Hilltoppers Earn Exhibition Win Over Kentucky Wesleyan

Wednesday, October 22

Bowling Green, Ky.

6:30 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

Kentucky Wesleyan (Exh.)

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

10/22/2025 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Postgame Notes & Quotes Postgame Press Conference Support Hilltopper Basketball

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball earned a dominant exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan, 82-43, on Wednesday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.

It was all Hilltoppers from start to finish as WKU jumped out to a 12-point lead at the break, going into halftime with a 36-24 advantage over the Panthers. The Tops turned it up a notch in the second half, outscoring Kentucky Wesleyan, 46-19, to cruise to the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• WKU scored the first points of the game as Blaise Keita connected on a hook shot in the paint with 18:51 remaining in the first half.
• The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 14-2 lead with 13:51 on the clock after back-to-back buckets from Teagan Moore at the rim.
• Kentucky Wesleyan cut the deficit to 24-20, but WKU responded with a 12-4 run courtesy of Grant Newell and Bryant Selebangue combining for eight points to close out the first half, giving the Hilltoppers a 36-24 lead.
• WKU opened the second half on a 14-2 run, starting with a jumper from Louie Semona. A layup and a jumper from LJ Hackman and a 3-pointer and dunk from Newell inflated the Hilltopper advantage to 50-26 with 15:07 to play.
• Ryan Myers and Kade Unseld combined for three triples to push the WKU lead to 30 with 11:29 remaining.
• A six-point run from Cam Haffner put the Hilltoppers ahead 73-33 with just over five minutes on the clock.
• A dunk from Leeroy Odiahi and four points from Cade Stinnett put the finishing touches on the 82-43 victory for WKU.

NOTABLES
• WKU improves to 1-0 in exhibition play with the win. This game does not count towards WKU's 2025-26 record.
• WKU's starting lineup was Jack Edelen, LJ Hackman, Louie Semona, Bryant Selebangue and Blaise Keita.
• Announced attendance for the exhibition was 3,171.
• Teagan Moore was WKU's leading scorer with 11 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 17 minutes. He was 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
• LJ Hackman and Bryant Selebangue finished with 10 points each, missing just one shot on 9-of-10 shooting, combined. Hackman added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block while Selebangue recorded three boards, two steals and a block.
• Grant Newell had nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, knocking one down from behind the arc.
• Cam Haffner put up eight points on 3-of-5 shooting while hitting one 3-pointer.
• Kade Unseld made a pair of threes, scoring six points.
• 12 Hilltoppers played 12 or more minutes in the contest with all 15 available players seeing time on the floor.
• WKU shot 52.6% from the field, hitting 30-of-57 attempts.
• 50 of WKU's 82 points came off the bench.
• WKU held Kentucky Wesleyan to just 31.4% shooting from the floor. The Hilltoppers limited the Panthers to 17 points over the final 18 minutes.
• WKU won the turnover battle, forcing 22 while only giving the ball up 15 times.

QUOTABLES
• "I thought there was a great excitement in the building, in Diddle, with our fans and I thought our players did a great job at playing with energy, playing together, playing for one another and playing for the name on the front of their jerseys. So, all in all, we probably got what we were hoping to get out of tonight and we're looking forward to moving forward." – Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on the exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan.

• "It was amazing. You know, seeing the crowd out there, all the fans, all the families coming out to support us on the exhibition game. It was a good experience. Especially to come out here and play. We've been going at it since June playing each other, so it felt good to showcase what we've been working on all summer against another team. It was exciting, it was very exciting." – Forward Bryant Selebangue, on the exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan.

• "It was really exciting. I was looking forward to it all week. I was waiting to get out there, but once you're out there it's just basketball and I've played basketball my whole life. Once the first five minutes went by, I was just like, 'Yeah, I'm just playing basketball, I'm out here to play basketball. I'm out here to win.'" – Guard Teagan Moore, on the exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan.

NEXT UP
• The Hilltoppers will play one more tune-up game on the road at UAB on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

How to follow WKU Hilltopper Basketball: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKUBasketball on Instagram and X.