Hilltoppers Eye 20th Win in Saturday Road Contest at Rice

WKU Game Notes | Rice Game Notes

HOUSTON, Texas — Having won three straight and 12 of the last 14, WKU Hilltopper Basketball travels to Rice at 7 p.m. CT Saturday in Houston, Texas.

The Hilltoppers outlasted North Texas 102-94 in overtime Thursday night. They'll be looking to claim their 44th 20-win season in program history, as well as WKU head coach Rick Stansbury's 11th 20-win season in his 16 seasons at the helm.

Rice has lost five straight games, but four of its five wins this season have come at home. The all-time series is tied at 2-2, and the Hilltoppers are 1-1 in Houston.

Stansbury is 1-0 in his career against the Owls.

GAME 27

WKU (19-7, 11-2 C-USA) at Rice (5-21, 2-11 C-USA)
February 17, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT
Tudor Fieldhouse | Houston, Texas

BROADCAST

Listen: Hilltopper IMG Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), WKUSports.tv (free), TuneIn Radio (free) (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)
Watch: ESPN3 (online streaming) (Alex Del Barrio, pxp | John Witten, analysis)
Live Stats: Rice Stats

QUICK SHOTS

• The Hilltoppers' 11-2 conference record is their best through 13 league games since 2008-09. With a win Saturday, they would have their best conference start since 2007-08, when WKU started 13-1.
• WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 964 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 sixth-longest in the nation behind Kentucky, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Duke and Arkansas.
• WKU is averaging 35.5 free-throw attempts per game over its last four outings, making 101 of 148. WKU ranks 22nd in the country in free-throw attempts and 31st in free throws made.
• WKU's current scoring average of 78.5 points per game would be the program's highest since 1994-95.
• WKU ranks 19th in the country in field goal percentage and first in Conference USA at 49.4 percent. That percentage would rank eighth for a single season in program history.
• WKU has outscored its opponents 1,054-768 in the paint this season.
• Taveion Hollingsworth has scored in double figures in 17 of the last 20 games, and the freshman is averaging 19.2 points per game over his last five outings.
• In his last 23 games, Darius Thompson has 111 combined assists and just 40 turnovers. He has at least four assists in 19 of 26 games this season and is second in C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6-to-1.
• Through 26 games, Lamonte Bearden has 47 steals. No Hilltopper had more than 28 steals all last year.
• Lamonte Bearden is 30 points from reaching 1,000 for his career across his time at Buffalo and WKU.
• Justin Johnson has grabbed at least 12 rebounds in six of the last 12 games and has done so in nine games overall this season. He had just seven such games all last season.
• As of Friday, Justin Johnson was ranked ninth among active NCAA players for career rebounds and tied for 12th in career double-doubles. He's one of just four active NCAA players with at least 1,400 career points and 900 rebounds.
• Justin Johnson is ranked 17th on WKU's all-time scoring list with 1,497 career points. He needs 14 points to pass Art Spoelstra to move into 16th.
• Justin Johnson ranks sixth on WKU's all-time rebounding list with 941 career boards. He needs 24 rebounds to pass Bob Daniels for fifth. Johnson is one of six Hilltoppers in program history ranked in the top 20 in scoring and the top 10 in rebounding.
• Justin Johnson currently ranks eighth on WKU's all-time list for career field goal percentage at 54.4 percent. He's less than two percentage points from fifth place.
• Justin Johnson needs 59 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.

LAST GAME AGAINST RICE: MARCH 4, 2017

Justin Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Anton Waters scored 15 as WKU beat Rice 79-72 on Senior Night at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers shot 52 percent and scored the final seven 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

Taveion Hollingsworth

Justin Johnson

Darius Thompson

Anton Waters