Western Kentucky beats Southern Illinois 53-46

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Steffphon Pettigrew scored 15 points to lead Western Kentucky to a come-from-behind 53-46 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday.

Tied at 38, the Hilltoppers (5-5) went on a 9-0 run to put the game away. Pettigrew started the run with a 3-pointer, his first 3 in 18 attempts.

The Salukis (5-5) led by 13 in the first half after going on a 17-2 run. The Salukis outrebounded Western Kentucky 14-2 during the run. The Hilltoppers were 0 for 14 from the field in that stretch.

Western Kentucky was 7 of 28 from the field (25 percent) in the first half, but trailed only 23-17 due to Southern Illinois' 12 first-half turnovers.

The Salukis finished with 23 turnovers and the Hilltoppers had 10. Nine players had at least two turnovers for Southern Illinois.

The Hilltoppers were 12 of 21 from the field (57.1 percent) in the second half as they outscored the Salukis 36-23. They finished at 38.8 percent from the field (19 of 49) and the Salukis shot 43.5 percent (20 of 46).

Western Kentucky held on for the win despite being outrebounded 42-22.

Juan Patillo came in as Western Kentucky's leading scorer with 15.1 points per game, but scored just five points, going 2 of 6 from the field.

Brandon Peters added 11 points for Western Kentucky.

Mamadou Seck and Gene Teague each had 12 points to lead the Southern Illinois.