Steffphon Pettigrew was the hero at the end of regulation making a game-tying shot to send Western Kentucky into overtime against North Texas in Bowling Green.
In the end of the overtime, it was WKU with 5.2 seconds left on the clock, ball out of bounds under their own basket. A. J. Slaughter had his pocket picked and the Hilltoppers lost their opportunity to win the game in dramatic style and the final was 84-83.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers find themselves rolling downhill on a five game losing streak. The game was a classic basketball battle between the pre-season favorites to win the Sun Belt tournament. There were 15 lead changes and 16 ties.
Western Kentucky went off on a sweet 11-3 run to take the lead 64-59 with about seven minutes left in the game. But North Texas came sweeping back to make it 75-72 with 14.5 seconds on the clock.
The stats help tell the story. The Mean Green went 16 for 23 from the charity stripe for 69 percent while WKU hit a satisfying 30 for 37, sizzling 81 percent. Turnovers favored the Tops 16-13, but the Mean Green controlled the boards 43-34 for easy put backs to bring shooting from the filed to almost 50%. WKU shot 41%.
The regulation game ending play was a wild one as Pettigrew was chasing down a botched pass to the midcourt corner back to the basket. With a double team closing down, the junior from Elizabethtown, Kentucky stepped through the defense and launched the shot with just 0.1 on the clock. He ended up with 23 ponts, 8-of-14.
Jeremy Evans added 13 points in 18 minutes for WKU before fouling out. Cliff Dixon tallied eight of the Toppers 14 bench points.
Head coach Ken McDonald said in the post game press conference:
"I thought there was good energy at the beginning of the game, and I thought we had good energy on the defensive end at the start of the second half. And to start that overtime period after such a life we had good energy. We have to find a way to have that energy on the defensive end all throughout. And at times we might go on an offensive run and get a lead. You keep it with your defense. We have to find a way to do that."
A.J. Slaughter struggled on the floor, only hitting 3-of-13 from the field, and missing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. He also turned the ball over seven times, six coming in the second half, including the last play of the game.
He said post game:
"It's hard. We just talked about how we lost the game and what we need to do to be better next time out. It is really kind of a hard feeling to go through, but everybody has to keep their head up and keep moving."
"We just thought we were back on the right track after the Southern Illinois game. To come out and have a disappointing loss, it's just really tough."
"We just have to keep our heads up, watch some film, learn from it and remember this feeling. It will remind us that we need to put our foot down and put a stop to this."
WKU vs North Texas Box Score (pdf)
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