BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Behind a long range barrage, Western Kentucky University (13-11, 6-6 SBC) knocked down a season-high 12 three-pointers to bounce back against the Sun Belt Conference East-leading Troy Trojans (13-11, 8-5 SBC) 87-69 on Saturday night before a crowd of 6,531 at E.A. Diddle Arena. Steffphon Pettigrew scored a season-best 25 points to lead four players in double figures.

The 6-5 junior from Elizabethtown, Ky. opened the game with a three-pointer from the left wing, one of his three long balls on the night, as WKU led 7-0 before Brandon Hazzard got the Trojans on the board with a 16-footer at the 16:30 mark. Hazzard entered the game tied with AJ Slaughter for the Sun Belt scoring lead at 17.0 ppg.

Troy drew within a bucket at 11-9 on an Antywan Jones' breakaway dunk with 13:14 left in the first half, but Pettigrew fueled a 25-10 run, scoring nine points, as the Hilltoppers broke the game open 36-19 on Slaughter's second triple with 7:12 to play. Slaughter, Pettigrew, and Sergio Kerusch all connected from downtown during the decisive spurt.

The 43-28 lead at the break marked the largest of the season for the Hilltoppers. As a team, WKU was 8-of-14 from three-point range in the opening stanza.

WKU opened the second half just the way it ended the first, with a 16-6 run, to balloon the spread to 25, leading 59-34 on a Cliff Dixon offensive rebound and dunk with 13:11 to play. Dixon finished with five points and four rebounds in 15 key minutes off the bench.

Troy made its run over the ensuing four minutes, rattling off 16 of the game's next 21 points to claw within 64-50 on rare four-point-play from Michael Vogler with 9:30 to play. But after the Trojans had a few opportunities to further close the gap, Pettigrew converted a pair of free throws with 7:38 on the clock and then freshman Caden Dickerson caught fire down the stretch, knocking down a pair of threes and scoring nine of the Hilltoppers' final 21 points as WKU won going away 87-69. Dickerson finished with a career-high 15 points with 12 coming in the second half.

The 87 points was the most scored by the Hilltoppers this season, and equals the most WKU has scored in a game since beating Troy 99-76 at Diddle Arena last season.

Slaughter finished with 17 points on 9-of-12 at the stripe to go with four points and three steals in 36 minutes as he edged in front of Hazzard for the Sun Belt scoring lead. Hazzard tallied 16 on the night.

Sergio Kerusch, in his second game back after missing 14-straight contests with a foot injury, added 15 points on 3-of-6 from long range to go with four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes off the bench. Jeremy Evans had his career-best five-game double-digit scoring streak halted with nine points.

Jones led the Trojans with 20 points while Vogler chipped in 11.

WKU won the battle of the boards 41-30, shot 46.2 percent on 12-of-26 from downtown, and finished with a 24-13 edge in points off turnovers.

WKU steps back out of conference play for the final time in 2009-10 when the Hilltoppers host Houston on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:00 PM. Aubrey Coleman not only leads the Cougars in the scoring at 25.9 ppg, but is the top scorer in all of Division I, more than a full point per game ahead of Notre Dame's Luke Harangody. The game will be a white-out and all WKU fans are asked to where white to the game. The first 1,000 students in attendance will receive a free Russell t-shirt.

TEAM NOTES:

• WKU improves to 7-3 all-time against Troy, snapping a two-game losing streak to the Trojans and remaining perfect against Troy at Diddle Arena at 5-0

• WKU improves to 38-4 in their last 42 homes games dating back to February 2007

• WKU improves to 70-7 (.909) against Sun Belt competition at Diddle Arena since 2000; the Toppers are now 162-48 all-time (.771) in those games

• WKU improves to 508-134 all-time (.791) at Diddle Arena

• WKU improves to 278-120 all-time against the 12 current members of the Sun Belt Conference

• WKU has now made a three-pointer in 695-straight games (dating back to the inaugural season for the shot in 1986-87), ranking sixth all-time

• WKU played in its 20th of 27 consecutive TV games (WKU is 11-9 in those 20 games)

• With a crowd of 6,531, tonight marks the 10th time this season WKU has played before a crowd of more than 5,000 fans

• In the Ken McDonald era, WKU is holding opponents at Diddle Arena to just 64.1 ppg (26 games)

