WKU Basketball: Takeaways from Hilltopper Hysteria
Thursday night, the 2019–2020 Lady Toppers and Hilltopper basketball teams made their public debuts giving us a small taste of what we can…
Thursday night, the 2019–2020 Lady Toppers and Hilltopper basketball teams made their public debuts giving us a small taste of what we can expect this season. Each team had their grand introduction and new hype videos and then scrimmaged.
While I wish the crowd was better than it was, the crowd was still energized to see some Hilltopper basketball, and especially Charles Bassey. He received a very warm welcome back from the fans as he was introduced. The festivities were fun but we’re all interested in how the team looks.
The guys played two 12 minute halves with the score starting off tied at 40–40. After the first half, coach Stansbury made some lineup changes and put different players on a different team than they started on. Every player on the roster played except for walk-on Patrick Murphy.
Overall, the guys looked pretty sharp. The white team won both halves with the first one being 69–65 and the second being 76–69. Of course, it was a fun scrimmage with some big dunks and uncontested threes so it’s hard to completely tell how the Tops will look but the offense was rolling.
Eight Hilltopper players finished in double figures and then team hung 123 points combined on 56% shooting. Charles Bassey looks like a new man and looked a lot more agile now that he’s not in a knee brace. He finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Juniors Taveion Hollingsworth and Josh Anderson shined with Hollingsworth scoring 14 points and Anderson with 11 (along with some big dunks). Senior Jared Savage picked up where he left off and scored 16 points and shot 3-of-4 from deep and had two blocks. He looked a lot better defensively and I hope he will continue to get better once the season starts.
Looking at the newcomers, grad transfer Camron Justice is already looking like a walking bucket as he scored 17 points and shot 5-of-7 from downtown despite having to wear a facemask. NKU transfer Carson Williams scored 16 points and was very active off the ball getting some big rebounds. Lipscomb transfer Kenny Cooper had ten points and seven assists which is what you love to see from a point guard. He’s still waiting for his eligibility to be cleared and he showed why it’s so important for the NCAA to stop dragging their feet so he can play.
The freshmen struggled a little more outside of Jordan Rawls who had 11 points and four assists as he shot 2-of-6 from deep. Jackson Harlan and Isaiah Cozart didn’t score outside of a made free throw by Cozart but he still looked pretty active as both of them continue to adjust to college play.
Role player Matt Horton had six points and showed that he’s capable of more than he what he was last year. Jeremiah Gambrell is healthy now and was able to hit a three in his playing time.
There was a lot of offense for this scrimmage as a whole and I hope that continues well into the regular season. It’s hard to tell what this team really looks like with it being a scrimmage but looking at the spread of players who can score, the scoring should go well into the bench regardless of who starts.
Western Kentucky will now prepare for a home game against Kentucky State on November 2nd for their first preseason game. Here are the final stats from Hilltopper Hysteria: