WKU Basketball: Grading the Tops vs. Rice

WKU's 80-66 Performance Against Rice was Stellar. How did everyone do on an individual and team level?

Western Kentucky is now starting to establish itself as what they should be: The team to beat in the Conference USA East Division. Although other teams may be able to claim rights to that semi-pointless label, it is clear Western is the most talented team in the East Division and possibly the most talented in all of C-USA. WKU is now 2-1 with the lone blemish being against 5-0 La Tech by one on the road.

WKU does have a 3-1 record, so WKU’s meltdown against La Tech seems to not be as big of a deal, considering the response by the Tops in two emphatic victories against what seems to be pretty good basketball teams in FIU and Rice. Beating North Texas would firmly solidify the Tops as battle tested and also by that point will start to stand out record-wise.

The Rice Owls are much improved, with really good guards and a magician passing the ball from the center position in Max Fiedler. But in a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network, WKU was too much for the Owls in the second half Thursday night after trailing by two at the half.

After Rice was up as much as 26-13, WKU took control, ultimately winning 80-66. For those of you sliding your abacuses around at home, that’s a swing of 27 points in a shade over 30 minutes.

So obviously it’s a nice win, but how did WKU grade out according to my Keys to Victory, as well as individual game grades? And we’ll take a look at Rick Stansbury’s decision making and the overall team performance, as well.

With that being said, let’s remind you of the Keys to Victory and gauge how much those Keys really factored in.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Get Fired Up: B

Western really came out sluggish against Rice. I’m not sure if the speech was a dud or if the Tops just needed to get kicked in the teeth for a half hour before kicking into gear, but WKU unquestionably did not come out with a Herculean effort from tip to buzzer. However, what looked like a disaster at 26-13 with a little more than 10:00 remaining in the first half turned into a 27 point swing by game’s end. I’d say WKU got fired up after being down. Good for WKU for finding an extra gear or two to get this one done in convincing fashion. The second half was a completely different level of intensity and something WKU fans should for the most part be proud of.

Shoot 47% or Better: A

Western remains undefeated when shooting 47% or better. They shot 49% in this one and that number dropped in the last few minutes as Jairus Hamilton and others missed some shots at the end of the shot clock. It seems silly, but this WKU team is feast or famine. They’re either really good or pretty bad offensively.

Don’t Let the Big Man Destroy Your Defense: A-

Max Fiedler is a fascinating player to watch. I’m not sure there’s a more unique player in college basketball, but this kid possesses guard skills in a mountainous body (6’11”). Color me impressed. I knew it was clear Rice ran the offense through him, but it was fascinating to watch him work.

Nonetheless, WKU was able to keep him fairly in check. He was able to pass the ball for a point guard-like level of assists and had 5 rebounds. He was a factor, but he didn’t go crazy from the field and he was just a pretty good player and didn’t go off in any one particular area.

Brace Yourself, Evee: A+

Travis Evee and Carl Pierre are the engines that make Rice run. They average a combined 30 points per game. I thought if WKU could hold these guys down, it would be difficult to see someone else making it up if WKU was decent offensively. It turns out this worked to perfection. Travis Evee was about normal, although on the lower end of his average. Carl Pierre had the nightmare task of trying to deal with Jairus Hamilton all night, getting in foul trouble and not nearly playing up to his normal. He was 1-of-9 from the field with only three points. All told, these two that average 30 only scored a combined 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting. They also only had five combined rebounds, as well. In addition, their two primary guys defensively both had double-doubles (Hamilton and Dayvion McKnight). I firmly believe for Rice, if these two guys are shut down, it’s really difficult for the Owls to find a way to score enough.

Big Men Need to Play Big: A+

Although this wasn’t “vintage Jamarion” in terms of him threatening a triple-double, it was still him being involved, not being a liability, and being a presence. Rice simply refused to shoot over him unless they had already gotten past him, and it really hampered their offense. Sharp was still a factor, even though he “only” recorded two blocks. Teams are now completely avoiding him in the paint. That’s fine. Don’t shoot the ball in the paint all game. We’ll take that, too. Jairus Hamilton was awesome, recording 22 points and ten rebounds as well as not turning the ball over the entire game. Actually Sharp only had one turnover, as well. So these guys were great in all areas and did exactly what they needed to put the Tops in great position.

