BOCA RATON, Fla. — One hard practice apparently produced one easy win for Western Kentucky.

After Thursday’s disappointing setback at Florida International, WKU held a practice Friday that was, as guard Sergio Kerusch put it, “so hard that I still have the scratches to prove it.”

It was worth it for the Hilltoppers, who salvaged their Florida swing Saturday with a 78-57 victory at Florida Atlantic.

“Our focus was better,” WKU coach Ken McDonald said. “Honestly, maybe we take for granted sometimes how hard you have to play on the road. It’s one of those things.”

The focus sparked an inspired defensive effort. The Hilltoppers held FAU to less than 36 percent from the field. Most notable was WKU’s lockdown of FAU guard Paul Graham III, who had been the Sun Belt Conference’s third-leading scorer at 17.4 points a game.

Thanks largely to WKU guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez’s defense, Graham was limited to eight points, including two free throws in the final three minutes after the Hilltoppers had built a 21-point lead.

“(WKU assistant coach Lawrence Brenneman) pretty much called me on the spot and put a lot of pressure on me (to guard him),” Mendez-Valdez said. “I responded and wanted to show I was capable of playing high, intense defense.”

That came as no surprise to McDonald.

“We had (WKU graduate intern and former Hilltopper) Anthony Winchester simulate (Graham) in practice and (Mendez-Valdez) just went after Anthony,” McDonald said. “I knew Orlando was going to be up to that challenge.”

Mendez-Valdez also had a game-high 21 points on five 3-pointers - four of which came in the decisive second half.

The Hilltoppers held a 31-27 halftime advantage. But WKU shot better than 59 percent in the second half after shooting only 31 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

“The game plan was to pass up a good shot for a great shot,” Kerusch said. “That was the whole thing. A great shot was inside or an open 3.”

Kerusch added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Steffphon Pettigrew and Jeremy Evans each had 12.

WKU led 46-44 with 12:06 remaining when it took command. The Hilltoppers used a 9-3 spurt, capped by Jeremy Evans’ dunk, to go up 55-46.

A late 10-0 run, punctuated by Mendez-Valdez’ 3-pointer with 3:03 remaining, gave the Hilltoppers a 74-53 lead.

WKU held FAU without a field goal for a six-minute stretch until Alex Tucker’s jumper with 1:16 remaining. Carderro Nwoji led FAU with 22 points, 15 coming in the first half.

“Our guards did a good job of staying with it and playing hard,” McDonald said. “That was the big thing, they played hard all the possessions.”

WKU’s defensive performance came after two shaky nights on the weeklong road trip.

Mississippi State tied a school-record with 14 3-pointers on Monday. Florida International, which was the Sun Belt’s worst offensive team statistically, hit 10-for-18 3-pointers and scored a season-best 81 points against WKU.

“Coach wasn’t taking any stuff from the get-go (in practice),” Kerusch said. “He let us know that this wasn’t a joke and we had to go at this as a team and we weren’t playing as a team.”

The Owls, who remain the only team in the Sun Belt without a league victory, did play without reigning All-Sun Belt Conference forward Carlos Monroe.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward missed Saturday’s contest with what FAU coach Mike Jarvis said was a foot injury.

“I was shocked to see he was not out there,” Mendez-Valdez said. “He’s a big player for them. We were focused no matter what, if he was on the court or off the court, but I’m pretty sure it hurt them.”

WKU took advantage inside without Monroe. The Hilltoppers outrebounded FAU 49-31, had 21 offensive rebounds and scored 42 points in the paint.

“Losing Monroe was a huge loss,” McDonald said. “Losing one of your top players is tough. We know what it’s like.”

FAU overcame Monroe’s loss early, jumping out with a 14-7 run on three consecutive 3-pointers. But the Hilltoppers’ defense adjusted, and FAU hit only two more the rest of the night.

The Hilltoppers went on an 18-4 run in which they limited the Owls to only one field goal over a nine-minute stretch.

WKU led by as many as seven in the first half.

“I thought we just worked the game, stayed with the game plan didn’t take too many (chances),” McDonald said. “We rebounded the heck out of the ball and we shared the ball.”