After a three-game road trip in which they went 1-3, WKU Men’s Basketball will return to Diddle Arena Thursday night to face the UTEP Miners.
The Miners come to Bowling Green atop a three-way tie for first place in Conference USA with a 5-2 conference record. Senior forward Otis Frazier III leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.6 per game.
The Hilltoppers struggled to shoot against Sam Huston and have since they entered conference play. They were 29% from three and 44% from the field which is among their better stat lines in the conference slate.
“Our shooting percentage isn’t exactly where we want it to be quite yet,” Head Coach Hank Plona said.
At this point in the conference slate, the Hilltoppers are seventh in the conference in 3-point shooting and last in field goal percentage. UTEP is second and fifth respectively.
“When you play UTEP it’s always a physical battle,” Plona said.
UTEP plays a physical brand of defense, first in the conference averaging 11 steals per game. However, they are last in the conference rebounding, averaging 21 defensive rebounds per game.
The Hilltoppers gave up 15 turnovers in their win against Sam Huston.
“We had 15 turnovers but we shot 9 for 11 from two in the second half,” Plona said. “If we can all of a sudden not turn the ball over then there’s open shots to be had.”
Sports Reporter Nathan Mueller can be reached at nathan.mueller103@topper.wku.edu.