Hilltoppers to Face UAB in Friday's C-USA Semifinals

FRISCO, Texas — WKU Hilltopper Basketball makes a quick turnaround to compete in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals against UAB at 11 a.m. CT Friday in Frisco, Texas. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.

The Hilltoppers beat UTSA 80-67 in Thursday's quarterfinals to advance. UAB beat Rice 73-60 to earn its spot in the next round.

The Hilltoppers are 16-25 all-time against UAB. WKU head coach Rick Stansbury is 6-4 against the Blazers. Stansbury is 8-4 in his career against UAB coach Andy Kennedy from their time at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, respectively.

C-USA SEMIFINALS

UAB (22-6) vs. WKU (19-6)

March 12, 2021 | 11 a.m. CT
Ford Center at The Star | Frisco, 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: CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn, pxp | Avery Johnson, analysis)

Live Stats: C-USA Stats

TOP STORYLINES

• WKU has advanced to the conference tournament semifinals in 14 of its last 16 attempts.

• With a win, WKU can secure the 47th 20-win season in program history. Only Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, UCLA and Kansas have more.

• WKU has six top-110 NET wins so far this year over Alabama (7), Memphis (52), Louisiana Tech (73), Marshall twice (89) and Rhode Island (109). Four of its losses were vs. top-80 programs: at Houston (6), vs. West Virginia (23) on a neutral court, at Louisville (57) and at home against Louisiana Tech (73).

• Charles Bassey has been named to the Wooden Award National Ballot for National Player of the Year and All-American consideration. He's also a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist and a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year top-five finalist. On Tuesday, he became the fourth player in C-USA history to win Player of the Year and Defensive POY in the same season.

• As of Thursday, Charles Bassey led the nation in dunks (63) and ranked second in double-doubles (15), third in blocks per game (3.1), fourth in rebounds per game (11.8) and eighth in field-goal % (61.1%).

• WKU made 24 of 25 free throws in Thursday's quarterfinal win over UTSA. That set a new program record for free-throw percentage in a game with at least 20 makes, beating the previous best of 22-for-24 (91.6%) at East Tennessee State on Feb. 12, 1966.

LAST GAME AGAINST UAB: JANUARY 9, 2020

WKU had opportunities late at UAB, but couldn't get over the hump in a 72-62 loss.

The Hilltoppers cut what was once a 13-point deficit to one with 5:24 to play, but gave up four straight free throws on a shooting foul and a technical foul.

WKU got back within three with 3:39 left, then surrendered a 9-0 UAB run that proved too much to overcome.

Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU with 19 points, while Carson Williams added 12 points and eight rebounds.

PLANET FITNESS

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

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Players Mentioned

Charles Bassey

Taveion Hollingsworth

Carson Williams