FINAL SCORE: South Alabama 63, Western Kentucky 50

RECORDS:
Western Kentucky "Hilltoppers" — 6-14 Overall / 4-5 Sun BeltConference
South Alabama "Jaguars" — 13-9 Overall / 8-3 Sun Belt Conference

PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS:
First Half — four ties and four changes of lead in first 12 minutes ......
WKU took it's first lead (12-9) on a three by Tremain Rowles at 10:57 and then
led 14-13 on the driving bucket by Derek Robinson at 8:37 ...... but, USA
bounced right back to go up 16-14 when John Hotz hit the first of his 3 first
half three-pointers at 8:24 ..... after Filip Videnov's jumper on the right
side tied it at 16-16 with 8:02 to go, Hotz answered with his second 3 at
7:37, setting off a 15-4 South Alabama run that put the Jags up 31-20 on Hotz'
third 3 at 2:08 ...... WKU then got a bucket inside and a pair of FTs from
Chris Marcus in the final 49 seconds of the half to pull within 7 (31-24) at
the intermission ..... Hotz led all scorers at the half with 11 (injured early
in the year, he had scored on 3 points in 4 games before tonight) ..... Marcus
led WKU with 6 and was the game's top rebounder with 8 (along with 4 blocks
and 3 steals) ...... WKU shot 52.9% in the half, but victimized by turnovers
(15 to USA's 8).

Second Half — WKU drew first blood in the period, closing the gap to 31-26
on a pair of Marcus FTs at 19:42 ..... USA then went on a 17-4 run (the last
10 in a 10-0 run), pushing out to a 48-30 lead (7 by 6-10 center Virgil
Stanescu) on a pair of Ericson Beck FTs at 12:25 (USA's big lead of the game)
..... a Derek Robinson FT broke the ice for WKU at 11:36, igniting a 12-2 run
that pulled Western within 8 (50-42) when Tremain Rowles connested on a
3-pointer at 7:42 ...... WKU got as close as 7 (57-50) — on a pair of Filip
Videnov FTs at 3:45 ..... but back-to-back buckets by Stanescu (at 1:51 and
again at 1:10) pushed the Jags back up by 11 (61-50) and Western never again
got on the board.

COACHES' QUOTES:
WKU Head Coach Dennis Felton — "We just had too many turnovers ...... (about
effort after being down by 18) We just told our guys they were going to have
to battle and fight to get back into the game and I was proud of the kind of
effort they put out then. But, it wasn't enough. South Alabama played a good
basketball game, was the best team on the court tonight and deserved to win
this one."

NEXT GAME — The Hilltoppers host Sun Belt rival Florida International in
E.A. Diddle Arena Saturday (Feb. 12) at 7 pm (CST) ..... The Jaguars host SBC
foe New Orleans Saturday (Feb. 12; 7:05 pm CST).

NOTES — second meeting of the year between WKU and USA — WKU won 92-88 in
double overtime in Bowling Green on Jan. 22 ..... Chris Marcus (12 pts, 13
rebs) recorded his 8th double-double of the year and his 5th in a row; also
his 14th double-figure scoring game and his 10th double-figure game on the
boards; also had a career-high 3 steals and improved his blocked shots total
to 51 (with 4) ..... freshman Filip Videnov was 4-4 at the FT line, extending
his string of successful FTs to 22 ..... WKU struggling with turnovers (29 in
last game, a 62-60 OT win at New Orleans; and, 24 tonight, equalling 2nd
highest total of the season) ..... USA came into game hitting 64.9% at FT line
and canned 14-17 (82.4%) ..... Marcus accounted for more than half (13) of
WKU's 24 total rebounds ..... WKU had outrebounded 8 straight opponents before
being outdone on the boards tonight (28-24).