Times have been pretty hard of late for the Salukis, but you would never know that by the way they played this afternoon. The Dawgs looked strong from buzzer to buzzer against the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky with an 88-78 victory at the Arena.
Wesley Clemmons and Matt Shaw led the Salukis with 24 apiece, while Randal Falker added 20. Western Kentucky was paced by Courtney Lee who lived up to the hype and tossed in 30 for the boys from Bowling Green.
The early stages of today's contest featured alternating runs. The Salukis scored the first ten points of the game. Then the Hilltoppers countered with a 16-2 run. These middle heavyweights traded shots throughout the first half, but the Salukis headed into the break with a 40-36 advantage.
The second half began with a Salukis mini-run after a Wesley Clemmons three pointer, but the Hilltoppers knotted it up at 53-53 with 13:00 remaining. As the game entered its later stages, you could feel the confidence of the Salukis building and Bryan Mullins effectively sealed the deal with a clutch three pointer around the 3:00 mark. Tyrone Green extended the lead to 10 points with a pair of free throws after a steal and the party was on.
Statistically, the Salukis won the battle of the boards and shot 57% from 3-point range and from the field, while shooting 78% from the line.The offense nearly matched the combined total of its two previous games in half of the time. With three players over 20 points, the sports information department will be scrambling to find a precedent in recent program history.
Realistically, this is the first game all year that the Salukis consistently took shots in rhythm, which was a welcome sight. Shaw and Falker were effective in every aspect of the game, totaling 44 points and 16 rebounds. Also, Wesley Clemmons appears to have shaken off the lingering effects of his ankle injury. He was everywhere today.
Up next... the Butler Bulldogs on the 28th, followed by Missouri State on the 30th.
