WKU Basketball: Preview for Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech
Steve Lutz and his Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head down to Ruston to face off against the hottest (and probably best) team in Conference USA. Here's everything you need to know about WKU vs La Tech.
Overview
On Wednesday, February 7, the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers head down to Ruston Louisiana to face off against the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs. WKU (15-7, 4-4 CUSA) is coming off of a much-needed 88-65 win over their rivals, Middle Tennessee, to move the Hilltoppers to fourth in Conference USA. La Tech (16-6, 6-1 CUSA) is currently on a six-game winning streak, most recently beating FIU 93-53 in Miami, solidifying the Bulldogs at first place in Conference USA. La Tech is really the lone team in CUSA that has shown an ability to win on the road. As of publication, ESPN’s BPI has La Tech with a 90.9% chance to win.
Notable Statistics
WKU Stat Leaders
PPG: Don McHenry: 15.4 points per game
RPG: Brandon Newman: 6 rebounds per game
APG: Don McHenry: 2.7 assists per game
La Tech Stat Leaders
PPG: Isaiah Crawford: 15.8 points per game
RPG: Daniel Batcho: 10.5 rebounds per game
APG: Sean Newman, Jr.: 5.2 assists per game
WKU Team Stats
80.7 PPG
46.9% FG
34.1% 3PT
40 RPG
13.9 APG
7.5 SPG
14.1 TO
La Tech Team Stats
76.2 PPG
46% FG
36.9% 3PT
39.9 RPG
13.2 APG
7.7 SPG
12.4 TO
Keys to Victory
WKU
Western is going to have to shut down the La Tech front court. The Bulldogs front court consists of Daniel Batcho, who many consider to be the best big man in Conference USA and a surefire All-Conference First Teamer, and Isaiah Crawford, the team’s leading scorer and preseason Conference USA Player of the Year. Both stand at 6’6” and create matchup and athleticism issues for most opponents. Rodney Howard and Babacar Faye are definitely going to have their hands full. They must stay out of immediate foul trouble. Batcho is a 6’11” Texas Tech transfer center and is having an amazing season averaging a double-double with 15 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and is considered the front-runner for Conference USA Player of the Year.
His partner in crime, Isaiah Crawford is another guaranteed first teamer. Crawford is a 6’6” forward and he is leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 15.8 points per game and right behind Batcho in rebounds with 5.9 rebounds per game. He is a handful by himself for any defense, especially in Ruston. I would love to see Tyrone Marshall and Enoch Kalambay taking turns guarding Crawford because those two players probably have the best potential to slow him down. Marshall’s length and Kalambay’s athleticism and toughness may be able to keep him in check.
In addition to the two big men producing on the scoreboard, WKU is also going to have to make sure they are crashing the boards. La Tech averages pretty much the same number of rebounds per game as WKU. This season, if Western isn’t rebounding the ball like they should, more times than not, they are losing. It’s going to be crucial for everyone on this Hilltopper team to make sure they are finding a body and boxing out to keep the Bulldogs off of the glass. That has been an issue lately and even showed its ugly head in the Middle Tennessee game despite the scoring margin.
The last thing that Western is going to have to do is to play a full 40-minute game. We finally saw a great second half from Western Saturday when they played Middle Tennessee when they outscored the Blue Raiders 50-27 in the second half. If the Tops can close out games like this every game, they have the chance to finish the season at the top of Conference USA. They didn’t let Middle even think about getting back into the game and they kept their foot on the gas on both sides of the floor all the way until the final buzzer. I know that it’s very hard to win at Louisiana Tech, but the Tops are very capable of doing so if they play how they did in the second half against MTSU. In addition to a nice second half, the Tops must also play well in the first. If the Tops do exactly what they did against MTSU, it would be too little too late. La Tech is significantly better than the Blue Raiders.
A bonus nugget for the Tops from your editor-in-chief: WKU needs to handle the intangibles. Khristian Lander is still likely out. Next man up. Western is playing in (for whatever reason) the toughest place to play in Conference USA. So what? It’s time for WKU to make a move, or at least show Conference USA that they can play just as well on the road as at home. Western has one loss at home, but has done virtually nothing spectacular on the road all season and nothing in conference play. Tough environments are only tough if they’re allowed to be. If a team is focused and just playing good basketball with energy and even using the opposing crowd to their advantage, the home court advantage can be neutralized. The Tops need to focus up, play hard with consistency, and give themselves a great chance to steal one in Ruston.
La Tech
La Tech is going to have to make sure they keep Rodney Howard and Don McHenry under control. Rodney Howard is a 6’11” center for the Hilltoppers and has been playing great in these last two games for WKU, averaging 16.5 points per game. In his last couple of weeks, Howard is shooting well over 80 percent from the floor. When he gets a rhythm and is able to get position down low, he’s very hard to stop. Daniel Batcho is going to have to make sure that he is well rested coming into the game because you know that Howard is going to be putting work in the paint everytime he sees the floor. Keeping Batcho busy defensively could make him human offensively.
