Blogging live from Diddle Arena on Thursday night, where WKU hosts Xavier (La.) in the second of two exhibitions before the 2010-2011 season. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

Final score from Diddle tonight is WKU 84, Xavier (La.) 69. We’ll have more on the game later.

-WKU holding a firm lead now with what looks to be mostly second-teamers on the floor inside of four minutes to play. It’s 77-61 Toppers with 2:30 to play.

-Juan Pattillo left the game to a standing ovation with just under six minutes to play. If he doesn’t return, the final stat line will read 31 points, nine rebounds. WKU leads, 73-52, with 5:15 to play.

-Brandon Peters has seven steals and six assists, and WKU leads 62-45 with 7:59 to play. But there’s nothing bigger happening right now than Juan Pattillo, who has 29 points and nine rebounds.

-Juan Pattillo is turning this into a playground — also great drunking practice. Pattillo has 26 points and eight rebounds, most recently grabbing one off the rim and finishing with a two-handed slam. And that was over a pair of defenders. It’s 59-25 WKU with nine minutes to play.

–Now 19-5 run for WKU since the beginning of the second half. Tops lead 53-30 with 13:33 to play. Juan Pattillo leads all scorers with 20 points and six rebounds.

-Juan Pattillo keeps making noise out of the half. His alley-oop dunk courtesy of Brandon Peters made it 45-29 WKU with 16:03 to play. Pattillo has 20 points to lead all scorers. Nobody else is in double figures.

-Steffphon Pettigrew missed a 3-pointer with time running out. It’s 34-25 WKU heading into the half. Tops finished 12-of-35 from the field. 9-of-16 from the line. Juan Pattillo leads all scorers with 11 points and is the only player in double figures. Steffphon Pettigrew has seven points.

-WKU’s lead is holding steady, along with sloppy shooting. The Toppers are 9-of-29 from the field but hold a 26-19 lead with 3:51 to play in the first half. Juan Pattillo’s eight points lead all scorers.

-It’s Juan Pattillo time — again. He entered with the game tied and helped the Toppers on a 4-0 run to make it 21-17 at the under-eight timeout.

-Steffphon Pettigrew stopped WKU’s missed-shot streak at 12 in a row, but Xavier finished a three-point play on the other end to tie the game at 17. The Gold Rush’s comeback effort was part of a 15-3 run.

-Toppers can’t score right now. They’ve missed their last 10 shots and are 5-of-20 as a team. Xavier trails just 15-12 at the 10-minute mark of the first half.

-WKU’s production slowed during the game’s second segment. The Toppers were out-scored 4-3 over the four-minute span. Jamal Crook is back in the game with his right wrist taped up. That situation looks fine.

-Timeout called at the 15:50 mark after Juan Pattillo finished a runout with a windmill dunk. The play started when Brandon Peters grabbed one of the Toppers’ six steals. WKU leads, 12-2.

-Juan Pattillo looks determined to have a faster start than he did last night. Had two points, two steals and an assist in the first two minutes of the game. Also, guard Ken Brown checked in at the 17:44 mark for Jamal Crook, who was fouled hard on a drive to the basket and left holding his right wrist.

-About to tip here at Diddle, where Xavier was introduced as the Gold Nuggets. Fun fact of the day — looks like the men actually go by the Gold Rush, and the women Gold Nuggets.

-WKU’s starting five: Juan Pattillo, Caden Dickerson, Jamal Crook, Brandon Peters and Steffphon Pettigrew. Same as last Sunday.

-Senior forward Sergio Kerusch is dressed in street clothes and will not play tonight. The Bowling Green Daily News reported yesterday that Kerusch had injured his left foot, but the extent of the injury wasn’t known. We’ll obviously have an update on Kerusch from Head Coach Ken McDonald after tonight’s game, but I’ve heard it will be a seven to 10-day resting period.

There’s a probable starting five on today’s media notes, but it includes Kerusch. So consider that useless at this point.