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WKU men's basketball enters a week of travel after two home wins against UTEP, 78-74, on Thursday and New Mexico State, 101-69, on Saturday. The Hilltoppers will face conference foes Kennesaw State on Thursday, Feb. 6 and Jacksonville State on Saturday, Feb. 8 for the second time this season.Â
As the rest of regular season play will consist of repeat conference opponents, head coach Hank Plona says they're not overlooking or over-hyping anybody - just because you beat a team once doesn't mean you can again, and vice versa. Plona added that the back-to-back games against Jax State and Kennesaw State earlier in January was a turning point in the Hilltoppers season.
"I thought the improvement from the Jacksonville State loss on Thursday to the success against Kennesaw State on Saturday is what kick-started us," Plona said. "I've been pretty pleased with our day-to-day effort and togetherness everyday since. I think this last seven-game stretch has been good, but we have a long way to go and we certainly respect both opponents and know that we're going to have a challenge this week."
Plona added that his team's ability to move on from mistakes has helped them find success in their recent stretch of games, and not trying to be perfect on every play has allowed the Tops to play more freely on the court.Â
"That togetherness, staying in the moment, moving on from what happens, whether good or bad, moving on to the next play has been the key to our defense and our offense," Plona said.
After experiencing some offensive momentum in last week's games, Plona still emphasizes the importance of continuing to rebound offensively and winning the 50/50 balls.Â
"We need to be prepared to succeed when our offense is going and when our offense is struggling," Plona said. "I think our defense needs to hold, our rebounding needs to remain strong and we need to continue to have an approach and attitude that everybody on the team is putting winning first."Â
The Hilltoppers' first game of the week is slated for Thursday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. CT at KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Ga., which will be followed by a trip to Jacksonville, Ala. to face Jax State on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.
Follow the team on social media (@wkubasketball) and visit wkusports.com for the latest news and updates on all things Hilltopper Basketball as the team continues its 2024-25 campaign.
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