National Basketball Association
Western Kentucky 83, Wisconsin 76
When: 5:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 29, 2018
Where: E. A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Officials:
# Joe DeRosa, # Bill Jacobson, # Ty Meixsell
Attendance:
7614
By Field Level Media
Taveion Hollingsworth scored a team-high 22 points and Charles Bassey shot 7-for-8 from the field to finish with 19 points to lead host Western Kentucky to an 83-76 upset over No. 15 Wisconsin in Bowling Green, Ken.
The Hilltoppers (7-6) shot 55.2 percent from the field and outscored the Badgers (10-3) 53-42 in the second half to pull off the shocker.
Jared Savage contributed 16 points and sophomore guard Josh Anderson added 15 points. Freshman guard Dalano Banton had a huge effort with eight points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the Hilltoppers.
Brad Davison led the Badgers with 26 points, but All-American candidate Ethan Happ shot 9-for-23 to finish with 20 points and 12 boards.
The back-and-forth second half featured numerous momentum swings.
Hollingsworth hit a jumper and Savage scored on a layup to tie the score at 38-38 with 17:52. Banton canned a 3-pointer to give the Hilltoppers a 41-38 edge, while Anderson's dunk extended the lead to 43-38. Four-plus minutes later, Happ and Davison each scored on a layup to tie the score at 52-52.
But Banton and Hollingsworth followed by each drilling a 3-pointer to give the Hilltoppers a 63-55 lead with 9:16 left.
Davison countered with two baskets in a 25-second span to slice the deficit to 63-59. Bassey and Hollingsworth hit jumpers to push the lead to 69-59 at the 5:51 mark. Davison sparked a 6-0 run with four points but then Hollingsworth drilled two straight jumpers to increase WKU's lead back to 73-65.
The Hilltoppers, No. 148 in the NET ranking, set the stage for a possible upset with a strong first half, managing to keep the game close despite trailing 34-30 at the break.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Wisconsin |
|
Western Kentucky |
Brad Davison 26 |
Scoring |
Taveion Hollingsworth 22 |
Ethan Happ 3 |
Assists |
Dalano Banton 10 |
Ethan Happ 12 |
Rebounds |
Dalano Banton 13 |
Brad Davison 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Charles Bassey 5 |
Brad Davison 4 |
Steals |
Josh Anderson 2 |
Nate Reuvers 1 |
Blocks |
Charles Bassey 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Wisconsin
|
76 |
45.6 |
6-21 |
8-11 |
9 |
29 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
Western Kentucky
|
83 |
55.2 |
6-15 |
13-16 |
19 |
34 |
7 |
5 |
13 |