Hilltoppers Host Belmont in Nonconference Home Finale

WKU Game Notes | Belmont Game Notes

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball concludes the home portion of its nonconference slate against Belmont at 7 p.m. CT Tuesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers are coming off an 81-65 home win over Indiana State.

Belmont is 7-5 this season and boasts wins over Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee. The Bruins lead the all-time series 5-4 and have won four straight, including the last three seasons.

WKU head coach Rick Stansbury is 1-1 all-time against Belmont.

GAME 12

Belmont (7-5) at WKU (7-4)
December 19, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT
Bowling Green, Ky. | E.A. Diddle Arena

BROADCAST

Listen: Hilltopper IMG Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), WKUSports.tv (free), TuneIn Radio (free) (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)
Watch: Fox College Sports, WKU PBS in Bowling Green, WBNA in Louisville (Radio Simulcast)
Live Stats: WKU Stats

QUICK SHOTS

• WKU is 16-4 (.800) at E.A. Diddle Arena under head coach Rick Stansbury. The Hilltoppers are 589-167 all-time at Diddle Arena for a .779 winning percentage.
• WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 949 consecutive games, dating back to March 15, 1987. The 3-point shot was instituted prior to the 1986-87 season. The Hilltoppers' streak is the fifth-longest in the nation behind Kentucky, UNLV, Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
• In his last five games, Darius Thompson has a combined 28 assists and eight turnovers. In his last eight games, he has 39 combined assists and just 11 turnovers.
• WKU ranks 30th in the country in field goal percentage and first in Conference USA at 49.7 percent. That percentage would rank seventh for a single season in program history.
• WKU ranks 33rd in the nation and second in C-USA in 3-point percentage at 40.4 percent, a mark that would tie for the best percentage in program history. Freshmen Taveion Hollingsworth, Jake Ohmer and Marek Nelson are a combined 38 of 87 (43.4 percent) from long range.
• WKU ranks 40th in the nation and leads C-USA in turnovers forced at 16.7 per game, despite ranking 12th in the nation in personal fouls. Lamonte Bearden ranks 48th in the country and third in C-USA in total steals with 22 through 11 games. No WKU player had more than 28 steals all last season.
• WKU has outscored its opponents 452-324 in the paint this season.
• Coming into the week, WKU was one of five programs in the nation with two players – Dwight Coleby (4) and Justin Johnson (4) – who had at least four double-doubles each.
• As of Sunday, Justin Johnson was ranked 10th among active NCAA players for career rebounds and tied for 10th in career double-doubles. He's one of just nine active NCAA players with at least 1,000 career points and 750 rebounds.
• Justin Johnson is tied for 25th on WKU's all-time scoring list with 1,253 career points. He needs 17 points to pass Roland Shelton to move into 24th.
• Justin Johnson currently ranks eighth on WKU's all-time list for career field goal percentage at 54.5 percent. He's just over one percentage point from fifth place.
• Justin Johnson needs 208 rebounds to reach 1,000 for his career. That would make him just the fifth player in WKU history with 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, joining Tom Marshall, Art Spoelstra, Ralph Crosthwaite and Jim McDaniels, the last to accomplish the feat in 1971.
• Lamonte Bearden is 179 points from reaching 1,000 for his career across his time at Buffalo and WKU.

TICKETS

WKU Ticket Office: Online at WKUTickets.com, in person at E.A. Diddle Arena, via phone at 1-800-5-BIG Red or 745-5222 locally.

PROMOTIONS

• Zooperstars halftime performance
• Big Red's Rascals

LAST GAME AGAINST BELMONT: NOVEMBER 19, 2016

Evan Bradds scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Belmont to a 90-69 win over WKU in Nashville. Justin Johnson scored 17 points with nine rebounds for the Hilltoppers. Que Johnson added 14 points.

MED CENTER HEALTH

The 2017-18 WKU Basketball season is presented by Med Center Health. With The Medical Center at its core, Med Center Health has served Southcentral Kentucky for more than 90 years, and its system of care includes six acute care hospitals, a complete network of immediate to emergency services and services in dozens of specialties. Whether it is emergency treatment for heart attack victims or preventative programs to improve the health of the communities it serves, Med Center Health is committed to providing the highest level of care and service.

How to follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, follow the team's social media channels, @WKUBasketball on Twitter, @WKUBasketball on Instagram, and WKU Basketball on Facebook.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lamonte Bearden

Dwight Coleby

Taveion Hollingsworth

Justin Johnson

Que Johnson

Marek Nelson

Jake Ohmer

Darius Thompson