Tops Welcome Southern Miss in Saturday Afternoon Matchup

WKU Game Notes | Southern Miss Game Notes

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After opening Conference USA play with a win, WKU Hilltopper Basketball hosts Southern Miss at 2 p.m. CT Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers beat LA Tech 69-68 at home Thursday for their ninth win in their last 11 conference openers.

Southern Miss opened C-USA action with an 85-66 loss at Marshall on Thursday. WKU leads the all-time series against the Golden Eagles 7-1, including four straight. Rick Stansbury is 2-0 in his career against USM.

GAME 15

Southern Miss (7-7, 0-1 C-USA) at WKU (9-5, 1-0 C-USA)
December 30, 2017 | 2 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, WBNA (Radio Simulcast)
Live Stats: WKU Stats

QUICK SHOTS

• WKU is 17-5 (.773) at E.A. Diddle Arena under head coach Rick Stansbury. The Hilltoppers are 590-168 all-time at Diddle Arena for a .778 winning percentage.
• WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 952 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.
• The Hilltoppers' five losses have come by a total of 22 points – an average of 4.4 points per game.
• WKU ranks 36th in the country in field goal percentage and second in Conference USA at 49.2 percent. That percentage would rank eighth for a single season in program history.
• WKU ranks 25th in the nation in total steals (113) and 41st in turnover margin (+3.6), despite ranking 12th in the nation in personal fouls per game. Lamonte Bearden ranks 34th in the country and fourth in C-USA in total steals with 28 through 14 games. No WKU player had more than 28 steals all last season.
• WKU has outscored its opponents 582-401 in the paint this season.
• In his last 11 games, Darius Thompson has 56 combined assists and just 14 turnovers. He has at least four assists in 12 of 14 games this season and has scored in double figures in all but one game. Thompson leads C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7-to-1.
• Darius Thompson ranks 23rd in the country in minutes per game (36.7) and 10th in total minutes (514).
• Taveion Hollingsworth has scored at least 12 points in eight straight games.
• As of Friday, Justin Johnson was tied for eighth among active NCAA players for career rebounds and ranked 11th in career double-doubles. He's one of just five active NCAA players with at least 1,200 career points and 800 rebounds.
• Justin Johnson is ranked 23rd on WKU's all-time scoring list with 1,293 career points. He needs 13 points to pass Tony Wilson to move into 22nd.
• Justin Johnson currently ranks eighth on WKU's all-time list for career field goal percentage at 54.7 percent. He's just over one percentage point from fifth place.
• Justin Johnson needs 40 rebounds to tie Dwight Smith for 10th on WKU's all-time list with 856 career rebounds.
• Justin Johnson needs 184 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 144 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.

LAST GAME AGAINST SOUTHERN MISS: FEBRUARY 4, 2017

Pancake Thomas scored 18 points as WKU routed Southern Miss 64-47 in Hattiesburg, Miss. Justin Johnson added 12 points and led the Hilltoppers with 15 rebounds. Que Johnson had 11 points and three boards.

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

Taveion Hollingsworth

Justin Johnson

Que Johnson

Pancake Thomas

Darius Thompson