GAMEDAY! WKU vs. Southern Miss

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Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

What do you say Hilltopper fans?! It is GAMEDAY here on the HILL! The Tops hit the hardwood in Diddle Arena later on tonight at 7 PM. WKU will be playing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, which looks to be a pretty tough game as the Eagles have began a good start to their season with a record of (9-1). So let’s break things down!

The Hilltoppers come in to tonights game with a record of (5-4) with their previous game being handed to them as a loss by the 6th ranked team in the nation, the Louisville Cardinals. One key thing to look at coming in to tonights game is both the Tops and the Golden Eagles have faced the Cardinals this season. Southern Miss played the cardinals a couple of weeks ago when Louisville was ranked 9th. The score of the event was a one sided game with Louisville pulling out the win, 69-38. Handing Southern Miss their first and only loss of the season. The Tops of course played the Cards last saturday, losing with a score of 79-63. WKU allowed just 10 more points to the Cards, but also scored 25 more points than the Golden Eagles.

Some of the Golden Eagle victories include wins against DePaul, Sun Belt Conference’s South Alabama and Georgia State, and WKU’s former OVC foe Morehead State. With the Georgia State win occurring in OT. Key players to watch out for on the Southern Miss roster include Neil Watson who is averaging 11.7 points/game and 3.4 assists/game. Also Michael Craig who is averaging 9.9 points/game and 6.9 rebounds/game.

Tonight could mark the beginning of a new rivalry as well for the Tops, as WKU will be seeing much more of the Golden Eagles starting next year. As Hilltopper sports moves to Conference USA in 2014, WKU will meet Southern Miss in conference play. So tonight could be used as an early statement for either of these teams to the other.

WKU leads the all time series between the teams, as the tops have won 3 of the 4 meetings. The only loss for WKU coming in OT in last year’s season opener, with a score of 67-64. Tonight the Tops need to take care of the ball, and NOT have many slip ups in the paint, which has been a continuing trend all season. T.J. Price needs to have another stellar game, along with Brandon Harris having a similar performance to the Southern Illinois game, in which he scored 30 points. I think tonights starting line-up will include Harris, TJ, Jackson, Fant and Rostov. With CHD, Hulsey, and Adeoye coming off the bench.

As always, our live thread will be up shortly, and we will be live tweeting over at the WTRT twitter account. Catch the live action at Diddle, or from the comfort of your home on ESPN 3 at 7 tonight! Lets make the Hill roar tonight Topper fans!