WKU Basketball: Bold Predictions Ahead of the C-USA Men’s Basketball Tournament
The Conference USA tournament kicks off tomorrow, and the Tops will wait until Thursday to get their post season underway, as they look to…
The Conference USA tournament kicks off tomorrow, and the Tops will wait until Thursday to get their post season underway, as they look to win yet another conference tourney crown and punch their ticket to the big dance (which, after the last two games, is the only way they’ll be going dancing).
But, before we get the games underway, I asked the writing staff if anyone had any bold predictions for the tournament and here is what they came up with.
Fletcher Keel: The Toppers will put two on the all-tournament team, and one of them will be Justin Johnson
Justin Johnson has had nearly a dream career on the Hill, but he’s missing one thing — a trip to the NCAA tournament. If the Tops are to fail in their goal of winning it all, JJ won’t be the cause of it. He’s going to play as he has all year and will be rewarded for his efforts.
But, it can’t be just a one-man job. Ideally, it’ll be a three or four man job, but we all know how unlikely that is. Having said that, as much as I think Dwight Coleby and Darius Thompson will be key in any WKU tourney success, I think it’ll be one of the key freshman — Taveion Hollingsworth or Josh Anderson — who pushes the Tops over the edge and earns a spot on the all-tourney team with Johnson.
While Taveion may be the more obvious pick out of him and JA, I think Anderson is ready to bust out at any moment, and what better time than on the biggest stage of the season (so far).
Sam Gormley: Jake Ohmer will return to his early season form.
I’ve mentioned often about how I feel that Ohmer is the X-Factor of this team; he is a guy that sparks the offense in a fast way with his three point shooting.
However, he has struggled for most of conference play. From the time I watched him play high school basketball in Northern Kentucky, I’ve always known him to be a performer in tournaments. Whether it was the big shot he hit in the 8th Region Tournament, his impressive scoring during the KHSAA Sweet 16 or his shot against SMU in the Bahamas; Jake Ohmer is a guy who shows up in tournaments and if WKU wants a chance at winning, he must play well.
Matt McCay: WKU beats Middle by 9 in the title game
If WKU was to pick good match-ups, surely this would be the side to pick. WKU is 6–1 against this side of the bracket, and has beaten whatever opponent it would face until the championship. I think WKU gets back rolling and wins every game by at least 7 points on its way to the C-USA Championship. If WKU gets past a potential match-up with UAB in the quarterfinals, WKU beats Middle in the championship by 9, and the Toppers go dancing for the first time since 2013.
Ross Shircliffe: A more upbeat, free flowing offense will take WKU far
WKU will tweak their offense in hopes of creating a spark that pushes them through the tournament. One thing that I noticed over the final two games of the regular season is that Rick Stansbury repeatedly elected to slow down the pace in order to dictate the game and keep his short bench out of foul trouble. After last week’s disastrous results, I firmly believe that Rick scraps that philosophy and elects to let the team to play a more wide open style to take more advantage of the playmaking skills of Darius Thompson, Taveion Hollingsworth, Lamonte Bearden and Josh Anderson.
With the pace quickened, it will open up more looks and easy baskets for Justin Johnson and Dwight Coleby down low and the Tops will return to their high scoring ways that won’t let a hot shooting performance by the other team instantly wreck their chances. Whether that is enough against a schedule that will likely include UAB, ODU & MTSU remains to be seen. After last week something had to give and I believe that Rick will scrap the previous slow down style with WKU’s NCAA tournament hopes on the line.
Do you have a bold prediction for the tournament? Either WKU-focused or about the tournament as a whole? Let us know in a comment below, on Twitter, our Facebook page or forums.