WKU Basketball: Tops Win First Game of the Season, 76–64

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers get the job done on opening night against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 76–64.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers get the job done on opening night against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 76–64.

Charles Bassey and Carson Williams both finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds while IUPUI transfer Camron Justice scored 15 points and shot 2-of-6 from deep. Three point shooting wasn’t exactly a highlight as the Tops shot 5-of-15 as a whole.

Taveion Hollingsworth had 11 points and seemed to struggle at the point guard spot. He tried to thread the needle a little too much and it showed the importance of why the NCAA needs to clear Kenny Cooper as soon as possible. Freshman Jordan Rawls didn’t look too bad in his first real college game with four points but he’s not the answer for point guard just yet.

As for the game, WKU started off pretty hot and Tennessee Tech didn’t shoot well at all. Williams showed once again that he is going to be a core player for the Tops this season. Bassey was essentially nonexistent in the first half as the Tops went into halftime, 36–23

The Tops came out hot in the second but late in the game the offense became stagnant as the team struggled to get the ball to Bassey and Tennessee came back with three made triples cutting the lead to ten under three minutes left. Thankfully WKU woke up and were able to finish this one off.

WKU now prepares for another OVC school on Saturday with Austin Peay, who have been a pretty strong team in their conference the past few seasons but have been overshadowed by the likes of Murray State and Belmont. This will be a good test for the Tops.

Here is the box score from tonight’s game: