After claiming a big bounce-back win over ‘100 Miles of Hate’ rival, Middle Tennessee State, the Hilltoppers find themselves looking up a mountain: playing on the road versus conference leader Louisiana Tech.

This season, the Hilltoppers haven’t brought the same level of conference success that they brought to their out of conference foes. Through the first eight Conference-USA games, WKU finds themselves struggling to tread water at an even .500 conference record.

However, the Hilltoppers are heading to Louisiana Tech on Wednesday to face both an unstoppable force and an immovable object, the 6-1 Bulldogs.

This season, LA Tech is led by two of C-USA’s premier athletes. Isaiah Crawford, a forward from Fort Worth, Texas has been arguably the best player in C-USA all season long. 

Through his 22 games, Crawford has been averaging 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, all the while shooting 51.2% from the field and an impressive 42.4% from three. His near 16 point effort on a nightly basis is enough for second place in C-USA.

Bulldog teammate, Daniel Batcho, has been the supreme glass cleaner in the conference. His 10.5 rebounds lead the conference by over three rebounds. On top of his impressive ability to bring down boards, the Frenchman has been a primary interior scorer, averaging 15.0 points per game, good for fourth in the conference.

The Hilltoppers are led by junior Don McHenry, a guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. McHenry is currently the only man separating Crawford and Batcho in scoring. The WKU guard’s 15.4 points put him at third place in the conference. 

Throughout history, the Hilltoppers and Bulldogs are knotted up. After 42 matchups, the record sits at 21-21. Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, most of their wins have come in Bowling Green. Heading into Ruton, Louisiana the Hilltoppers are hoping to improve on their 6-11 away record in the series.

This game will be available to stream on ESPN+ at 6:00 pm CST.