Tops dominate Eagles to win season opener

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A second-half dunk is scored by Western Kentucky’s Moussa Konare (32) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Sharron Young (3) makes a shot in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s EJ Walker (6) drives against Morehead State’s Izaiah Day (23) and Clayton Parker (33) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Morehead State’s Davion Cunningham (22) defends Western Kentucky’s Sharron Young (3) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Trevion LaBeaux (23) defends Morehead State’s Davion Cunningham (22) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Gabe Weis (11) defends Morehead State’s Davion Cunningham (22) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Emondrek Erkins-Ford (13) and LJ Hackman (2) defend Morehead State’s Chase Dawson (10) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Armelo Boone (12) defends Chase Dawson (10) in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky’s Moussa Konare (32) runs down the court after a dunk in WKU’s 83-58 home win over Morehead State University on Monday, Nov. 2.
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Western Kentucky couldn’t have asked for much more than it accomplished in Monday’s season opener against Morehead State.

The Hilltoppers, preseason favorites to win Conference USA, put together a strong defensive effort and a balanced offensive attack to pull away then put away the Eagles in the second half for a dominating 83-58 victory at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Redshirt junior guard Teagan Moore scored a game-high 17 points to lead four Tops that scored in double figures. Sophomore Armelo Boone nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds plus a game-high four steals. Freshman Gabe Weis posted a stellar college debut with 14 points, and junior guard Sharron Young hit some big shots from beyond the 3-point arc and scored 13 points in his first game as a Hilltopper.

“I think a pretty strong first game for us overall,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “I mean, we’ll watch the film and figure some things out, I’m sure, but it was good to see everybody get on the floor and for all the guys to have some success on both ends. I thought just about every player had a stretch where they really contributed in a major way and helped us go on a run.”

WKU (1-0) led 38-28 at halftime, then Boone opened the second half with a 3-pointer before a Moore layup and an Emondrek Erkins-Ford free throw helped the Hilltoppers build a 44-30 lead with 17:35 to play.

Morehead State (0-1) scored five straight to cut the deficit to nine, but WKU answered with a 7-0 run that included layups from Moore and sophomore forward Moussa Konare. Young capped the run with a 3 to give WKU a 51-35 lead with 14:59 to play.

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Weis scored five straight points on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to put WKU ahead, 58-40, with 13:18 remaining. The Hilltoppers continued to push ahead, using another five straight points from Weis and a three-point play from Walker to cap an 8-0 run and take a 68-44 lead with 9:58 to go.

Weis, a Springfield native and one of seven Kentuckians on the 14-man roster, scored 14 points in 17 minutes off the bench, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. He added an assist, a block and a steal. His 14 points marked the highest scoring debut by a WKU freshman since Dayvion McKnight scored 21 points against Northern Iowa to open the 2020-21 season.

“First, I want to thank God for giving me this opportunity to play at this level and at this school, so I’m thankful for that,” said the 6-foot-7 Weis. “But just my teammates giving me the ball, just letting me get that first basket, get loose a little bit, and then they just continued to give me the ball. So, it was kind of up from there.”

WKU put together another 8-0 run with an LJ Hackman layup, two Moore free throws, a Weis layup and an alley-oop dunk from Young to Konare to stretch the Tops’ lead to 30, 76-46, with 6:11 remaining.

The Eagles scored five straight before layups from Young and freshman Joseph Adebayo and a fast-break 3-pointer from Noah Norgaard gave WKU its largest lead of the game, 83-51, with 2:44 to play. Morehead State scored the final seven points, but the Hilltoppers closed it out for the 83-58 win.

Moore, the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year after finishing second in the league in scoring last season at 18.2 points per game, shot 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line while adding three rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes.

Young, a transfer from Akron, finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 3-of-5 mark on 3-pointers. He tallied a team-high six assists with just one turnover in 23 minutes.

Konare, a 6-10 sophomore making his Division I debut, added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, including three offensive boards, in 17 minutes off the bench.

WKU shot 43.5% from the field, hitting 30-of-69 attempts, and went 10-of-28 (35.7%) from 3-point range. The Hilltoppers shot 13-of-15 (86.7%) from the free-throw line. WKU shot 51.5% from the field in the second half, making 17-of-33 attempts.

The Hilltoppers totaled 43 rebounds, including 13 offensive boards, and scored 16 second-chance points.
WKU finished with 17 assists with only six turnovers — just two in the second half. The Tops tallied 11 steals and scored 16 points off 13 Morehead State turnovers.

WKU scored 36 points in the paint and added 14 fast-break points. The Hilltoppers led for 38:44, while Morehead State led for just 50 seconds in the game.

Chase Dawson scored 13 points and Clayton Parker had 12 for the Eagles, who bounced back from an early 6-0 deficit against the Tops’ initial full-court pressure to briefly lead in the first half. The Eagles scored five straight to tie the game at 15, but a Young 3-pointer and a Moore free throw put the Hilltoppers ahead, 19-15, with 11:13 left in the first half.

The teams traded baskets before Young knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half to begin an 8-0 WKU run. Moore followed with another three-point play and another layup to push the Hilltoppers’ lead to double digits, 29-19, with 7:17 before halftime.

“We feel great right now,” Boone said. “That was a great win for us. We work on this stuff all day, and we came out here just to compete and just play together.”

Thirteen of WKU’s 14 players played in the season opener. Weis, Gavin Murphy, Joseph Adebayo and Lawson Rice made their collegiate debuts while Emondrick Erkins-Ford, EJ Walker, Young, Konare, Noah Norgaard and Trevion LaBeaux made their WKU debuts. Plona said redshirt sophomore guard Kade Unseld, who has been a full go in practice for about a week after missing time rehabbing from knee surgery, was available if needed but did not play Monday.

“I’m sure we’ll watch the film tomorrow and pick apart about a hundred things that we need to do better,” Plona said. “But at the same time, I thought we stayed playing with intent to win at all times and I’m very, very proud of the guys. I think it was a pretty successful first game.”

The Tops are back in action Thursday against Kentucky Wesleyan at Diddle Arena. Game time is 6:30 p.m.

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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