Final: South Alabama 80, WKU 76

So much for home cooking

Entering Thursday with a four-game win streak and the start of a five-game homestand, things appeared to be setting up nicely for Western Kentucky.

Appearances were deceiving, however, as Gary Redus dropped in 26 points and South Alabama shot better than 53 percent for the game as the Jaguars snapped WKU’s four-game win streak with an 80-76 win at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“The sense of urgency and excitement at the beginning of the game wasn’t there,” WKU coach Ken McDonald said following the loss. “And I really don’t get that. It’s disappointing when you have generated in two weeks a change in outlook.

“It’s also disappointing for the fanbase, because they’ve stayed with us and want to see something positive – and you want to show them what you’re made of and how you’re improving. To take a step back like this is hard to swallow.”

The loss not only puts a wrench in the momentum the Hilltoppers have gained over the past two weeks, but it also puts them in a deeper hole with regard to overall seeding in the season-ending Sun Belt Tournament.

With the loss, WKU now finds itself in third place in the Sun Belt East – a full two games back of Middle Tennessee in the win column for second place and a first-round bye.

“To not have the energy in front of the home crowd to get a win (is disappointing),” WKU senior forward Steffphon Pettigrew said. “We had a good stretch, but then we come out and play like this.

“Coach said he could see it in the layup line – we just didn’t have any energy, and we’ve got to respond from this.”

 

 

For full coverage, see Friday’s Daily News

South Alabama 75, WKU 74 – :59.8 left

Juan Pattillo has missed three straight foul shots and WKU finds itself down one with less than a minute to play.

South Alabama will have the ball, 26 seconds on the shot clock.

South Alabama 73, WKU 67 – 3:33 left

Gary Redus hasn’t missed in what feels like an hour – he’s 9 of 11, 23 points and South Alabama holds its two possession lead into the last media timeout.

Kerusch has 15 points in the second half here, and also has 11 rebounds tonight for WKU.

Tops will have to pull off a comeback here late.

USA 62, WKU 56 – 7:02 left

South Alabama is now 10 of 18 from 3-point range, led by Gary Redus who is 5 of 6, and the Jags hold on to a six-point lead with less than eight to play here.

Redus, Martino Brock and Tim Williams have all been solid from deep tonight for the Jaguars.

Redus leads all scorers with 21 points.

South Alabama 53, WKU 48 – 9:31 left

This one’s been pretty back and forth, but South Alabama’s gotten hot from deep – and is now 8 of 15 from deep – to take its largest lead of the second half.

WKU shooting a bit better, but still having its struggles defensively.

WKU 44, USA 42 – 15:02 left

The Tops pulled ahead by as many as four and have shown a bit more energy to start the second.

Sergio Kerusch finally has a field goal on a triple, but he’s just 1 of 9 from the floor tonight.

WKU aslo has 15 offensive rebounds in this one and is out-boarding USA 27-20.

South Al 33, WKU 31 – halftime

Caden Dickerson has 15 of WKU’s 31 points at the break – as the Toppers shot just 35 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes.

The defense wasn’t that great either, as South Alabama hit for 51.9 percent on 14 of 27 shooting.

Nevertheless, the Hilltoppers are in the ballgame.

Sergio Kerusch has yet to score, he’s 0 of 4. Juan Pattillo spent extended time on the bench with two fouls and the Hilltoppers looked out of sync plenty of times early.

But it’s still a ballgame – a big four minutes upcoming to open the second half.

South Al 29, WKU 27 – 3:45 first half

Caden Dickerson has kept WKU in the game tonight with a season-high 13 points already.

The Tops are struggling defensively, shooting badly, but are still in the ballgame here as we near the half.

South Al 25, WKU 18 – 6:35 first half

Two straight USA triples push the Jags up to their largest lead here as WKU is shooting just 33 percent from the floor.

USA is 10 of 18, 4 of 6 from 3-point land.

WKU 16, USA 14 – 11:19 first half

Dickerson and McDonald rattle home two more triples as WKU goes up a bucket at the under 12.

WKU 3 of 6 from 3-point range, but just 3 of 10 from elsewhere.

USA hitting its fair share of jumpers early.