BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -A.J. Slaughter scored a career-high 30 points to lead Western Kentucky to a 69-65 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Monday night.
Slaughter scored 17 of his points in the second half of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Tipoff. He was 10-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Sergio Kerusch and Steffphon Pettigrew scored 13 points each for the Hilltoppers (1-0).
James Eayrs led the Panthers (1-1) with 13 points. Patrick Souter added 12 points and Ricky Franklin had 11.
Western Kentucky, which trailed by six early in the second half, used a 7-0 run to pull ahead 42-41. After nine lead changes, the Hilltoppers led 58-57 with 5:45 remaining.
Slaughter made two foul shots in the final minute for a 66-59 Hilltoppers lead. The Panthers trimmed the deficit to two on an Eayrs basket with 4 seconds left, then Kerusch clinched the victory with two free throws.
