At Western Kentucky, a Weird Loss and a Firing Not much has been going according to plan at Western Kentucky recently, but took a turn for the downright weird in the past day. The Hilltoppers were 5-10 heading into Thursday night's game at home against Louisiana-Lafayette, a disappointing start to a season that the school had hoped would begin a turnaround from two seasons without a post-season bid. Not only would the Hilltoppers go on to lose, 72-70, in overtime, but they failed to notice that Louisiana-Lafayette had six players on the court when Elfrid Payton hit the game-winning layup with 3.6 seconds left. The officials didn't notice either, which has them in hot water with the Sun Belt Conference, but Western Kentucky Coach Ken McDonald ended up paying the steepest price. The school fired him Friday morning. Ross Bjork, Western's athletic director, took pains to emphasize that the move did not stem solely from Thursday night's loss, the WKU Herald reported Friday. He was considering firing McDonald after last season, but kept him after the coach agreed to a $100,000 pay cut to $250,000. Assistant coach Ray Harper replaces him on an interim basis. "We have a 5-11 record and do not rank in the nation's top 200 in virtually any statistical category," Bjork said in a news conference. This is not what the WKU basketball program should represent. Western Kentucky is a proud mid-major in a basketball-mad state. McDonald had taken over at one of the program's high points, in 2008, after the school had made the round of 16 in the N.C.A.A. Tournament and Darrin Horn was hired away by South Carolina. McDonald's first team won 25 games but has been on a downward spiral since and fans have responded by staying away. Thursday night's game drew just 2,137 despite a tickets being sold at local businesses for $1. Those who did attend were treated to a spectacle at the end of the game. Louisiana-Lafayette emerged from a timeout with six players on the floor. A veteran referee crew, Brad Gaston, Roger Ayers and Reinaldo Acosta, saw nothing amiss. That could have been because in the entire final possession, which began with 21 seconds to go, Payton never passed the ball to another player. He dribbled in several circles before finding a path to the lane for his winning layup. According to ESPN.com, Sun Belt Conference coordinator of officials Mike Wood said that only after the game was over did anyone call attention to the six players. Wood said he got a call from the officials asking if a technical could be assessed, but at that point, it was too late. They would have had to call the technical while play was going on. Wood said the officials might be suspended by the conference. Western Kentucky's consideration of McDonald's fate didn't take that long. "Our historic program is too strong to be in this position," Bjork said. It certainly didn't plan on being in the national spotlight for a freakish ending to a game and then dumping its coach.