... Hilltoppers lose home opener for the second
consecutive season ... Evansville’s second consecutive win in the series (WKU
leads 35-17 overall) and first in Bowling Green since a 78-61 victory over
Western on Dec. 8, 1976 ... Second consecutive loss for the Toppers to a
Missouri Valley team — Southern Illinois defeated WKU 82-67 in its
season-opener on Saturday ... Chris Marcus collects double-figure rebounds for
the second consecutive game (he had 12 at SIU).

NEXT GAME – The Hilltoppers take on St. Joseph’s at noon CST Saturday in
Philadelphia, Pa. ... Evansville will play Northwestern Friday at 1:40 p.m. in
the first round of the Hoop & Quill Classic in St. Charles, Mo.