HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Steffphon Pettigrew scored 18 points, and No. 4 seed Western Kentucky shot 68 percent in the second half en route to an 83-58 win over No. 13 New Orleans on Saturday evening in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Sergio Kerusch added 16 points, and A.J. Slaughter had 13 as the Hilltoppers (20-12) advanced to Sunday's quarterfinals against Arkansas State.
Sophomore guard Charles Carmouche scored a game-high 21 points to lead UNO (8-22), and freshman guard Carl Blair had 16 points and eight assists. But the Privateers tied their season high with 25 turnovers, which led to 35 points for the Hilltoppers. WKU also forced 25 turnovers in their 76-56 win over the Privateers on Jan. 30.
The loss ends the season for UNO, which played in its final Sun Belt Tournament. The school has announced it will withdraw its league membership this summer, as it plans to transition to Division III.
The Privateers made a game of it early. UNO led for parts of the game's first 10 minutes and was only down 31-25 at halftime.
WKU, though, took over in the second half -- scoring 20 points off 13 UNO turnovers. The Hilltoppers outscored UNO 33-17 in the final 10 minutes.
WKU was 19-of-28 from the field in the second half and shot 56 percent overall.
UNO senior guard Billy Humphrey returned after missing the last 13 games with a knee injury. The Chicago native scored seven points in 27 minutes of action.
The Privateers shot 48.8 percent from the field and 91 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line.
POSTGAME QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
OPENING STATEMENT: "I think Western Kentucky is obviously a very talented team, and I think they are an NCAA Tournament team. I think they can give some high major schools some problems like they already have this season. I think we played as well as we could play in the first half of the game and had it at our tempo, which is what we wanted to do, and we had the score where we wanted it. The second half got away from us, and especially the first five minutes of the (half), and it hurt us."
ON WKU'S SEPARATION IN 2ND HALF: "We weren't getting any stops in the second half, and the first five minutes really hurt us. We shot 58 percent in the second half, so offensively we make 10 shots in each half. It came down to our defense, and we turned the ball over 25 times and they converted on those."
ON IT BEING FINAL SUN BELT GAME: "It was very difficult for our kids. They have had a very difficult year, and the biggest thing that they have had to endure all year long is uncertainty. It has been very difficult not knowing where the future is."
