FINAL SCORE:
Western Kentucky 75, Virginia Commonwealth 58

RECORDS:
Western Kentucky “Hilltoppers” — 2-5 overall
Virginia Commonwealth "Rams" — 3-4 overall

PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS:

First Half — Teams trade lead seven times in first 10 minutes until Hilltoppers take the lead for good ... Chris Marcus of Western opens scoring at 19:07 ... VCU’s LaMar Taylor hits three 16 seconds for first Ram lead ... WKU stretches lead to 7-3 at 16:54 on three from Derek Robinson and David Boyden jumper ... Rams score next five points to take 8-7 lead with 15:13 left ... Western regains lead with two Lee Lampley free throws at 14:17 ... Reggie Okosa give Rams 10-9 lead at 13:26 with jumper ... Toppers score next five points and lead 14-10 with 11:18 remaining ... Scott Lilly hits three-pointer and jumper (at 9:58) to give VCU last lead at 15-14 ... WKU then goes on 10-1 run over the next 5:50 to extend to 24-16 advantage ... Boyden hits back-to-back jumpers during the run ... Patrick Kodjoe makes layup for VCU at 2:56 to make score 26-20 and end Ram drought of 7:02 without a field goal ... Tremain Rowles answers with a three giving Western its long lead of the half at nine points with 2:38 remaining (29-20)... A layup by Josh Graham with 2:17 to play and a three by Taylor at the 1:57 mark cut the lead to four (29-25) ... Two free throws by Rowles with 42 seconds gives Western a 31-25 advantage, but a tip-in by Shawn Hampton with 26 seconds remaining ended the scoring with Western holding a four point advantage 31-27...Taylor led all scorers at the half with eight points .... Marcus, Boyden and Brian Allenspach led Western with six each, Marcus also added eight rebounds and two blocks.

Second Half — Toppers explode out of break with 15-2 run over opening 7:39 ... VCU goes scoreless for first 6:36, missing first 12 field-goal attempts ... Boyden opens the half with jumper, then Lee Lampley hits jumper and a three in first three-plus minutes ... Allenspach adds two free throws to make score 40-27 at first media timeout (15:39) ... Lampley and Allenspach come out of timeout with back to back baskets before Bo Jones ends scoring run with layup at 13:24 (score is 44-29 at that point) ... Lampley hits pair of free throws at 12:21 to make it 46-29, then Rams answer with four straight points ... Toppers go on 7-0 spurt to build 20-point advantage with 9:38 left (53-33) ... Boyden jumper makes it 57-36 at 8:51 ... VCU scores next nine points to pull within 12 (57-45) with 6:35 remaining ... Jones closes spurt with pair of free throws and a three-pointer ... Teams trade baskets with VCU’s Hampton making layup at 5:49 — they’ll get no closer the rest of the way ... Western answers with 10-2 run over 1:45 to make score 71-49 with 3:56 left ... Filip Videnov starts spurt with layup (5:41) and ends it with jumper ... Lampley hits layup and three during run ... Lampley (2:26) and Videnov (1:50) make final Western baskets ... Taylor hits six straight free throws down the stretch for VCU ... Kodjoe scores final points of game with jumper at 0:35 ... Lampley scores 22 of game-high 24 points in second half.

QUOTES:
WKU Head Coach Dennis Felton — “I’m pleased that we put together another solid effort against a formidable opponent. ... VCU has many weapons. We had to put forth a good defensive effort. ... It’s good to go into final exams with this win.”

VCU Head Coach Mack McCarthy — “This is the peril of the schedule. ... Our problem is not a matter of personnel, combinations or strategy. Our confidence is just shaky. ... All 10 guys on our squad have been given a good look. ... I felt like we took good shots. I can’t tell whether we are playing against good defensive teams because we have shot so poorly. I do feel they are very sound defensively..”

NOTES — First time this season that Western has four players in double figures — Allenspach and Boyden each collect career highs in points ... Allenspach also has career-high rebounding total ... Marcus has third double-double in seven contests ... Videnov’s rebounds and assists are career highs ... Highest WKU free-throw percentage of the season ... Western evens the all-time series at 14-14 and improves to 10-4 in games in Bowling Green against the Rams ... First Hilltopper victory in series since 84-78 win at home on Dec. 19, 1992 ... Loss is Rams’ fourth straight (and third in a row on the road) since opening season with three consecutive victories ... Halftime highlight — WKU’s John Oldham becomes first Western player to have jersey retired.

NEXT GAME — The Hilltoppers take a week off for final exams before travelling to Nashville to face Vanderbilt Saturday at 7 p.m. CST ... VCU plays host to Radford Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST.