By David Walsh
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Charles Bassey showed once again why he got picked the Conference USA preseason player of the year and also is on The Wooden Award watch list for Division I’s best big man.
The 6-foot-11 Bassey scored 21 points and pulled down a career-best 19 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season and Josh Anderson added a game-high 22 points to power the Hilltoppers past rival Marshall, 81-73, in a matinee Friday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
CBS Sports Network carried the game live. Bassey’s just one of the reasons Western Kentucky is the preseason C-USA favorite as well.
“Bassey’s difficult to take things away from,” Thundering Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said in a post-game interview at the arena. Bassey, a junior, is a big reason the Hilltoppers won the rebound battle, 46-29.
D’Antoni also knows unexpected time off did create some adversity for his team. The current Coronavirus pandemic led to Marshall calling off two home games last weekend against Charlotte. It was quarantine time instead along with some nagging injuries.
“We were rusty in the first half. We weren’t getting the ball movement,” D’Antoni said. “We were not in rhythm. A little rust is not adjustable.”
Western Kentucky (10-4, 3-2 C-USA) led 46-35 at the half. The Hilltoppers had a double-digit lead in the second half before the Herd made several runs, but never took the lead.
Jansson Williams nailed a three-pointer with 10:05 left to cut the deficit to 60-59. Luke Frampton, who played at Poca High School, came back with a trey at 9:13 left to make it 63-59 and the home team held on from there.
Williams paced the Herd (7-3, 1-2 C-USA) with 19 points with 16 coming in the second half. He made 5-of-7 three-pointers.
“Not surprised,” D’Antoni said. “He just has to get consistent game to game with his marksmanship.”
Taevion Kinsey, the league’s leading scorer at 21 points a game, followed with 17 points. No other Herd player reached double figures.
One Herd player who struggled at times was senior guard Jarrod West, who basically had the past two weeks off from practice. He was 3-of-13 from the field (1-of-5 from behind the arc).
“You could tell Jarrod’s not played,” D’Antoni said. “He was not the Jarrod we’ve seen in the past. Good reason. (Off) 14 days.”
The two rivals will meet in the backend of the doubleheader at 2 p.m. Sunday at Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va. The game will be live on the CBS Sports Network Facebook page. The Hilltoppers have now won four straight in the series, are 11-2 all-time at home and 19-12 in all games.
D’Antoni said the Herd’s got to clean up some issues before the tip. In the first half Friday, Marshall got called for 14 fouls, but just four in the second half. Western Kentucky made 19-of-21 free throws compared to 2-of-5 for the Herd. Marshall didn’t go to the line in the second half.
Anderson and Bassey were the only Hilltoppers in double figures. Do to CO VID-19 protocols, attendance was limited to 1,117 fans.
“Correct what we’re doing and make it better,” D’Antoni said. “No big changes. That was not our best game out there. Try to clean things up. It wasn’t that one team was more aggressive than the other. We have to be as good as we can be.”
After Sunday’s rematch, the Herd will travel to Miami next weekend for games against Florida International. Times are Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.