WKU snapped a three-game losing skid Thursday night with a 72-49 win over Louisiana-Lafayette at E.A. Diddle Arena. The win improves WKU's record to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play.
Brandon Harris led WKU with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Three other Hilltoppers were in double figures, including Teeng Akol with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. T.J. Price added 13 points, three assists and had no turnovers in a team-high 37 minutes, and George Fant contributed 10 points and six rebounds.
Percy Blade grabbed 10 rebounds from the guard position, and Aleksejs Rostov contributed seven points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. Louisiana-Lafayette was led by Elfrid Payton's 14 points and 11 points and 14 rebounds from Shawn Long.
WKU shot 42.1 percent as a team in the game (24-for-57) and limited the Ragin' Cajuns to 28.8 percent shooting (17-for-59).
The Hilltoppers scored the final 13 points of the first half and held Louisiana-Lafayette without a point for the last 5:16 of the opening half and opened up a 32-21 lead at intermission after trailing 21-19. The Hilltoppers saw layups by O'Karo Akamune and Akol sandwiched around a Harris three-pointer in just over 90 seconds, and WKU led 26-21 with 3:08 to go in the first half.
WKU concludes a three-game Sun Belt Conference homestand Saturday evening at 5:00 against UALR. The game will be televised by the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network, airing nationally on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court, regionally on WKYU-PBS and in Louisville on WBNA.
