BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Making his first start since the December 11 win over 24th-ranked Vanderbilt, Sergio Kerusch poured in a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds in fueling Western Kentucky University's (14-12, 7-6 SBC) convincing 79-68 victory over Sun Belt Conference-leading Arkansas State (14-10, 9-4 SBC) on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. AJ Slaughter also added 21 points for the Hilltoppers.

After leading by eight at the half, WKU scored five of the first seven points in the second half to push the bulge into double figures for the first time at 45-34 on a Jeremy Evans offensive putback dunk. The Crossett, Ark. native has shined in his last two years against the team from his home state. With his 13 points and nine rebounds tonight, he is averaging 17.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg against the Red Wolves during that span.

Evans is also now just 11 points shy of becoming the 44th member of the WKU 1,000-point club. Already the school's all-time leading in field goal percentage, he is only nine blocks shy of becoming the all-time leader in that category as well.

Cliff Dixon's driving lay-up at the 14:28 mark increased the spread to a dozen, but back-to-back lay-ups from Jeremy Thomas quickly cut it to eight at 53-45, forcing a WKU 30-second timeout. Out of the stoppage, Kerusch knocked down one of his four triples on the night, starting a 14-7 run that resulted in the Toppers' largest advantage of the game, 67-52, with 7:41 to play on another Dixon lay-up.

Dixon finished with six points in 12 minutes while Steffphon Pettigrew added 11 points and a career-high five assists. As a team, WKU shot 51.8 percent from the field including 6-of-17 from long distance and 15-of-22 at the stripe.

Brandon Reed led Arkansas State with 20 points, 15 coming in the second stanza. Brandon Peterson finished with two points on 0-of-6 shooting, but pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

In the first half, WKU opened up an early 10-point spread behind seven points from Kerusch, turning a 5-4 deficit into a 15-5 lead with 13:34 on the clock on a Evans' lay-up.

Trey Finn connected on a jumper at the 12:23 mark to end nearly a six-minute scoring drought by the Red Wolves, the first of six-straight by Arkansas State, and ignite a 14-6 run that pulled ASU within a bucket at 21-19 on a Daniel Bryant three with 7:48 left. Bryant came off the Red Wolves bench to pour in 13 of his 15 points in the first-half.

But after another Brown triple again made it a two-point game, Caden Dickerson knocked down a trey while Slaughter and Pettigrew scored the final nine Hilltopper points as WKU led at the half 40-32.

WKU will close out its 2009-10 home schedule on Thursday, February 18 when the Hilltoppers host South Alabama at 7:00 PM at E.A. Diddle Arena. In addition to "Senior Night" festivities in which Evans, Slaughter, Anthony Sally, and Nemanja Milosevic will be honored, the game is a "Red Out" and all fans are encouraged to wear red to the game. The first 1,000 students in attendance will receive a free Russell t-shirt.

TEAM NOTES:
• WKU improves to 26-11 all-time against Arkansas State, including a 17-1 mark all-time in Bowling Green
• WKU improves to 279-120 all-time against the 12 current members of the Sun Belt Conference
• WKU improves to 71-7 (.910) against Sun Belt competition at Diddle Arena since 2000; the Toppers are now 163-48 all-time (.773) in those games
• WKU is now 39-5 in their last 44 homes games dating back to February 2007
• WKU improves to 509-135 all-time (.790) at Diddle Arena
• WKU has now made a three-pointer in 697-straight games (dating back to the inaugural season for the shot in 1986-87), ranking sixth all-time
• WKU played in its 22nd of 27 consecutive TV games (WKU is 12-10 in those 22 games)
• In the Ken McDonald era, WKU is holding opponents at Diddle Arena to just 64.6 ppg (28 games)
• WKU led at the half for the 10th time this season, improving to 7-3 in those contests
• This was the 14th game this season that WKU has had a player score 20 points or more in a game; tonight marks the third time this year that the Toppers have had two 20-point scorers in the same game

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
• Junior forward Cliff Dixon made his first career start in an Hilltopper uniform tonight
• In his third game back after missing 14-straight contests with injury, Sergio Kerusch made his first start since December 11 in a 76-69 win over #24 Vanderbilt
• AJ Slaughter entered the game just 0.2 ppg off the Sun Belt scoring lead at 17.0 ppg; the only Hilltopper to ever lead the league in scoring was Jack Jennings in 1991-92 averaging 19.1 ppg
• Jeremy Evans, with 13 points tonight, now has 989 for his career; Steffphon Pettigrew, with 11 points tonight, now has 965 for his career as both are closing in on 1,000 career points
• Slaughter scored 21 points to give him 1,431 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 14 games
• Slaughter scored 20 points for ninth time this season, and 19th of his career
• In scoring 11 points, Steffphon Pettigrew has reached double figures in 22 of 26 games this season
• Slaughter (tied with Sergio Kerusch) led the team in scoring with 21 points, the 22nd time in 26 games this season that either Slaughter or Pettigrew has led the Hilltoppers in scoring
• Kerusch poured in 21 points for the third time in 12 games played this year
• With his one blocked shot tonight, Evans now has 207 for his career, moving within eight blocks of Chris Marcus (2000-03) for the WKU all-time lead
• In the last two years versus Arkansas State, Evans has been impressive against the team from his home state, averaging 17.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg

QUOTES:
Head Coach Ken McDonald
Overall thoughts on tonight's game:
"I think the guys are doing a good job bouncing back [from a loss last game]. You're a little disappointed how the last one ended up, but we've put it behind us, and we're really doing a good job of focusing on getting better. And we are getting better. There's no question. Our defense is starting to be there team-wise, and we're rebounding the ball better as a team. There's a lot of things that are starting to come our way a little bit. I'm excited about the energy overall and the fact that we're going against quality teams and having success."

On the decision to start Sergio Kerusch and his play tonight:
"I think athletically, Arkansas State is a team that can really hurt you. I thought it was important to have Sergio [Kerusch] in the lineup to change it up a little bit and to have another athletic guy in our lineup who can score the basketball. Today was Sergio's night. He was feeling it."

On the quality of tonight's win:
"We respected this team and understood that it was going to be a battle. From a confidence standpoint, I'm happy about us finishing the game. We've had problems with keeping leads. At times, we extended the lead tonight. That's part of progressing towards the end of the season and playing your best basketball going into the conference tournament."

Senior Guard AJ Slaughter
On the importance of tonight's win:
"[The win] is huge. Arkansas State came in at the top of the conference and we were able to give them a loss. We made strides tonight to get closer to the top of the conference with a win in this game."

On the mentality of the team entering tonight's game following the loss to Houston:
"We just wanted to come out aggressive on both ends. We wanted to come out and throw the first punch and just keep throwing them and keep our foot down. I think we came out and did a good job of that."

Junior Forward Sergio Kerusch
On getting a win over the top team in the Sun Belt Conference:
"They are the best team overall [in the Sun Belt Conference]. For us to come out here and battle with a good team and do what we needed to do to get a win, it just really brought our confidence up to a whole new level."

On being back in the starting lineup:
"I loved [being back in the starting lineup]. I wanted to help start the game off with some energy and being on the court in the first couple of minutes is crucial. I just thank Coach Mac [Ken McDonald] for trusting me."

Senior Forward Jeremy Evans
On the importance of having Sergio Kerusch back in the lineup:
"[Having Kerusch back] is very good for the entire team. He brings energy on the boards. When one of us can't get there, you can always expect Sergio to be there. He is a big help for us."