Hilltoppers Open CUSA Tournament Facing New Mexico State

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – WKU men's basketball opens competition at the 2024 Conference USA Championship this week as the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Hilltoppers will face No. 6-seeded New Mexico State on Thursday, March 14 at 8 p.m. CT at VBC Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.

WKU enters the first round of conference tournament play standing at 19-11 overall and 8-8 in CUSA league play.

Game Info
WKU (19-11, 8-8) vs. New Mexico State (13-18, 7-9)
Thursday, March 14 | 8 p.m. CT
VBC Propst Arena | Huntsville, Ala.
Game Links: ESPN+ | 100.7-FM (WKLX)/Varsity Network | Live Stats

The Game at a Glance
Hilltopper Basketball (19-11, 8-8) prepares to enter the 2024 CUSA tournament on Thursday facing New Mexico State at 8 p.m. CT. The Tops split in the series against the Aggies in 2023-24, falling short in a narrow 72-70 loss on the road in Las Cruces on Jan. 18 and securing a 72-58 win at home on Feb. 17.

Thursday's quarterfinals matchup will mark the 13^th all-time meeting between WKU and New Mexico State in a series dating back to 1956. The Tops hold a 10-2 advantage in the series.

The third-seeded Hilltoppers open tournament action having narrowly dropped four straight contests to close the regular season, with three losses coming on the road by a combined margin of just seven points. The Tops fell short in the team's final home outing of the year hosting LA Tech on Feb. 28.

Head coach Steve Lutz enters his first CUSA Tournament at the helm for WKU. Lutz previously led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to consecutive Southland Conference Tournament Championships as head coach for the Islanders in 2022 and 2023 – leading the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win in a First Four victory in 2023.

Before his tenure at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lutz served as an assistant at Purdue where the Boilermakers made NCAA Tournament appearances in every season from 2017-2021. Prior to his stint at Purdue, Lutz served as an assistant at Creighton from 2010-2017 and helped the Bluejays to four NCAA Tournament appearances and two conference tournament championships.

A win for WKU on Thursday would give Hilltopper Basketball a 20th victory on the season for the 48th time in the program's history - a mark only six other programs in the nation have achieved.

Series History vs. NM State
Overall: 10-2
H: 8-0 • A: 1-2 • N: 1-0

LAST 5
02/17/24         Bowling Green, Ky.            …W, 72-58
01/18/24         Las Cruces, N.M.                …L, 70-72
01/29/05        Las Cruces, N.M.                …W, 77-75
01/24/04        Bowling Green, Ky.           …W, 73-58
03/10/03        Bowling Green, Ky.           …W, 78-59

Where the Tops Stack Up
→ 8-8 finish in CUSA regular-season competition; 19-11 overall record
→ The Tops boast the top-scoring offense in CUSA (80.2 PPG) and chart 41^st in the nation in scoring
→ WKU has totaled 80 or more points in 15 games this season, and 90 or more points in six games
→ Top rebounding team in CUSA; 20^th nationally in rebounds with 39.77 per game
→ 1^st in the nation in adjusted tempo (75.2 possessions per 40 min)
→ 19^th in the nation in bench points per game (28.70)
→ 31^st in the nation in fastbreak points per game (13.80)
→ 49^th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (41.53%)
→ 45^th in the nation in turnovers forced per game (14.03)

Top Tops
Five Hilltoppers garnered All-Conference USA postseason accolades for 2023-24 on Monday, highlighted by junior guard Don McHenry receiving All-CUSA First-Team honors. Fifth-year big Rodney Howard was named the conference's Sixth Player of the Year, freshman guard Teagan Moore was named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team and Brandon Newman, Tyrone Marshall Jr. and Howard all received All-CUSA Honorable Mention.

McHenry leads the Hilltoppers in points and finished the regular season charting as the CUSA's third-leading scorer at 15.2 points per contest. The junior native of Milwaukee holds the third-best field-goal percentage in CUSA with a .464% mark from the field and has connected on .860% of attempts at the free-throw stripe, good for second best in CUSA.

McHenry earned two CUSA Player of the Week nods in 2023-24, with the first following a season-high 30 points in a win over Wright State on the road. McHenry charted 20-point efforts in five-straight games from Feb. 1-15, including 20 points in a victory over then league-leader LA Tech and 24 points in a victory over Jax State to earn a second CUSA Player of the Week selection.

Starting all 30 outings for the Hilltoppers in 2023-24, McHenry has also led the Hilltoppers in minutes and assists with 75 on the season (13^th CUSA). McHenry has notched 27 steals on the year, good for third-most on the team.

Howard earned CUSA Sixth Player of the Year merit after anchoring a top-20 bench scoring output (28.7) with 10 points per game. The fifth year came off the bench for all 16 league contests and averaged 10.6 points on 56.9 percent shooting from the field to go with 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest.

Howard recorded a season-high 18 points and 10-for-11 clip from the free-throw stripe in the Tops' win over LA Tech on Feb. 7.

Moore was named to the conference's All-Freshman Team after averaging 8.9 points per contest in CUSA play as well as a .539 shooting percentage from the field against conference opponents. The freshman native of the Commonwealth received two CUSA Freshman of the Week nods in 2023-24 after recording team-high point totals in three of the Tops' five final regular-season outings.

Newman, Marshall and Howard receive All-CUSA honorable mention after helping anchor the Hilltoppers' offensive and defensive production in 2023-24. Newman started in 30-of-30 games on the season for WKU, while Marshall started in 29-of-30 contests on the season.

Newman finished the regular season as the Tops' second-leading scorer with 10.3 points per game. The redshirt senior guard from Valparaiso, Indiana finished second in rebounding on the team with 169 total on the season – good for 12^th most in CUSA. Newman also notched the second-most steals on the team and 10^thmost in CUSA with 39 total, finished second on the team in minutes and charted third on the team in assists.

Marshall led the team in blocks (31) and steals (47) while finishing 6^th in CUSA for both statistical categories. The senior native of Nashville logged the second-most defensive rebounds on the team with 113 on the year and logged the third-most minutes on the Tops' roster at 25.1 per contest.

Babacar Faye ranks 10^th in the conference for rebounding with 170 on the season.

Televised Tops
The Hilltoppers' quarterfinal matchup against New Mexico State will stream live on ESPN+ with Matt Warner and Paul Nazigian on the call. Fans can tune in live and listen on 100.7-FM (WKLX) or The Varsity Network mobile app as Hal Schmitt and Randy Lee call the game on radio.

Social Tops
Follow the team on social media (@wkubasketball) for the latest news and updates on all things Hilltopper Basketball. Visit wkusports.com for more information.

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Players Mentioned

Babacar Faye

Rodney Howard

Tyrone Marshall Jr.

Don McHenry

Teagan Moore

Brandon Newman