Now no one can call the WKU win over Louisville a fluke.
Off of just two days rest, WKU again rose to the challenge of a bigger, stronger BCS team and defended their home court, outlasting the Georgia Bulldogs 67-63. This one is deserving of a game log.
PREGAME
There were at least 500 students snaked around the front of Diddle arena in the breezy, cold night waiting to get inside and cheer for this Card-killing Topper club. My spirits rose, knowing that it was going to be loud and proud all night long. And it was.
FIRST HALF
9:52--It was a carbon copy of pretty much every game in this series. WKU came out hyped and tight and the shots were not falling. UGA built a slim 15-12 in the slugfest.
1.50--Much like ancient wars of olden times, each side picked its fiercest warrior to do battle mano a mano. UGA's Terrance Woodbury and WKU's AJ Slaughter dressed in chain mail and armed themselves with fine implements of war and met at midcourt to settle this siege. Slaughter went with the net and trident, while Woodbury chose a longsword of fine steel. In this six minute fight, Slaughter tallied 12 points (including a 4-pt play), but was edged by Woodbury's 13. Amazing stretch by both.
What resulted was a 3-pt bulldog lead at the half (38-35) and the Toppers vowing, "You may have won this battle, Woodbury, but the war is not over." Or insert your favorite movie "revenge line" here.
2nd Half
14:38--The Toppers came out with a blowtorch and opened the half on a 13-5 run built by cranking the defensive intensity up to 11. Steffphon Pettigrew capped the run with a 3...one of his 2 FG in 15 attempts. Not a typo...not a good shooting night for Grew.
5:25--From the 11.30 mark, the teams scored 5 points COMBINED with ZERO field goals. Five points in 6 mins...that's TWO teams. Oy.
4:46--With a 7-point lead and a chance to start driving some nails in the coffin, Topper F Jeremy Evans missed the front end of a 1-and-1. But wait! Pettigrew grabbed the offensive board and kicked it out to senior G Orlando Mendez-Valdez...who inexplicably launched an inexplicable ill-advised inexplicable three. UGA grabbed the carom, and scored four straight and forced a 30-second timeout.
0.00--However, the WKU defense clamped down again, and the Toppers cashed in their free throws down the stretch.
The crowd and atmosphere was electric in a packed Diddle Arena. Georgia put up a valiant effort, but WKU was able to come off their taxing win vs Louisville and two days later beat a big, brawny, tough bunch of Bulldogs. The young Dawgs will need solid PG play and to contend in the SEC, but they have enough quality bigs to be pretty good if the perimeter is decent.
The Tops are riding very high after dispatching SIU, Louisville, and Georgia in the last six days. They will now try to take their defensive show on the road at Tulane on Saturday.
Last Night's GOI
--Saint Joseph's 77, at Lehigh 64. Hawks over Mountain Hawks.
--Houston 70, at Middle Tennessee 67. Raiders fail to capitalize at home against both Tennessee and Houston.
--at SIU 64, Saint Louis 48. Salukis restore a bit of order after a 1-3 start.
--at WKU 67, Georgia 63. See above.
