Hilltoppers Visit #12/10 Houston for Marquee Thursday Matchup

WKU Game Notes | Houston Game Notes

HOUSTON, Texas — WKU Hilltopper Basketball comes out of league play for a marquee non-conference matchup at No. 12/10 Houston at 6 p.m. CT Thursday on ESPN2. The game was just scheduled Sunday afternoon.

Houston has won 22 straight games at home (fourth-longest active streak in the nation), most recently beating Cincinnati 90-52 on Sunday. WKU has won six straight games, but has only played two games in the last month.

WKU is 1-3 all-time against Houston, including 0-1 on the road. The teams haven't met since 2010. WKU head coach Rick Stansbury is 2-0 in his career against the Cougars.

GAME 20

WKU (15-4, 8-2 C-USA) at #12/10 Houston (18-3, 12-3 AAC)

February 25, 2021 | 6 p.m. CT
Fertitta Center | Houston, Texas

BROADCAST

Listen: Hilltopper Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), C-USA.tv Audio (free), TuneIn Radio (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)

Watch: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp | Mark Adams, analysis)

Live Stats: Houston Stats

TOP STORYLINES

• WKU's 15-4 record is its best start since the 2001-02 season, when the Hilltoppers went 28-4.

• The Hilltoppers are 32-101 all-time against ranked opponents. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, WKU has gone 3-5 against top-25 teams.

• This won't be WKU's first impromptu game. The Tops added the Crossover Classic (Northern Iowa, Memphis, West Virginia) on three days' notice, and their road win at Alabama on less than a week's notice.

• WKU has five top-90 NET wins so far this year over Alabama (8), Memphis (61), Marshall twice (69) and Rhode Island (99). Two of its losses came vs. West Virginia (15) on a neutral court and at Louisville (53).

• In their last five games, the Tops are shooting a combined 43 of 96 (44.8%) from 3-point range. WKU has made at least seven threes in five of the last seven games after doing so in just four of the first 12 games.

• Charles Bassey has been named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List for National Player of the Year. He's also on the Naismith Trophy and Lute Olson National POY watch lists, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, and is a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year finalist.

• As of Tuesday, Charles Bassey ranked second in the nation in dunks (49), third in blocked shots per game (3.2) and rebounds per game (11.7), and fourth in double-doubles (12).

LAST GAME AGAINST HOUSTON: FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Houston guard Kelvin Lewis hit two free throws with 0.5 seconds left off an offensive rebound to help the Cougars escape with a 74-72 win inside Diddle Arena.

Playing for the final shot with the score tied at 72-72, Cougar senior guard Aubrey Coleman missed a 3-pointer. Junior guard Adam Brown rebounded the miss, and WKU forward Sergio Kerusch was whistled for a foul with only 0.5 seconds left in the contest.

Steffphon Pettigrew led WKU with 18 points, while AJ Slaughter added 17.

PLANET FITNESS

Your 2020-2021 Hilltopper Men's Basketball Season is presented by Planet Fitness - Bowling Green's original Judgement Free Zone.

Hilltoppers Visit #12/10 Houston for Marquee Thursday Matchup

Players Mentioned

Charles Bassey

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