Western Kentucky junior guard Don McHenry (2) puts up a shot during a game between WKU and MTSU on Saturday, February 3, 2024 at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky defeated MTSU 88-65.(Daily News photo by Caleb Lowndes/caleb.lowndes@bgdailynews.com)

Don McHenry had no more time to waste Saturday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Western Kentucky junior point guard felt he had done enough of that in the first 20 minutes against Conference USA rival Middle Tennessee State by drawing two early fouls to earn a spot on the bench for the last five minutes of the first half.

That forced break seemed to do McHenry good – he returned to the floor to start the second half and blowtorched the Blue Raiders by scoring the Tops’ first 17 points of the half to turn a tie game into an eventual laugher as WKU rolled to an 88-65 win in front of a season-high 5,527 Hilltopper fans.

“Well shoot, he had a lot of rest – he sat his butt on that bench the first half for a long time with fouls,” WKU coach Steve Lutz said of McHenry, who finished with a team-high 22 points – 20 in the second half. “So he was rested up and ready to go. But yeah, anytime some guy comes into the game and scores 17 and kind of carries you you’ll take it. I mean, he was fantastic.”

WKU (15-7 overall, 4-4 CUSA) was locked in a 38-all tie with their longtime rival at halftime. The Blue Raiders largely lived off the 3-point shot in the first half, sinking 8-of-20 from that distance to stay in the game despite getting consistently outplayed in the post and in the lane.

The Hilltoppers had only two made 3s in the first 20 minutes, but that all changed once McHenry got going. The Milwaukee native hit his first 3-pointer 37 seconds into the half, and the light came on. He missed a mid-range jumper, but then McHenry did this – 3-pointer, 3-pointer, jumper, free throw, 3-pointer, free throw, free throw. Add it up, and McHenry had delivered a personal 17-6 run that gave the Tops a 55-44 lead with 14:45 to play.

“It’s like a restart,” McHenry said of his second-half outburst. “And it was just being fresh just from not playing (as much) in the first half. And my teammates did a great job of holding it down in the first half.”

McHenry surge energized the Tops’ offense while WKU clamped down on the Blue Raiders shooters. After knocking down eight 3s in the first half, MTSU was a dismal 3-of-22 from that range in the second as a large part of a 26.5% shooting performance over the final 20 minutes.

Lutz said it was one of the team’s best defensive halfs this season.

“You don’t ever want to look in the rear-view mirror, but I think if we would’ve played defense like that in the second half on Thursday night (a 79-77 home loss to Sam Houston State), we probably would be in a little bit different position in the conference rankings. But nonetheless, we did it tonight. We learned from that mistake, hopefully, and we came out with a vengeance and we were able to get the win.”

MTSU never did recover after McHenry’s jolt of offense. As the missed shots piled up for the Blue Raiders, the Tops made them pay on the other end. Tyrone Marshall Jr. delivered a crowd-pleasing dunk off an alley oop pass from Dontaie Allen, then seldom-used reserves Tyler “Fluff” Olden buried a 3-pointer from the corner and Jaylen Dorsey popped a jumper in the lane to cap off a feel-good night for the Tops.

The first half was much more of a grind, with Rodney Howard producing his second straight outstanding night on the low post to keep the Tops even until the second-half knockout blow. Howard, who scored an efficient 17 points in the loss to Sam Houston, piled up 16 points against the Blue Raiders. Fellow big man Babacar Faye added seven points as WKU enjoyed a decided advantage in the paint.

“My teammates get me the ball for a lot of my post touches and stuff, but just being able to being every day in practice has helped me a lot to finish around the rim,” said the 6-foot-10 Howard. “I was not finishing well at the beginning of the season or mid-season as well, but now I’m starting to figure it out better.”

Dontaie Allen added 10 points and Enoch Kalambay added eight points for the Tops, who finished the three-game homestand with two wins despite missing starting shooting guard Khristian Lander. The senior hasn’t played since getting elbowed in the eye during a road game at New Mexico State on Jan. 18.

WKU ended the night shooting 50% from the field, one of virtual all the statistical categories the Hilltoppers led – rebounding (+4), turnovers (+5) and assists (+6) among the good numbers.

“I was really impressed and happy with the fact that we only turned the ball over three times in the second half,” Lutz said. “I thought we needed to keep our turnovers (under) 10 to 12, we were going to put ourselves in a good position. I thought that the other side of the ball we needed to force more turnovers than we actually did.

“ … If we can harness that defensive intensity in the second half and keep it 40 minutes moving forward, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

Jalen Jordan had 22 points to lead MTSU (8-14, 2-5). Jestin Porter added 18 points.

WKU is back in action Wednesday at CUSA rival Louisiana Tech for a 6 p.m. CT matchup. It’s the start of a two-game road trip, with a visit to Jacksonville State two days later. The Tops are 0-3 in conference road games this season.{&end}