WKU men’s basketball ends regular season play with a 67-33 loss to North Texas

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Up against one of the best defenses and slowest offenses in the country, WKU Hilltopper Basketball fell to North Texas on Saturday afternoon in a 67-33 defeat.

“We didn’t get off to a great start,” said head coach Rick Stansbury. “They played great… That’s where the game was separated in the last four minutes of the first half when they spurted out to 20 points. 20 points on the road against them on Senior Night, it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

North Texas held WKU scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game and the final 2:40 of the first half.

The Mean Green opened up the game with a 10-0 run. The Hilltoppers battled back to cut it to a two-point deficit with buckets from four different players. After Tyrone Marshall hit a runner at the 9:50 mark, North Texas was forced to call a timeout with a 10-8 score on the board.

From there, WKU (16-15, 8-12 C-USA) kept it close until the Mean Green used a major to close out the half. From 7:02 onward, North Texas scored 21 points to WKU’s four, with Tylor Perry scoring 14 of those points.

The Hilltoppers only scored once in the final six minutes before halftime.

After WKU scored the first basket of the second half, North Texas (25-6, 16-4) scored 13 straight, extended its lead to 51-20 with 13:38 on the clock. The Hilltoppers were held to just 18 points in the first half and 15 in the second half.

Jamarion Sharp led the Tops in scoring and rebounding with eight points on 4 of 7 shooting and 11 boards. He tacked on three steals.

North Texas’ Tylor Perry had 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting on his senior night.

WKU will next play on Wednesday in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The Hilltoppers will play as either the eight or nine seed in the 5:30 p.m. CT game on Court A on Wednesday night.

Copyright 2023 WBKO. All rights reserved.