Joe Jackson led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and No. 15 Memphis rolled over visiting Western Kentucky 77-61 Saturday night.

The Tigers finished the first half on a 14-4 run and led by 20 points early in the second half. The Hilltoppers cut the deficit in half with a 10-0 run to close the gap to 53-43 with 12 minutes to play.

But Memphis (7-0) weathered the storm, and D.J. Stephens’ dunk keyed an 11-5 run as the Tigers cruised the rest of the way.

After surviving an overtime scare earlier in the week from one-win Arkansas State in which Memphis coach Josh Pastner blasted his team for settling for 3-pointers, Memphis took the ball to the rim and shot 48 percent for the game.

Highly touted freshman Will Barton (eight points) made his first start of the season but struggled from the field. The only shot he made in the first half was a dunk, but the rest of the Tigers were deadly in building a 47-31 lead.

Meanwhile, Western Kentucky (3-5) was woeful from the field. It hit only 9 of its first 37 shots, and finished at 31 percent.

Sergio Kerusch led the Hilltoppers with 16 points.