With five Conference USA games in the books, a troubling trend has emerged for the Hilltoppers: second-half implosions. Before Saturday’s victory over Florida Atlantic, WKU had blown leads of 15 points or more in three consecutive games.
The first collapse occurred against Old Dominion. The Monarchs came into the game with an upset win over 25th-ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome but dropped their first conference game at home to Marshall. The Hilltoppers got off to a dream start, finding themselves up 21 with 13:07 left in the first half. But ODU, led by senior guards B.J. Stith and Ahmad Caver, closed the gap to seven by the end of the first half.