GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (22-November) —— Luke Frampton, Emmanuel Akot and Fallou Diagne all scored 14 points and Western Kentucky beat Illinois State 78-66 in the Cayman Islands Classic on Tuesday.
Frampton shot 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while fellow starting guard Akot made all three of his attempted shots from behind the arc for the Hilltoppers (4-1) to quickly rebound from bounced back from the 72-53 loss to Akron on Monday night.
Jordan Rawls scored 12 points off the bench as Western Kentucky collected 32 points from reserves, compared to Illinois State which only had 14 points from the bench.
Seneca Knight led the Redbirds (2-4) with a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals. Darius Burford added 16 points in the defeat for Illinois State, which fell to a third successive loss.
As a team, the Hilltoppers shot 51.0% from the field and 58.8% from 3-pointers, while the team scored 26 baskets on 16 assists. Western Kentucky led 38-35 at halftime and then outscored Illinois State 40-31 in the second half to secure the win. They had 26 points in the paint and 10 points off turnovers.
The Redbirds shot 38.2% from the field and 32.3% from long-range, and were outrebounded 34-30.
