WKU Basketball: Toppers Open Conference Play Against La Tech
The conference season is here! The tune-up of the non-conference slate prepared the Tops as best as it could, what with the continued…
The conference season is here! The tune-up of the non-conference slate prepared the Tops as best as it could, what with the continued waiting for the NCAA to clear Josh Anderson and Moustapha Diagne and a handful of impressive performances both from wins and losses.
But now, it’s time for the nitty gritty. It’s go time.
Game Info
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky.
TV: BeIN Sports
Radio: The Hilltopper IMG Sports Network
Here’s my favorite stat of the night — Rick Stansbury is 3–1 in his career against Louisiana Tech. However, unfortunately that loss came last year in Ruston, 76–67. But, the Tops have won the last two against the Bulldogs in Diddle Arena, so there’s that.
There’s also the fact of the ‘Dogs having lost a key cog in their offensive machine in Jalen Harris, who was Tech’s leading scorer, who left the program about a week ago.
WKU Basketball: Talkin’ La Tech Hoops With Ben Carlisle
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But, as Ben Carlisle said in our Q&A, Tech has a stable full of guards, and the slack will look to be picked up by Jacobi Boykins (14.1 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game) and DaQuan Bracey (16 ppg, five assists per game) along with Derric Jean (9.2 ppg) who will look to pick up more minutes in Harris’ absense.
The Bulldogs started hot, winning their first five games against lower-mid major opponents but have split their last eight games with a 4–4 record since. They did take Alabama to the brink in a three-point loss, lost to Stephen F. Austin by two and lost to Texas by five on the road.
The storyline of this one will be that of the depth of either team — for Tech, they have just two players averaging 29 or more minutes a game. For the Tops, well you know the story — eight available players, all but four players are averaging over 27 minutes per game, and somehow they’re in just about every game they’ve played so far.
One of the things that I was surprised to see Ben say in our Q&A was he thought Tech would “wear down,” WKU to pull out a victory. That hasn’t been the Tops’ M.O. at all — if anything (and, if you’ve read me you know what I’m about to say), the Tops get better the longer the game goes on.
Tech is always an athletic bunch and I hope this is the WKU team that can match them step-for-step. We might have to wait another year (you know, one with a full roster…), but I think we’re in for a fun game this evening.