• WKU led at the half for just the eighth time this season, improving to 6-2 in those contests

• The 43 points scored at the half equals the highest first half output this season (scored 43 against New Orleans on Jan. 30)

• WKU scored a season-high 87 points, equalling the most points the Toppers have scored since putting up 99 in a home win against Troy last season

• WKU connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers, surpassing the previous mark of 10 set at Louisville on Dec. 19

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

• WKU's AJ Slaughter and Troy's Brandon Hazzard entered the game tied atop the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 17.0 ppg; the only Hilltopper ever to lead the SBC in scoring was Jack Jennings in 1991-92 averaging 19.1 ppg

• After missing 14-straight games, junior Sergio Kerusch returned from his foot injury on Thursday and played in his second-straight game this evening

• Jeremy Evans, with nine points tonight, now has 970 for his career; Steffphon Pettigrew, with 25 points tonight, now has 936 for his career as both are closing in on 1,000 career points

• Slaughter scored 17 points to give him 1,393 for his career, ranking 13th on the WKU all-time scoring list, closing in on Art Spoelstra (1952-54) at 1,510 for 12th all-time

• Slaughter extended his double-digit scoring streak to 12 games

• Pettigrew notched his third 20-point effort in the last six games, his fifth 20-point game of the season, and the ninth of his career

• In scoring a season-high 25 points, Pettigrew has reached double figures in 20 of 24 games this season

• Evans had his career-best double figure scoring streak halted at five games

• Slaughter or Pettigrew has led WKU in scoring in 21 of 24 games this season

• With his three blocked shots tonight, Evans now has 203 for his career, moving within 11 blocks of Chris Marcus (2000-03) for the WKU all-time lead

• Caden Dickerson extended his double-digit scoring streak to four games with a career-high 15-point effort

QUOTES:

Head Coach Ken McDonald

Overall thoughts on tonight’s win:
"I thought the energy was really good. I thought the focus was as good as it has been. We talked a lot about what it takes to win, putting our foot down, things that everyone knows. It’s all on the defensive end. Our energy was terrific, and we had each other’s backs. I couldn’t be more proud of the fan base. There are so many positives. I’m proud of the guys staying the course and understanding that we have to take it one game at a time. Tonight we put it together."

On being able to build a big lead and finish out the game:
"We still wanted to stay aggressive, and tonight we didn’t beat ourselves. The biggest thing was we didn’t get hesitant. You just have to make good decisions, and that can lead to big buckets. All the hustle plays were there tonight. We had 18 deflections at the half. That’s really big. That just shows you that you are active defensively."

On the play of the defense tonight:
"Your defensive takes a lot of pressure off the offensive end. If you can make it hard on the other team to score, you can be in position to build a lead and keep a lead. You have a lot more confidence on the offensive end, because every possession isn’t so much pressure to score the basketball. When you’re a little bit looser, you can make more shots. I think defense leads to a lot of confidence on the offensive end."

Senior Guard A.J. Slaughter

On this being one of the best shooting nights for WKU on the season:
"I think it is [the best shooting night of the season]. We had a lot of guys in double figures and a lot of guys shot well. I think all we had to do was come out and play defense and it would take pressure off of our offense."

On the importance of having Sergio Kerusch back on the floor:
"It is very [important]. When he is on the court, he brings a lot to this team, something that we definitely missed while he was out. He can rebound and he can score, and it really takes a lot of pressure off of myself and Pett [Steffphon Pettigrew]."

Junior Forward Sergio Kerusch

On how he felt playing in just his second game back from injury:
"I still feel like I was a little shaky. I am still favoring my foot just a little bit. But I’m excited just to be back out there with the guys. I think that I’m healed, but it still is more of a mental thing."

On the mentality of the team coming into tonight’s game:
"We talked as a team in the locker room and decided that we were just going to come out and leave it all out on the floor and just give the fans a show and have some fun."

Junior Forward Steffphon Pettigrew

On why tonight everything seemed to come together:
"I think we were just tired of losing. We have been getting on each other at practice and playing good defense and moving the ball. It showed tonight. I think this was by far our best effort out there tonight. We played a complete 40 minutes."

On maintaining the big lead throughout the second half:
"We talked in the huddle about how we needed to keep going at it, and that is what we did. That was big when Caden [Dickerson] got the four-point play. It just really got us going, and we were able to keep it going."