Don McHenry is a 6’2” guard for the Hilltoppers, and he has been on a tear recently. He had 21 points against Sam Houston and 22 against Middle Tennessee (20 in the second half). He’s very capable of lighting it up from three, as well as taking it to the hole. The Bulldogs backcourt is going to have to shut him down when it counts to have their best chance of winning. Also, just look at how Howard and McHenry performed compared to the scoreboard. No matter how it felt, what does the scoreboard say at the end of the first half compared to what they scored? If Western is tied and McHenry and Howard combined for five points, that’s a huge win for WKU. If these two have scored 25 combined and Western is trailing, that’s a disaster for WKU and it puts so much pressure on them and everyone else to have the game of their life to beat the Bulldogs.
La Tech, much like WKU, is going to have to crash the boards. Both teams are top 30 in the country at rebounding the ball and it should be very interesting to see who wins the rebounding battle. More importantly, in crucial moments, who has the upper hand on the glass? Does Batcho dominate for a stretch? Does WKU clean the boards in crunch time? La Tech’s guards don’t really rebound the ball that much, which is the opposite for WKU, considering the Hilltoppers leading rebounder is a guard (Brandon Newman). With that being said, the Bulldog guards are going to have to box out and crash the boards just as much as the bigs to keep WKU from getting out in transition, which is something that the Tops will be looking to do all game.
The last thing that La Tech needs to do is get hot from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs currently have four players averaging above 40% from three-point range. This means that they are beyond deadly from three and are more than capable of taking a game over with their shooting abilities. Pretty much everyone who plays, besides Daniel Batcho, is capable of making threes. WKU is currently 39th in the country in three-point percentage defense, holding their opponents to just 30.6% from three. The Bulldogs are going to have to make sure that they are getting their shooters good looks from behind the arc if they want to have their best chance of winning this game. Something has to give in this “good on good” matchup.
Since it’s such a big game, here’s another bonus nugget from the editor: Another “good on good” matchup is WKU’s interior offense against La Tech’s smothering interior defense. La Tech scores in the mid to upper 70s, but only gives up a shade over 60 (62.7 ppg). The Bulldog defense resembles its namesake, attacking opponents and not allowing them to get off anything productive. The Bulldog defense is excellent, holding opponents nearly 2 percent under 40%, an astoundingly solid number, especially given the overall strength of schedule. Those that follow WKU know Western’s ability to penetrate and/or post up a big man really makes other teams struggle to overcome the volume of the Toppers’ easy baskets. Western has had several games where the Tops have scored a combined 50 points from the paint and the charity stripe. If La Tech can channel their inner Sam Houston and keep WKU locked out of the paint, La Tech should win this one.
Richards’ Expectations and Predictions
Louisiana Tech has had a great season so far and they only continue to get better as the season goes on. It’s a tall task for Western to be able to go to Ruston and beat the Bulldogs after almost a full week of rest, considering La Tech is 11-0 at home this season. Liberty was the only team that came close to beating La Tech, but the Flames fell short and lost in overtime, 80-76. I’m expecting both teams to show a lot of fight this game because WKU wants to prove that their record isn’t just for show and La Tech wants to show that they are the clear-cut favorites in the conference.
My score prediction for WKU vs La Tech is going to be 74-68 La Tech. This is my first time predicting that the Hilltoppers are going to lose, but can you blame me? The Bulldogs are good, and I mean GOOD this year. In my opinion, they are the clear favorites to win the conference. This conference has a lot of parity and a lot of teams that are on or near the same level. It seems like everyone can beat everyone in Conference USA, but I think that Louisiana Tech is just barely on that level above everyone else. They have all the talent they need, and coach Talvin Hester has done a great job in his second season as the head coach in Ruston.
Conclusion
Overall, although I picked the opponent to win, of course we’re excited for this game. Both teams have big goals for March, and it will be very interesting to see how these two teams match up. La Tech has been pretty consistent all year, winning all of their home games and losing only to very good teams on the road, two of which are currently ranked or have been ranked in the AP top 25, and one with a 21-2 record (Grand Canyon). Western, on the other hand, has struggles throughout conference play and has dealt with injuries and lack of focus, causing a very up and down season. WKU doesn’t have a great track record in Ruston, but we will see how they do this season on Wednesday night.
For anyone who is not able to make it to Ruston, the game will be on ESPN+ at 6:00 pm CT. You can also tune into @thetowelrackwku on Twitter/X for build-up, live tweets, and reactions. While you’re at it, go ahead and check out the RedOut Podcast on Twitter/X and on YouTube. As always, we are your #1 source for unfiltered and honest WKU content!