Allen Shines in Hilltoppers’ 81-74 Victory over UTSA

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In his first start of his collegiate career, redshirt junior Dontaie Allen led the Hilltoppers to an 81-74 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners at home in E.A. Diddle Arena on Thursday night. Allen turned in a career night of 22 points – including 12 from the 3-point line – seven boards, three assists and a steal in 38 minutes of action.

“I’m proud of the way our guys responded to a lot of different adversities tonight,” said head coach Rick Stansbury. “It’s always good to get a W when you can do it, but I was awful proud of the way they fought. We had to overcome a lot of different things tonight. We knew we were playing without (Jordan) Rawls from the get go. We just weren’t ready to play without Dayvion (McKnight) in that second half, and without [Jamarion Sharp] with foul trouble. So we had to do it a different way tonight, and like I said these guys deserve a lot of credit mixing and matching. Everybody who came off that bench added to.”

“Honestly, our team has been through a lot of adversity you know; coaches out, players out, so we just have to adapt and that’s what we do,” said Jamarion Sharp on the team overcoming adversity. “When one player goes down, the next player steps up and that’s what we do.”

The Hilltoppers got off to a slow start, hitting only their first of eight shots. The opposition made seven of its first 10 takes, getting off to a 12-4 start.

WKU (12-11, 4-8 C-USA) managed to hit five 3’s in the first 20 minutes, keeping the Hilltoppers alive throughout the first half. Back-to-back triples by Allen and Khristian Lander moved the needle to 18-21 in favor of UTSA with 11:28 on the clock.

The Roadrunners then went on a 9-2 tear to extend their lead to 30-20. WKU was able to battle back, stringing together seven straight between 3:17 and 2:01 to catch up to UTSA.

A 3-pointer from either team ended the half and WKU was only down by one point, 40-39, at halftime.

Coming out of the break, WKU held the Roadrunners to just one field goal in the opening four minutes. While it was only one field goal, foul trouble plagued the Hilltoppers and UTSA got multiple attempts at the free throw line.

In the same time frame, Dayvion McKnight went down with a foot injury, specifically to his big toe, and would not return to the game.

WKU made up McKnight’s production in a variety of ways between 3-pointers and hustle plays in the paint. The Hilltoppers went on a 10-2 run to go up 57-49 with 12:06 remaining, but UTSA (7-17, 1-12) would never back down.

Between 10:17 and 7:33, the Roadrunners used an 11-1 run to take a quick 64-62 lead.

The Hilltoppers wouldn’t accept defeat and immediately battled back with seven straight to regain a 69-64 lead with 4:07 left. For the 11th time this season, WKU would go on to win the game after leading with five minutes remaining.

UTSA attempted to get back in it with numerous fouls. The Roadrunners would come within three but never closer as the clock expired.

The Hilltoppers sunk 10 3-pointers from beyond the arc: four from Allen, two from Emmanuel Akot, two from Lander and one each from Jairus Hamilton and Fallou Diagne. They held UTSA to just five triples, including only one in the second half.

“Our team has been going through a lot you know, but our team never turns our back on each other,” said Allen. “Everybody stays locked in, everybody stays together, so I’m not surprised that there’s good coming our way.”

WKU combined for 15 assists against just four turnovers, one of the best ratios the Hilltoppers have seen all year.

Jamarion Sharp was limited to just 20 minutes due to foul trouble but was incredibly efficient with nine points, five boards and six blocks. Akot had 17 points, seven boards and five assists with just a single turnover.

UTSA had two double-doubles amongst the Roadrunners: Jacob Germany for 20 points and 13 rebounds and DJ Richards for 17 points and 10 boards.

The Hilltoppers will play UTEP for the first time this season, and the first time in Diddle Arena since 2019, on Saturday afternoon. The 3 p.m. CT game will be broadcasted on Stadium and locally on WKU PBS. WKU Athletics will retire Hilltopper legend Dwight Smith’s jersey at halftime of the contest.