WKU Basketball: Hilltoppers Welcome Cumberlands in Final Exhibition

The Tops will take the floor one more time before doing it for real next week.

For the final time ahead of next Tuesday’s season opener against Alabama State, the Western Kentucky men’s basketball team will take the floor in exhibition action as the Hilltoppers welcome in University of the Cumberlands.

Game Info

Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky.
TV: WKU is not providing TV broadcasts/streams for preseason games
Radio: The Hilltopper IMG Sports Network

The Tops will look to go through another exhibition slate unscathed and an 82–61 win over Campbellsville helped further that cause, giving WKU it’s first organized action over another program since last year’s NIT loss to Louisiana Tech.

Monday night, Jarius Hamilton was the standout, logging 19 points and 14 rebounds in his first unofficial action as a Hilltopper. Dayvion McKnight (17) and Josh Anderson (10) also finished the evening in double-figure scoring while Jaylen Butz was the only other double-figure rebounder.

By all accounts Monday (with no stream provided by WKU, I was unable to actually watch), the starting five of Hamilton, McKnight, Anderson, Butz and Luke Frampton was quite good: They accounted for 63 of the Tops 82 total points and 33 of WKU’s 50 total rebounds.

However, the biggest area of concern after 40 unofficial minutes that I heard was in the bench: Outside of Jamarion Sharp and his 14 points and three blocks, there’s not a ton to write home about. Whether that’s due to how they were used (Sharp was one of just three bench players — along with Sherman Brashear and Noah Stansbury to log more than four minutes) or their actual effectiveness.

Either way, we may get a bit more clarity tonight.

Projected Lineups

WKU

Jarius Hamilton
Dayvion McKnight
Josh Anderson
Luke Frampton
Jaylen Butz

Cumberlands

Jahi Hinson
Steven Fitzgerald
Isaiah Payton
Kahlil Davis
Austin hall