32 games. 1,280 minutes of basketball. All have led to this moment.
WKU men’s basketball will be facing off against the UTEP Miners on Saturday for a shot at the C-USA Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This is not unknown territory for the Hilltoppers. Just three years ago, WKU came into the C-USA tournament as the one seed, defeating UTSA and UAB for a shot at glory, before falling in overtime to North Texas.
However, this time they have something different. Steve Lutz. As a head coach, Steve Lutz is perfect in conference championship games. Let me rephrase that, in his two years as a head coach, Coach Lutz has never missed a conference championship game, and he’s never lost it once he’s gotten there.
After coming into the tournament as a three-seed, WKU knocked off New Mexico State by a margin of 20, the biggest win of the tournament up to that point, before taking down rival NMSU in a 31-point blowout in the semifinals.
Now, with a chance to clinch their first NCAA Tournament glory since 2013, the Hilltoppers take on UTEP in the C-USA Final.
In the tournament so far, there hasn’t been just one key player for the WKU offense. A driving factor in their two blow out wins is as simple as full team contribution.
In Thursday’s game against New Mexico State, senior forward Rodney Howard came off the bench to deliver a 20-point, five rebound, and three block night. However, Khristian Lander, Enoch Kalambay, Dontaie Allen, and Brandon Newman all contributed with double-digit nights.
On Friday against MTSU, Don McHenry had himself an 18-point and four-rebound game. At the same time, Babacar Faye, Newman, and Lander all put up more than ten, while freshman guard Teagan Moore had a double-digit number in the rebounds column.
The Hilltoppers are 1-1 against the Miners this year, as they have been against all of their tournament opponents. In their most recent matchup held at Diddle Arena, McHenry and Faye were the go-to guys for WKU’s offense. McHenry’s 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists alongside Faye’s 10 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks led the Hilltoppers to a 10-point win.
For a chance to win with a higher margin, WKU is going to have to attempt a feat that few teams this year have accomplished: minimizing the production of UTEP’s Tae Hardy.
Hardy averages 15.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 41.5% shooting from the floor. In UTEP’s loss to WKU, Hardy had 19 points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. In the Miner’s win, he was even more impressive.
His 27 points, four rebounds, four steals, one assist, and one block, led UTEP to a six-point win.
The game will tip off at 7:30 CST and will be streaming on CBSSN.
