Hilltoppers Host Kentucky Wesleyan in Final Exhibition

WKU Game Notes | Kentucky Wesleyan Game Notes

THE TIP-OFF

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Hilltopper Basketball plays its final exhibition of the season against Kentucky Wesleyan at 2 p.m. CT Saturday in the 36th Annual BB&T Classic at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers opened the season with a 91-66 exhibition victory over Campbellsville, shooting 56 percent from the field and scoring 34 points off of turnovers. Sophomore guard Josh Anderson paced WKU with a game-high 22 points, as well as six steals and five assists.

Kentucky Wesleyan lost to Xavier 98-69 on Thursday night in an exhibition to open the season. Adam Goetz led KWC with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting. WKU defeated the Panthers 83-53 last season in a regular-season matchup.

EXHIBITION 2

Kentucky Wesleyan (0-0) at WKU (0-0)
November 3, 2018 | 2 p.m. CT
E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green, Ky.

BROADCAST

Listen: Hilltopper IMG Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), WKUSports.tv (free), TuneIn Radio (free) (Paul Roper, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)
Watch: WKU-PBS (BG), WBNA (Louisville); Facebook live stream on WKU Athletics page
Live Stats: WKU Stats

QUICK SHOTS

• WKU is 59-4 all-time in preseason exhibition games, and the Hilltoppers have won 27 straight preseason tune-ups dating back to a 2002-03 loss to the Harlem Globetrotters.
• E.A. Diddle Arena is sold out of general season tickets in the preseason for what's believed to be the first time since the venue opened in 1963. A handful of premium season tickets remain.
• The Hilltoppers are tied with Arkansas for the fourth-longest streak in the nation of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer at 976. Only UNLV (1,039), Vanderbilt (1,031) and Duke (1,021) have longer streaks.
• The Hilltoppers graduated 51.4 percent of their scoring, 60.8 percent of their rebounding and 48.7 percent of their assists with the loss of seniors Justin Johnson, Darius Thompson and Dwight Coleby.
• WKU was one of four schools in the nation – along with Kansas, Syracuse and Texas A&M – with wins over teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 last season. The Hilltoppers were the only school outside the Power 5 to accomplish the feat.
• WKU finished the 2017-18 season with an official RPI of 32 – its highest since the 2007-08 season, when the Hilltoppers also finished 32nd. The program had not had a higher final RPI since 1994-95, when it finished at No. 27.
• Head coach Rick Stansbury's 12-win improvement from the 2016-17 to 2017-18 season is the largest increase in wins for any Hilltopper Basketball coach between their first and second seasons. The previous best was seven-win improvements by Darrin Horn, Ralph Willard and John Oldham.
• Sophomore guard Taveion Hollingsworth is the team's leading returning scorer at 13.3 points per game. Hollingsworth was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team and set new Hilltopper records in 2017-18 for most points scored (506), minutes played (1,312) and games started (38) by a freshman. He and graduate senior Desean Murray were named to the Preseason All-C-USA Team.
• Not only is freshman center Charles Bassey the highest-rated recruit to play for WKU in several decades, he's also one of the youngest players in college basketball this season.

TICKETS

WKU Ticket Office: The WKU Ticket Office will not be open on gameday for any games this season. The Kentucky Wesleyan game is sold out.

PROMOTIONS

• 36th Annual BB&T Classic
• First piece of 16-piece 100th season commemorative poster (Jeremiah Gambrell/Tom Marshall) for first 3,000 fans

LAST GAME AGAINST KENTUCKY WESLEYAN: NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Six players in double-figures scoring helped WKU notch its first win of the season with an 83-53 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan in the 35th Annual BB&T Classic at E.A. Diddle Arena. Dwight Coleby scored a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Marek Nelson had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Jake Ohmer scored 12 points.

MED CENTER HEALTH

The 2018-19 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.

Players Mentioned

Josh Anderson

Charles Bassey

Dwight Coleby

Jeremiah Gambrell

Taveion Hollingsworth

Justin Johnson

Marek Nelson

Jake Ohmer

Darius Thompson

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