WKU Basketball: Toppers Open Regular Season Against Missouri State

The offseason has finally come come to a close. After a summer of “Is Mitchell Robinson going to be on the Hill,” and “What will the Tops…

The offseason has finally come come to a close. After a summer of “Is Mitchell Robinson going to be on the Hill,” and “What will the Tops do until December when Justin Johnson rejoins the team,” and even now the “When will Josh Anderson and Moustapha Diagne be eligible,” question still lingers.

But, never the less, the ball will be tipped of tonight and we’re going to see what this Toppers team is truly made of.

Game Info

Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky.
TV: HSSN (WKU PBS in Bowling Green, WBNA in Louisville); online stream via CUSA.tv ($)
Radio: The Hilltopper IMG Sports Network

The Tops are coming off a trio of impressive performances in the preseason, including two blowout victories against Campbellsville and Cumberland. But, will the Tops be able to score against a legitimate mid-major team, one who many think might even be one of the best mid-major programs in the nation.

Missouri State went 1–1 in their preseason schedule, dropping a 78–62 contest to Kansas State but beating Southwest Baptist 83–56.

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If all-world player Alize Johnson is out tonight, that’ll be a huge advantage for the Tops, as it seems like MSU is a bit of a different team without him. As it stands, he appears to be 50/50 to go.

While the Bears might be shorthanded entering tonight, the Tops are hoping to get a body back in Lamonte Bearden, who hasn’t played in any of the three exhibitions but is slated to get the okay to play this evening.

I don’t think we’ll see any variation in the starting line up from the first two exhibitions, so I’m expecting Stansbury to roll out:

Darius Thompson — G
Taveion Hollingsworth — G
Marek Nelson — F
Justin Johnson — F
Dwight Coleby — F

After tonight, we’ll know a ton more in regards to what this team can and can’t do, but I know I can’t wait for things to tip off.