WKU Hilltopper Basketball opens the new year with its first Conference USA road game of the season at Marshall at 6 p.m. CT Saturday in Huntington, W.Va.
The Hilltoppers have started 2-0 in conference play for the fifth time in six seasons, beating LA Tech and Southern Miss at home last week.
Marshall also beat the Bulldogs and Golden Eagles to start 2-0 in league play. WKU leads the all-time series against the Thundering Herd 13-10, but Marshall has won four straight.
Hilltopper head coach Rick Stansbury is 0-2 in his career against the Herd, which come into the game averaging 88.2 points per contest.
GAME 16
WKU (10-5, 2-0 C-USA) at Marshall (11-4, 2-0 C-USA)
January 6, 2018 | 6 p.m. CT
Huntington, W.Va. | Cam Henderson Center
BROADCAST
Listen: Hilltopper IMG Sports Network (WKLX 100.7 FM flagship), WKUSports.tv (free), TuneIn Radio (free) (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)
Watch: Stadium (online streaming) (Roger Twibell, pxp | Tim Doyle, analysis)
Live Stats: Marshall Stats
QUICK SHOTS
• WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 953 consecutive games, dating back to March 15, 1987. The 3-point shot was instituted prior to the 1986-87 season. The Hilltoppers’ streak is the fifth-longest in the nation behind Kentucky, UNLV, Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
• WKU trailed for just 26 combined seconds in its two opening Conference USA wins.
• WKU ranks 25th in the country in field goal percentage and first in Conference USA at 49.4 percent. That percentage would rank seventh for a single season in program history.
• WKU ranks 45th in the country in 3-point percentage and first in Conference USA at 39.2 percent. That percentage would rank fourth for a single season in program history.
• WKU has outscored its opponents 608-429 in the paint this season.
• The Hilltoppers’ five losses have come by a total of 22 points – an average of 4.4 points per game.
• In his last 12 games, Darius Thompson has 63 combined assists and just 17 turnovers. He has at least four assists in 13 of 15 games this season and leads C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7-to-1.
• Darius Thompson has scored in double figures in all but one game. It took Thompson 15 games to score more points (210) than he had in any previous entire season at Virginia or Tennessee.
• Darius Thompson ranks 18th in the country in minutes per game (36.8) and 22nd in total minutes (552).
• Taveion Hollingsworth has scored at least 12 points in nine straight games.
• Through 15 games, Lamonte Bearden has 28 steals. No Hilltopper had more than 28 steals all last year.
• Lamonte Bearden is 134 points from reaching 1,000 for his career across his time at Buffalo and WKU.
• As of Thursday, Justin Johnson was tied for ninth among active NCAA players for career rebounds and tied for 10th in career double-doubles. He’s one of just five active NCAA players with at least 1,300 career points and 800 rebounds.
• Justin Johnson is ranked 22nd on WKU’s all-time scoring list with 1,308 career points. He needs 11 points to pass Chuck Rawlings and Darel Carrier to move into 20th.
• Justin Johnson currently ranks eighth on WKU’s all-time list for career field goal percentage at 54.7 percent. He’s just over one percentage point from fifth place.
• Justin Johnson needs 27 rebounds to tie Dwight Smith for 10th on WKU’s all-time career list with 856.
• Justin Johnson needs 171 rebounds to reach 1,000 for his career. That would make him just the fifth player in WKU history with 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, joining Tom Marshall, Art Spoelstra, Ralph Crosthwaite and Jim McDaniels, the last to accomplish the feat in 1971.
LAST GAME AGAINST MARSHALL: FEBRUARY 11, 2017
Jon Elmore scored 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Austin Loop sank six 3s and finished with 20 points, and Marshall held on for an 84-79 win at WKU. Que Johnson led the Hilltoppers with 17 points.
MED CENTER HEALTH
The 2017-18 WKU Basketball season is presented by Med Center Health. With The Medical Center at its core, Med Center Health has served Southcentral Kentucky for more than 90 years, and its system of care includes six acute care hospitals, a complete network of immediate to emergency services and services in dozens of specialties. Whether it is emergency treatment for heart attack victims or preventative programs to improve the health of the communities it serves, Med Center Health is committed to providing the highest level of care and service.
How to follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, follow the team’s social media channels, @WKUBasketball on Twitter, @WKUBasketball on Instagram, and WKU Basketball on Facebook.
-@WKUSports-
Zach Greenwell
Associate Director
WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations
Men’s Basketball | Men’s Golf | Women’s Golf
