MIAMI, Fla. — Despite a cold shooting night offensively, the Hilltoppers took care of business in the other aspects of the game and earned a 61-51 victory Saturday on the road against FIU in Miami, Fla. The Hilltoppers are now 7-15 overall on the season and 3-6 in Sun Belt Conference play. FIU drops to 5-15 and 2-6 this year.

The Hilltoppers shot 27.6 percent from the field in the game, but outrebounded FIU by five, including having 16 offensive rebounds, had nine steals and 13 assists on 16 made baskets. The 51 points surrendered were two shy of the low mark for the season as well. Three players were in double figures, led by Jamal Crook's 12 points. Crook also had seven assists for the second-straight game. T.J. Price and Vinny Zollo each added 11 points, and Kahlil McDonald had nine points thanks in part to six free throws. George Fant had eight points and led WKU with eight rebounds.

The Panthers were 17-for-53 from the floor (.321) and made just one of 12 three-point tries (.083). FIU turned the ball over 20 times, which WKU capitalized on to the tune of 17 points. DeJuan Wright led FIU with 24 points, 16 in the second half, and 14 rebounds.

Both teams started off cold from the field in the first half, as WKU and FIU combined to go 1-for-23 from the field to start the game. The Hilltoppers missed their first 15 shots of the contest, but the game was still tied at 5 at the under-12:00 media timeout. The Hilltoppers opened up a six-point lead with 1:38 left in the first half after back-to-back three-pointers by Price and Zollo, and WKU took a 27-21 lead into the halftime locker room with Fant hitting a jumper in the lane with six seconds left in the first half.

WKU started 0-for-15 in the game but finished the half shooting 8-for-19 (.421) to end the first half at 23.5 percent from the floor. FIU went 7-for-23 in the opening 20 minutes (.304) and made all six of its free throws. The Hilltoppers went 5-for-19 from three-point range in the first half and outrebounded FIU, 25-17.

The Hilltoppers had assists on seven of their eight first-half field goals and scored 12 points off 10 FIU miscues.

FIU made the first two baskets of the second half to cut the Hilltopper lead to two at 27-25, but Derrick Gordon hit a three-pointer to snap the scoring drought and spark a 9-0 Hilltopper run that extended the advantage to 36-25 at the under-16:00 media timeout in the second half. After the Gordon triple, McDonald hit two free throws after a technical foul on the FIU bench, and Fant followed by splitting a pair of free throws of his own. Gordon then converted another three-pointer, giving the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the night at 11.

The lead swelled to 15 after a McDonald three and a Crook jumper with the shot clock expiring, helped in part by FIU going over seven minutes without a field goal. Wright went on a scoring burst over the next few minutes, scoring 10-straight FIU points and cutting the WKU lead to as few as seven at 49-42 before Price hit a three-pointer to give the Hilltoppers another 10-point lead.

That three-pointer was WKU's 10th of the game, setting a new season high.

The Panthers got within five at 54-49 with 1:16 to play, but the Hilltoppers made their free throws down the stretch and came away with the 61-51 victory.

WKU is now 27-5 all-time against FIU, its best winning percentage against a current member of the Sun Belt Conference, and the Hilltoppers have won six of their last seven games played in the state of Florida.

With a different starting lineup for the third-straight game, WKU has now used 11 different starting lineups in 22 games played this season.

Gordon had eight points in the game, and he is now two points shy of passing Mike Wilson (1988-89) for the seventh-highest-scoring freshman season in WKU history.

The Hilltoppers take a break from the road and return to E.A. Diddle Arena for a 7:00 PM game against South Alabama next Saturday. The key game in the Sun Belt Conference East Division standings race will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports and a DirecTV channel to be determined and locally in Bowling Green on WKYU-PBS. The game will also be available on the radio on the Hilltopper IMG Sports Network with Randy Lee and Hal Schmitt on the call. Tickets can be purchased online at WKUSports.com or at the WKU Ticket Office in E.A. Diddle Arena. Phone orders can also be placed by calling 1-800-5-BIG RED or 745-5222 locally.