WKU men's basketball fell on the road at Louisiana Tech, 77-67, on Thursday night in Thomas Assembly Center. With the loss, the Hilltoppers drop to 11-8 overall with a 2-4 record in Conference USA play.

Don McHenry led all scorers with 21 points along with a team-high four assists, three rebounds and a steal. Tyrone Marshall Jr. followed with 13 points off 5-for-11 shooting from the field while posting a tie with teammate Leeroy Odiahi for a game high in rebounds with eight total. Jalen Jackson tied a career-best for steals with a total of six, and Enoch Kalambay rounded out the Tops score in double figures with 10 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless period of 2:37 to open the game, McHenry connected from range to give WKU the first points of the game and a 3-0 lead. The Tops jumped out to a six-point lead five minutes in after a three by Kalambay followed by a made pair at the stripe by McHenry gave WKU an 8-2 lead with 14:37 to play in the first. The Bulldogs battled back, bringing the count to 8-7 before a made jumper in the paint by Blaise Keita extended the Tops' lead to 10-7 at the 10:12 mark of the first. LA Tech responded with a three, but buckets by Marshall, Jack Edelen and McHenry pushed the WKU lead back out to six, 16-10, a minute later.

LA Tech took its first lead of the game, 17-16, with 7:33 to play in the first. A made layup by Kalambay would regain the lead for WKU, 18-17, before the Bulldogs outscored the Tops 16-10 for the remainder of the first half and the teams entered halftime with the Hilltoppers trailing by five, 33-28.

The teams returned for the second half and WKU would cut the Bulldog lead to three, 33-30, off a made jumper by Khristian Lander 40 seconds in. LA Tech extended its lead to eight and maintained a cushion until a made layup, and one, by Braxton Bayless following a steal by Jackson cut the Tops' deficit to just two, 43-41, with 14:14 remaining in regulation. 

LA Tech pushed its lead back out to six, 54-48, with 10:07 to play before a three-pointer by Lander made it a three-point, 54-51 game with under ten minutes remaining. Despite the efforts, the Bulldogs continued to answer and pushed the margin out to 10, 67-57, with 3:54 remaining. A made pair at the stripe by Kalambay would cut the Bulldog lead to five, 67-62, with 3:02 to play, but LA Tech continued to connect on the other end, pushing its lead back out to double digits and securing the 77-67 win over WKU. 

NOTABLES

• WKU opened the game with the starting lineup of McHenry, Lander, Odiahi, Kalambay and Marshall Jr.
• Don McHenry led the Tops and all scorers in the scoring column, charting 21 points along with a game-best four assists, three boards and a steal
• Jalen Jackson posted a tie for a career high in steals with six. Jackson has now charted a total of six steals in two games this season (FIU, 1/04/25)
• Tyrone Marshall Jr. and Leeroy Odiahi tied for a game high in rebounds with eight each
• The Tops shot from the field at a .338% clip for the game compared to the Bulldogs' .426%, and hit from beyond the arc at a .214% clip to LA Tech's .308%
• Despite WKU connecting on a .810% mark from the stripe compared to LA Tech's .690%, the Bulldogs managed 42 attempts at the line with 29 makes to the Tops' 21 attempts with 17 makes 
• The Tops finished with an effective field-goal percentage of 38% to the Bulldogs' 51% 
• WKU benefited from nine second-chance points while capitalizing on just 33% (4-of-12) of all second-chance opportunities compared to the Bulldogs' 11 points off a 78% (7-of-9) mark on second-chance opportunities 
• LA Tech benefited from 32 points from its bench compared to WKU's 18 points from its bench 

NEXT UP
WKU continues conference play on the road at Sam Houston on Saturday, Jan. 25. Tipoff from Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT with the game streaming live on ESPN+.