Hilltoppers narrowly escape Austin Peay, 77-70

A win is a win, nonetheless. However, for this win, this sports writer isn’t impressed and neither was coach Ray Harper. To get things started, the Governors form Austin Peay brought their “A” game to the Hill in order to try and steal the win from the Tops, but I beckon the question, was Austin Peay that good, or did the Tops just play bad enough to make the Governors?

As for individual standouts on the APSU roster, the main candidate was as expected, Chris Horton, who rounded out his day with 15 points, four rebounds, and a pair of assists. The Governors had three guys tie for the most boards grabbed. As a team, Austin Peay shot 43% from the floor, and 50% from behind the arc.

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Now for your Hilltoppers. WKU didn’t have a terrible day, but

sloppy

is a good term to summarize it. The Tops would go on spurts of good play, and then streaks of bad. There were points in time where the Tops had made five consecutive field goals, followed by an 0-5 run from the floor. The Hilltoppers just didn’t seem to get into a rhythm, so with them still picking up a win while playing bad is always a blessing, but come Tuesday when the boys in red make their way to Minnesota to face Richard Pitino and the Golden Gophers, they might have wanted to be a little bit more tested in game numero uno; and Coach Harper stressed this in his post game statements.

As for stats, the Tops went a not too good 43% from the floor, and the same percentage from behind the arc. Which, considering WKU was at one point in time 5-6 from three, is just terrible. The Tops also shot 63% from the free throw line, picking up right where they left off from last year. The Hilltoppers did find 35 boards, with 10 of those coming on the offensive end. WKU saw a total of 12 guys step on the court, with 20 points coming from the guys off of the bench. A big stat that is also another reoccurring theme from last year were the turnovers, which WKU relinquished 13 possessions over to the Govs.

For the individual Hilltoppers, the leading scoring for the night was sir T.J. Price, as he hauled in 22 points as well as four rebounds and four assists. Followed by him was Trency Jackson with 14 points and Chris Harrison-Docks with 13. George Fant and Justin Johnson tied for most rebounds with five.

Aside from statistics, a few things that I noticed tonight is that Justin Johnson is going to be a stud for the next few years (which I’ve already discussed in prior posts, but he continues to reassure my assumption). Also, his efforts on both ends of the court surpass any other player on the court.

Another thought I have is, while Rob Marberry is just a walk-on, he will be a huge asset as the season progresses as he provides a lot of effort, as well as a presence down in the post when one is needed.

The Hilltoppers will travel to Minnesota to play the Big 10’s Golden Gophers this upcoming Tuesday. The last time Coach Harper and Co. played head coach Richard Pitino, things were quite interesting to say the least (but the Tops got a conference championship out of it). Let’s hope the same can be said for Tuesday night as well.

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