WKU Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/26/14 – 2/01/2014
Jeff Brown – College Heights Herald
Around the Sun Belt: Roundball Roundup, Conference Play Week 3 Rising Sun Power Rankings
Men’s Basketball: WKU 77 – UT-Arlington 72, WKU 68 – Texas State 64
Well, I’ll be darned if there’s a more exciting team to watch than the Hilltoppers in the Sun Belt. While, as a Tops fan, it’s frustrating at times. And, while the Mavericks are a sneaky good team, there is no way they should have ever lead 23-9. The usual suspects lead the way for the Tops this week, 21 on Thursday from T.J. Price, and the same number on Saturday from George Fant, but a surprising star came out this week, and at a great time in the wake of Alex Rostov (along with Kevin Kaspar) being sidelined indefinitely – O’Karo Akamune. He all but kept the Tops in the game on Thursday, and was a key reason the Tops were within striking distance Saturday, as he grabbed 9 rebounds in each contest, grabbing the attention of Ray Harper and his teammates in the post game. With these two wins, their win-streak is extended to 5 games, and Harper’s squad has moved into 2nd place in the SBC. The Hilltoppers will head to Arkansas to battle UALR and Arkansas State.
Women’s Basketball: WKU 59 – UT-Arlington 46, WKU 63 – Texas State 72
Unfortunately, this week wasn’t as good for Michelle Clark-Heard’s Lady Toppers. They narrowly escaped a 1-win Maverick team, lead by 17 points from Bianca McGee, and followed closely behind by 16 from Micah Jones, as well as 12 points and 12 boards from reigning Sun Belt Conference and National Mid-Major Player of the Week Chastity Gooch, and came out flat again Saturday and were beaten, much to the dismay of MCH, in what was a weird day for the top teams in the Sun Belt (first place Arkansas State, WKU and UALR all dropped contests). Gooch once again lead the way with 15 points and 7 boards, and was followed closely behind by Kendall Noble, who posted 13 points and 5 rebounds. The loss snapped a 3 game win streak for the Lady Toppers, and moves their record on home double-header days to 0-2.
#ProToppers Update:
Courtney Lee‘s Memphis Grizzlies are hot. Winners of six straight, and went 4-0 in this past week, Lee has made a huge impact on his new team. He started all four games this week, playing over 30 minutes a night, but a streaky scorer, as he put up a 16 point performance one night, and then 4 points the next. 18 points against Minnesota, and 8 against Milwaukee. But, regardless of that, it’s clear that Courtney is succeeding, and we couldn’t be happier for him.
Jeremy Evans, as well as his Utah Jazz, are starting to play better. While Utah went 1-2 on the week, Evans only played in two of the contests (in which the team went 1-1), and he even started in the team’s 5 point loss to Golden State, where he played only 17 minutes, but did record 10 points and 4 boards (one of only 4 Jazz players to hit double figures in scoring). He is penciled in to start the Jazz’s next game against the Clippers.
Just a couple more weeks of not a lot of action, and then things really heat up, with baseball and softball season’s on the verge of getting underway.
Until next week, stand up and cheers.