WKU Basketball: Tops Face Boilermakers In Hoops’ Brohm Bowl
Well well well well. Lookie what we have hear. A matchup that Tops fans all over will want to feast their eyes upon.
Well well well well. Lookie what we have hear. A matchup that Tops fans all over will want to feast their eyes upon.
After hanging close with #5 Villanova yesterday, the Tops have yet another Top 25 team staring them in the face in Purdue, who fell to Tennessee yesterday in overtime.
Game Info
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Imperial Arena | Nassau, Bahamas
TV: ESPN3(Kevin Fitzgerald, Paul Biancardi)
Radio: The Hilltopper IMG Sports Network
I really don’t want to take away from what the Tops’ did yesterday, especially in that first half where they trailed at halftime by only three, but honestly, it seemed like VU did themselves in more than WKU put pressure on ’em. The only thing, really, the Tops did in the first half was make baskets — they shot 42.3% from the floor compared to VU’s 33.3% percentage in the opening 20 minutes.
There also were only a couple of standout performances against the Wildcats as well — Dwight Coleby, who logged yet another double-double (12 points, 10 assists) and Darius Thompson, who finished with 16 points and shot 4-for-6 from distance.
Taveion Hollingsworth would have been a bigger factor in the game had he not have been in foul trouble (he had two early fouls in the opening three and a half minutes, and finished the game with four).
If the Tops want to beat Purdue today, they’re going to have to be smarter offensively — especially around the paint. When the Tops tried to go inside, they got lazy with passes and VU took advantage and finished on the other end after a steal. Or the Tops were taking for granted having the ball inside and when they went up for a shot, it was blocked and the Cats got it back.
All five of Purdue’s starters scored double figures yesterday against the Vols, including 21 points from Carsen Edwards, who is already averaging 18.5 points per game through five played. They lost the rebounding battle 50–41, but the Tops only had 27 total boards (only seven of which came on the offensive glass) against Nova, so that could be one of the defining stats of the game.
Regardless, it’s another good barometer to see where this Tops’ team is. With a bit of luck, and with Hollingsworth not in foul trouble, it could be another close game and, barring some Thanskgiving magic, we’ll be talking about a WKU win tomorrow evening.