Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan saw a familiar sight on Saturday — Ray Harper coaching his team to a win.
This time, though, it was the Panthers that left with a loss as Harper guided Western Kentucky University to an 83-71 exhibition win at E.A. Diddle Arena in his first game against his former team since he left.
"I thought we competed. We played hard," Harper said. "Much like a lot of teams this time of year, we had a lot of mistakes, especially on the defensive end. We had a lot of reaching. We've got to do a better job of moving our feet. I think they shot 35 free throws.
"But, they're things we can get corrected. Their offensive rebounding — 17 offensive rebounds. Those probably were the two areas I didn't think we were very good."
After a slow start to the first half that allowed KWC to hold a lead up until the 8:51 mark, WKU used a 22-6 run to close out the first half and an 8-0 run to start the second half to go up 52-34.
The Toppers' run was capped at 30-6 and ended on 14-0 run.
The WKU defense held KWC to just two field goals in the final 11:26 and the drought continued into the second half.
"We had trouble scoring to start the second half," Panthers coach Todd Lee said. "We went about three minutes without getting a basket. I thought we defended better in the second half and the percentage will bear that out. We just had trouble scoring.
They're a good team — a good defensive team."
KWC led by as many as five, but once WKU went on its run, it led by as many as 20.
WKU's defense also shut some of the Panthers' key scorers down. Seniors Cornbread Walker and Kreig Oxley, who came into Saturday's game averaging a combined 21.5 points per game, had just one field and five points between them.
Still, the rest of the offense picked it up in their absence, most notably from Donovan Johnson. The junior scored 19 points to lead the Panthers and grabbed eight rebounds in 23 minutes of play.
"The last two games, Donovan Johnson has played 21 minutes in a game and a half," Lee said. "He's learning. He's a new player. He played seven minutes in that first half. I thought that when he's in the game, we're a much better team. He matches physically what they do."
But turnovers (17) and WKU's bench play were enough to make KWC succumb.
"They were good," Harper said of his bench. "The first half I think we had like 28 points off the bench in. We've got some guys coming off the bench that are pretty potent. You look at Caden (Dickerson), Kevin (Kaspar) and O'Karo (Akamune), those three in particular."
Dickerson, who returns this season after dealing with several shoulder injuries, buried two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points. Akamune finished with 10 points in 29 minutes off the bench.
WKU had four players in double figures, led by George Fant and Jamal Crook with 14 apiece.
Lee said once his team got the lead in the first half, they sort of "backed off" some.
"We made some silly mistakes," he said. "We left a shooter (open) on a baseline out of bounds play. We had a lane violation on a free throw. Things like that — when you're on the road and you're playing a good team, you just can't make silly mistakes like that."
Both teams have a week or almost a week before they start the regular season. KWC opens on Friday at home against Union College and WKU opens on Saturday at Southern Mississippi.
As far as facing his old team, Harper said he was feeling a mix of emotions on Saturday night.
"I got a lot of fond memories and spent a lot of time there," he said. "The people there were good to me and my family. That will always be a part of me. At the same time, when it's thrown up, you can't think about that.
"I felt like, 'Hey, they got a purple jersey, let's try and win the basketball game.' That was the focal point. I wish them well and hopefully they'll have a good year."
