WKU Basketball: Tops Hold Their Own in 66–58 Loss To #5 Villanova
Despite only having eight eligible players, WKU was able to hold their own against the #5 Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the…
Despite only having eight eligible players, WKU was able to hold their own against the #5 Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
The Tops started off hot and were only down 27–24 at the half but a strong second half from Villanova, plus sloppy shooting and overall offense from WKU, ultimately led to their demise in a 66–58 loss. Darius Thompson led the Tops with 16 points while Villanova star forward Mikal Bridges had 17 points and eight rebounds and guard Jalen Brunson had 18 points for the Wildcats.
Pretty much everyone was predicting WKU to get absolutely slaughtered by the #5 team in the country (who are coached by one of the best college coaches anywhere, Jay Wright) so seeing the Tops surpass everyone’s expectations on a national scale is honestly a huge win for WKU moving forward. Villanova won the 2016 National Championship and have been one of the most elite teams in the NCAA since then so losing to one of the best teams in the country by less than 10 points is rather impressive.
Villanova didn’t start off well at all and shot horribly from downtown (and finished shooting just 7 of 22 for the game from three) which helped WKU keep it close but the Wildcats’ defense, especially their transition offense in the fast break, is arguably better than anyone’s in the country right now so they were able to easily capitalize off of WKU’s missed shots they should’ve made and scored off of their turnovers. WKU shot great from three for the game and hit 7 of their 11 attempts (63%) but shot 44% for the whole game and had 16 turnovers.
While a loss still sucks, a close game against an elite team like this is honestly a win for WKU. Games like these show Stansbury and the team in general where they are at as a team and what they need to improve on moving forward. Also, if the NCAA ever decides to make Josh Anderson or Moustapha Diagne eligible to play, that would provide some much needed depth and talent to their roster and would keep them from wearing down as easily.
WKU has nothing to be ashamed of in this game and will now get a chance to play #16/18 ranked Purdue (who lost to Tennessee in overtime, 78–76) in their next game in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Full game stats here:
Were you surprised to see the Tops play Villanova so close? Could they take this momentum into their game against Purdue? Leave a comment down below or on our Facebook page or Twitter!