Player Grades

Dayvion McKnight: A+

You can’t do much better than 12 assists to two turnovers. This was exactly what I’ve been talking about: If Dayvion could just limit his turnovers, he could be an All-American level point guard. The guy is responsible for so many WKU baskets and also plays such great defense that he surely is WKU’s MVP in many ways thus far this season. In addition to a 6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, Dayvion threw in 13 points at a decent shooting percentage, grabbed five boards, and stole the ball twice. Any double-double with assists should automatically be an A+ grade for the most part. That means that player is directly responsible for at least 30 points scored for his offense. In this case, he accounted for nearly half of WKU’s points.

Camron Justice: B-

Cam didn’t have his best shooting night, but he still contributed his normal average in points as well as rebounding and dropping in six assists and only a few turnovers. So good on him for finding a way to contribute despite missing a few shots.

Luke Frampton: D+

After his great performance against FIU, Frampton was ice cold, only shooting four total shots in 25 minutes and only mustered two points and racked up four fouls. He did rebound the ball four times, block a shot and steal a couple of balls and did not turn the ball over the whole game. So he gets a “+” on the end of his grade for doing something to contribute.

Jairus Hamilton: A+

This is the exact Jairus Hamilton that makes WKU almost impossible to stop. Imagine a lineup with a 7’5” guy that doesn’t do anything but cause trouble for the other team, a point guard that can assist and score, a shooting guard that does a little bit of everything, including shoot, wings that can score and play defense, and a power forward that leads the team in scoring. It’s a heck of a lineup. And every position can defend.

Jamarion Sharp: B+

Listen, big man was much more present this game. He hasn’t been bad lately, but it was nice to see him more involved and more active. The stats may not have shown it, but he affected everything Rice did. Rice absolutely refused to shoot inside unless he was beat and they could get it up on the glass. Unfortunately, he did get beat some and Mylyjael Poteat came off of the bench for 15. That was largely Sharp’s responsibility. For WKU having to play man most of the game due to Rice’s ability with Fiedler and their guards, Jamarion performed admirably well.

Josh Anderson: A+

All I have to say is 11-for-11. And none of those free throws even touched the rim. 17 and six with two blocks and two steals is a nice line for a guy coming off of the bench. Good for Josh for making the most of his role.

Jaylen Butz: D

This was not his best outing, but at least he got some minutes despite making some mistakes. He made some very obvious mistakes, and his effort still can be very lackluster. But I do think there are some good signs that he’s got his act together. But there’s no question he or someone else needs to eat up some minutes. With WKU winning by double digits, perhaps there is some room for some bench riders to get in the rotation and take some of the load off.

Coaching Overall: A+

Coaching Strategy: A+

Rick Stansbury sniffed out the bad idea a 2-3 would be against a center that ran to the high post and distributed the ball. That is the most common battle plan against a 2-3 zone, so Coach Stansbury decided to go largely with man-to-man defense. WKU did not go heavy with the 2-3 zone until the game was well in hand, and at that point, a zone made sense to slow down the opponent.

I’ve got to give it to Rick. This is one of the few games I completely loved everything he did. I think the main thing with him is trying to understand his thought process. For me, this was a perfect game plan in every way. He got people involved offensively, he minimized players that were not making shots, and he pulled all of the right strings defensively. A+

Coaching Motivation: A+

Western Kentucky came out completely flat, digging a hole immediately, and it could have been worse if Rice had hit a couple more shots. Maybe Rick’s pregame speech didn’t click. I kid. But seriously he had to find a way to get his team to dig itself out of a 13 point hole. The Tops finally woke up and really finished the game strong, going +27 in the final 30+ minutes. That’s a heck of a coaching job no matter how you slice it. That’s managing the mindset. And WKU’s defense was nothing but stellar in the second half.

Overall: A

Ultimately beating a team that just beat UAB by any margin is a nice win. But that had everything in it and virtually everyone passed the test. A few guys struggled, but for a team of seven, WKU just keeps coming. It’s amazing how much quality the Tops have despite two or maybe three bench players ever coming off of the bench.

The only ding to the overall performance is the obvious slow start. That was absolutely a lack of focus and WKU cannot do that too often. Certainly on the road, that won’t fly too often. At home, things can be more forgiving. But Western should be proud of pulling itself up after the meltdown at La Tech.

Western is now a win away from being in the top few records overall in C-USA. Tops take on North Texas Saturday afternoon at 3:00 in what could be its most difficult test so far.