Hilltopper Notebook: Sam Houston/LA Tech Preview
The Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers look to bounce back from losses to Middle. WKU Baseball and WKU Softball combined for a 7-0 record over the weekend. They play more winnable games at home this weekend
Western Kentucky Men’s Basketball sits near the bottom of CUSA. But a team comes into Diddle Arena that sits one spot lower than the Tops in Sam Houston. The preseason predictions have thus far flipped on their for these two teams. WKU sits alone in eighth place, while Sam Houston sits alone in ninth. Before the season, the two teams were predicted to finish second and third, but not from the bottom.
Saturday, WKU Basketball draws Louisiana Tech, another team predicted to do well in CUSA that has a losing record in conference despite a 17-9 overall record. Fortunately for WKU, the two teams coming to town have a combined five wins away from home this season, while the Tops have found 11 of their 14 wins at Diddle Arena. In theory, this should be two victories in the pocket of the Tops…right?
Maybe. But obvious to anyone in the know about WKU, the Tops have been saddled with injury. Not only did they have Teagan Moore, a fabulous freshman from last season, announce his intention to redshirt for the season, the Tops have had two significant in-season injuries to All C-USA caliber players Julius Thedford and Babacar Faye. Thedford was so good that he may still make an All-Freshman team despite having not played in over a month due to a dislocated knee. These footnotes still don’t tell the story, as several players on the WKU roster have been injured for multiple seasons, and several others in the WKU rotation have had minor injuries throughout the season.
Despite whatever details, WKU should definitely beat Sam Houston, who for some reason has been terrible in CUSA play. They should likely beat La Tech, who again, only has three wins away from home this season.
Previewing the Men’s Action This Week: Tops Rounding the Corner to the Final Stretch in CUSA Play
The Tops are in the middle of a three game homestretch that will conclude on Saturday night. WKU already fell to Middle Tennessee in a back-and-forth affair where the Tops faded late. This week, they’ll be entertaining Sam Houston on Thursday and perennial conference rival Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Tops are dealing with a a three game losing streak and will have all the pressure of snapping it during this current home stand. As the CUSA Tournament starts to round into focus, it’s imperative for WKU to make a strong run within these final weeks on the regular season just to get better seeding.
The Bearkats are currently enjoying a two game winning streak with home wins over Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State after losing seven straight CUSA games, including against WKU in a 75-66 loss on January 25th. Bearkats guard Lamar Wilkerson is the second leading scorer in the conference, averaging 19.7 points per game and can be an instant game changer on any given night.
Louisiana Tech has been dealing with a losing streak of their own as well after losses to Kennesaw State Jacksonville State, the polar opposite of Sam Houston’s current fortunes. They’re banking on a trip to the mid-south to be as glorious as it can be. Before Saturday’s game at Diddle, they’re preparing for a tussle with MTSU on Thursday night in Murfreesboro, arguably one of the toughest places to get a conference road win this season. Daniel Batcho remains as the Bulldogs leading scorer with 17.9 points per game but here recently, it’s been Sean Newman Jr. & Al Green who have stepped up on some nights to keep LA Tech in the middle of a tight CUSA race before the conference tournament. However, the Bulldogs have one of the most stingy defenses in the conference, holding their opponents to 68.5 points in their contests.
~Alex Sherfield
Putting it in Perspective
These three teams (La Tech, WKU, and Sam Houston State) sit at seventh, eight, and ninth in the Conference USA standings. SHSU can pull quite close to WKU if the Tops get swept and they can steal a road win or two. La Tech and Sam have the tougher draws this week, obviously, because they get MTSU as part of the package with WKU. MTSU sits third in CUSA and is incredible at home with a good atmosphere. If WKU can hold serve at home, they will surpass La Tech and would be likely to be sitting four full games ahead of SHSU with a tiebreaker and two losses ahead of La Tech with five to play.
In the grander scheme of things, NMSU and UTEP get JSU and KSU this week on the road. That’s another major pod of teams that are within a few games of WKU and La Tech. If WKU can just win these two games, they’ll be at .500 in conference, and they will be sitting at least two spots higher and likely in a tie for fourth or fifth place.
It is essential for WKU to get these last two home games before swinging west to UTEP and New Mexico State.
Dave’s Dunks: Lady Toppers Looking Bounce Back from Tough Battle at MTSU
Lady Toppers Headed to Texas to Face 12-11 Sam Houston on Thursday at 6:30
Sam Houston has 8 players that average around 20 minutes per game and are led by Kaila Kelley 12.5 points and Deborah Ogayemi averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds. The Bearkats average 63 points, 36.8 rebounds and 19.6 turnovers per game. Turnovers are the biggest problem for SHU. If WKU can continue forcing turnovers against Sam Houston and make shots on the road, this should be a WKU win.
Western Goes to Louisiana on Saturday at 2:30 to Square Off Against 13-11 La Tech.
The Lady Techsters average 66.4 points, 38.3 rebounds and are also susceptible to turning the ball over, averaging 19.2 per game. Two of those three things would seem to play directly into the Lady Toppers’ hands, and the Tops seemingly would just need to hold their own on the boards and be in pretty good shape. La Tech has 4 women averaging 11.4 or more points per game, Jordan Marshall (11.4), Jianna Morris(11.4), Robyn Lee (12.1) and Paris Bradley (13.1), so they are pretty balanced. They will try to hold WKU in the low 60s to give them a pretty good chance for the upset win at home. The problem is WKU is a generally capable offensive team, averaging well into the 70s per game on the season.
The CUSA Women’s Basketball Race
As you can see, WKU sits comfortably in third place, with 2.5 games to catch Liberty and two full games before someone else takes them over from behind. Sam Houston and La Tech would be huge wins that would virtually eliminate any chance those two teams catch WKU, but also, it gets WKU two more wins and guarantees at least a two game lead heading into the final few weeks of the season. If WKU can keep pace with Liberty, the Tops only need to be one game better than the Flames to steal the two seed, assuming WKU can beat Liberty at Liberty to end the regular season.
WKU Baseball 2-0, WKU Softball Bounces Back After Start to Open Season
WKU Baseball played Illinois State in two back-and-forth thrillers to start the weekend, but the other two games were rained out due to the historic flooding that has gripped the region. WKU plays Lafayette College this weekend in what should get the Tops off to a 5-0 start on the year.
Meanwhile, WKU Softball bounced back from a 1-4 start to go 5-0 on the weekend. The Tops play in the Hilltopper Classic Sunday and Monday at home.
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