Throughout the offseason HH will be running past stories about memorable moments in Hilltopper history. Up first is 1993's NCAA second-round victory over sixth-ranked Seton Hall....

Western Rocks Seton Hall For Date With Florida State

[March 21, 1993]

AUDIO CLIP (.wav)

ORLANDO - The legion of skeptics handed Western Kentucky a blindfold, cigarette and asked if there were any last words.

As it turned out, Western had two last words: "Take that."

The Hilltoppers buried the doubts about their ability here yesterday with a stunning 72-68 win over sixth-ranked Seton Hall in a second round game of the NCAA Southeast Regional basketball tournament..

"We came in here today with 25 wins," senior Darnell Mee said. "Why anybody would think we couldn't play is beyond me.".

The Hilltoppers (26-5) can play. They wore down taller, stronger Seton Hall with their frenetic defensive play and spread-the-floor offense.

On press row Florida State assistant coaches spent two thirds of the game discussing Seton Hall. In the last third of the game, talk turned to Western Kentucky, which will play the third-seeded Seminoles in the regional semifinals Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C..

"Wow! This is going to be some upset," Florida State Coach Pat Kennedy said as he watched the game down the stretch. "They are a good, I mean, very good team.".

"That's what we've been trying to tell people," said WKU senior guard Mark Bell.

The 5-foot-8 Bell, who led Western with 20 points, hit the three-pointer that put the Hilltoppers ahead for good, 64-63, with 3:41 to play. It was the shot that turned Orlando Arena into Diddle Arena. The skeptics joined the Western fans and made it sound like a home game for the Toppers. The electricity stayed the rest of the way as Western stretched the lead to seven, 70-63, with 25 seconds to go.

"Our kids believe we're good," Hilltopper Coach Ralph Willard said. "We've been saying that since the middle of the year. I believe this team can compete with anybody.

Western can compete because of its defense and quickness. The Hilltoppers' pace wore down Seton Hall. The Pirates shot 45 percent from the field, but in the last 4:54 the Pirates made three of 11 shots, and lost a five-point lead.

All-American Terry Dehere, who scored 30 points, went 11 minutes without a field goal. He scored with 11:57 remaining and didn't socre again until there was :07 seconds remaining.

"That was the plan, wear them down," forward Cypheus Bunton said. "He was too tired to get to the ball. If you let him stand there and shoot, he'll make it. We made him move."

Not only did Western make Dehere move, the Hilltoppers also made the Seton Hall big men move. Luther Wright, Seton Hall's 7-2 center, was a non-factor (one point) because he couldn't keep up with Western's little big men, the 6-6 Bunton, the 6-5 Mee, or 6-7 Bryan Brown. The Hilltoppers won the boards 35-33.

This was less of an upset and more a sound win if you consider that Seton Hall led for just 8:04 of the 40-minunte game.

Seton Hall had things going its way just once when it led 62-57 with 5:05 to play. But Western regrouped and Bell's three from the right wing took it back for good 64-63.

After a Seton Hall turnover, Darius Hall made a free throw and it was 65-63. Danny Hurley, who had come off the bench to steady his team the second half, missed a jumper and Bell popped a 10-footer and it was 67-63 with 1:46 to go.

There were two key moments the rest of the way:

• Mee moved over to cover the 6-2 Hurley, whose two three-pointers ralled his team.
  
  
• Bunton nearly jumped out of the arena to block a shot by 6-8 Arturas Karnishovas.

The shot was taken under the hoop, but landed near midcourt. It would have cut Western's lead to two with 1:24 left.

Western Scoring - Bell 20, Horn 15, Mee 9, Bunton 9, Hall 7, Robinson 5, Glass 3, Fraliex 2, Brown 2.

 Article by: Ray Giler