GAMEDAY: Tops vs. Bucs

Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
WKU finally retakes the court tonight (and at a reasonable hour) as the Tops welcome the East Tennessee State Buccaneers to Diddle Arena, as Ray Harper’s squad gets to showcase their stuff in front of a home crowd for the first time in 2013-2014. Hopefully the jet-lag has worn off by now, and we will see a strong performance, and if all goes right, WKU will be .500 by the end of the night.
If you read the WTRT recap of the Wichita St. game, you know that yes, while the score was bad and the 2nd half play was not the best, it was overall a good game, and lots of good things could have (and should have) been taken away from it. Alex Rostov, Brandon Price, T.J. Price all had strong games, and will only look to improve upon what they did in Kansas. George Fant didn’t debut very well this year, but he’ll have a winless A-Sun team to feast on and get back to the player we all know he is and is capable of being.
East Tennessee comes into the game having dropped their first 2 games of the season, a 5 point loss to open the season against future C-USA opponent for WKU Charlotte and a loss to another Bluegrass team in Morehead State earlier this week. The Buccaneers are lead in the stat sheet by senior Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard and junior Rashawn Rembert, who average 16.5 and 16 points, respectively, per game in the early stages of the season. To accompany them are two more players, A.J. Merriweather and Lester Wilson, who average 11 and 11.5 points per game. Bottom line: their starters can score. It’s the bench that is worrisome for Bucs fans.
If the Tops can stop the ETSU starters, and have their starters and key players do what they’re supposed to, it indeed will be dear old Westerns day.
Look for another big game from Price and Rostov, and don’t be surprised if Fant has a coming out party. It’ll be interesting to see how Price is used by Harper, to see if he puts him on the floor more in front of the home crowd. After all, he dropped 15 in a half in his last time playing in Diddle.
For those who can’t make it to Diddle, WKUSports.tv will be showing the game, with the simulcast from Mr. Randy Lee.
WTRT will try to tweet, but “official” duties will make it difficult, and you probably wont get much opinion and analysis until after the game.
Stand up and cheers, and Go Tops!