WKU Basketball: Lady Tops, Fella Tops Play For C-USA Titles

Who’s ready for a twofer? Both the Lady Tops and Hilltoppers have survived and advanced their way into their respective C-USA title games…

Who’s ready for a twofer? Both the Lady Tops and Hilltoppers have survived and advanced their way into their respective C-USA title games, and we should be treated to two fantastic games of basketball.

WKU vs. Marshall

In the men’s bracket, the nightcap of the tournament will be the Hilltoppers against the Herd, a regular season series that saw the Tops win both games: a 112–87 thrashing in Huntington (in a game that really was an outlier in both team’s schedules) and an 85–74 victory at Diddle.

The Herd have rattled off three wins in a row: They closed the year with a 76–67 win against #24 (at the time) Middle Tennessee and defeated UTSA (95–81) and Southern Miss (85–75) en route to tonight.

In three of their last four wins, the Herd have posted 85 points or better, but those games consist of matchups vs. Charlotte and the two aforementioned tournament games.

The Herd have gotten key games from different contributors in each game this tournament — against UTSA, it was C.J. Burks (29 points, nine rebounds) and Ajdin Penava (23 points, 12 rebounds) who got it done, while Jon Elmore paced the way with 26 points against Southern Miss in a game where all five Herd starters finished with 12 points or more.

Beating a team thrice in a year is hard, we said that yesterday. I can’t fathom trying to beat a team three times in a row in consecutive games.

Tip off is at 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

WKU vs. UAB

The Lady Toppers have a chance to dish some payback, as they lost their only matchup against UAB, 79–61, back on January 13.

The Lady Blazers, while not unstoppable, are pretty damn good (as evidenced by their #1 seed this tournament). UAB enters having won five straight contests, including a 75–66 win against UTEP and a 67–55 victory over Rice.

UAB boasts three players who can drop 13+ on any given night, and have so far in this tournament in Rachel Childress, Deanna Kuzmanic and Miyah Barnes.

I think this is going to be the best game not just of the day, but of the tournament on either side. The Lady Tops are going to want revenge, and the Blazers are going to want to prove they are without a doubt the top team in C-USA.

I can’t wait, and we’ll see it all go down at 4:30 p.m., also on CBS Sports Network.