WKU honors Smith with hard-fought win

“We won a tough game against a tough team by playing very tough ourselves, and that’s how Dwight played the game here,” Western head coach Rick Stansbury said. “Winning it the way we did made it a very special day in here.

“We knew we would have to win the rebounding war and the free throw war to win this game, and we won both of those stats — and, once again, we got contributions from a lot of players. We had the stronger will over the last 20 minutes.”

The Toppers (13-11, 5-8 Conference USA) trailed by 10 points on two occasions in the first half and were on the short end of a 37-33 score at intermission, but the second half was all Western.

Allen, Jairus Hamilton and Emmanuel Akot keyed a sizzling 16-3 spurt early in the second half — a Hamilton dunk pushing WKU in front 51-42 at the 12:27 mark.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Allen provided Western its biggest lead of the game — 61-48 at 7:42 — but UTEP refused to fold.

Led by Shamar Givance and Tae Hardy, the Miners were able to pull within 72-59 on a deep 3 by Hardy with 20 seconds remaining, but two free throws by Dayvion McKnight at 0:16 sealed the deal.

The Miners were in control throughout the first half, shooting 50% from the floor, including 6-of-10 accuracy from beyond the arc.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Givance and a dunk by Jamari Sibley pushed UTEP in front 16-6 at 12:57, forcing a WKU timeout.

The Miners were still in front when Zerik Onyemi put UTEP on top 34-26 just under the two-minute mark, but Allen scored seven consecutive points on a fastbreak layup, a 3-pointer and two free throws to draw Western within a point at 0:10.

But a conventional three-point play by Otis Frazier with 2.8 seconds remaining provided UTEP with a four-point halftime advantage.

Allen went 5-of-8 from distance, adding seven rebounds. The Hilltoppers also got big games from McKnight (14 points, four assists), Akot (13 points), and 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp (game-highs of 11 rebounds and six blocks).

“We’ve stayed locked in, we’ve stayed positive, and we’re playing better basketball now,” said Allen, a Kentucky transfer who scored 22 points in Thursday’s home conquest of UTSA. “We’re playing with a little momentum now and this is something we’ve been working hard to establish.”

Stansbury was impressed with Allen’s overall game for the second straight outing.

“He shot it well, that’s what Dontaie does, but he’s also rebounding that basketball and playing well at the defensive end,” Stansbury said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now and we want to see this continue.”

WKU shot 45% for the game, including 7-of-20 accuracy from distance (35%). The Toppers outrebounded UTEP by a 39-35 margin, and also drained 19-of-25 foul shots (76%).

Givance scored 18 points to pace UTEP, which also got 17 points from Frazier and 15 points from Hardy.

For the game, the Miners (11-12, 4-8) shot 41%, making 9-of-24 shots from beyond the arc (38%). UTEP managed to make only 12-of-20 free throws (60%).

Western, which wore specially-made shirts bearing Smith’s No. 35 in pregame warm-ups, return to Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. on Thursday for a battle with ‘Hundred Miles of Hate’ rival Middle Tennessee.