WKU Men’s Basketball season came to an end in their first game in the Conference USA tournament for the second straight season.
Kennesaw State defeated the Hilltoppers 96-87. WKU fell against the Owls for the third time this season. The Hilltoppers are 1-4 against Kennesaw State in the last two seasons.
The Hilltoppers finished the season 18-14 with an 11-9 CUSA record. In the last two seasons, WKU is 35-29 under head coach Hank Plona.
Offense: B-
WKU’s offense came alive in the last month of the regular season, playing a key role in winning six of its last eight games. In the last month, the Hilltoppers averaged 84.4 points per game. On the season, WKU shot 41% from the floor, ranking last in CUSA.
The Hilltoppers improved from beyond the arc, shooting 34% and attempting eight threes per game. WKU finished in the middle of CUSA in three point shooting at seventh.
Where WKU shined was at the free-throw line. The Hilltoppers ranked second in the conference, shooting 75% from the charity stripe.
Despite ranking last in field goal percentage, WKU was relentless on the offensive glass. The Hilltoppers capitalized on their height, finishing the season ranked fifth in CUSA with 12.8 offensive rebounds per game.
Offensive MVP: Teagan Moore
The Hilltoppers have been led by one player the entire season, Teagan Moore. He was the go-to player for WKU the entire season, averaging a team-high 18.7 points per game.
Despite missing five games in concussion protocol, Moore came back and went on a tear. In the final seven games Moore appeared in, he averaged 22.4 points per game. Moore shot 52% from the floor and 42% from three.
In Moore’s absence, the Hilltoppers went 2-3 and averaged 67.6 points per game. With Moore healthy, WKU averaged 81.4 points per game.
Defense: C
In the Hilltoppers six-game winning streak, they held opposing teams to 74.1 points on average. That’s all nice and good, but that stellar defense vanished when it was needed most in the last two games of the regular season. Missouri State and Florida International scored 87 and 92 points and forced 18 total turnovers. WKU shot under 45% from the field for both games and made a combined nine three pointers.
It gets worse. The quarterfinal round of the CUSA Tournament saw the Hilltoppers overpowered by future conference champion Kennesaw State. WKU shot 44% from the field and turned the ball over 14 times.
What was once a promising season that saw both sides of the ball clicking was derailed by uncoordinated play on defense. A team that led the conference in opponent rebounds allowed per game with 37.5 was outbounded in their last two games, including losing the rebound battle 48 to 28.
The Hilltoppers biggest weakness was blocked shots, averaging 2.3 per game. Grant Newell was the only Hilltopper that played 20 games or more that averaged over 0.5 per blocks a game. The Hilltoppers ended the season allowing 76.1 points per game, which was second last in the conference, a statistic that highlights one of the many reasons they went one and done in the tournament.
Defensive MVP: Terrion Murdix
From the midseason, Murdix increased his steals per game average from 1.6 to 1.9 to end the season. This helped WKU rank second in the conference with 7.6 steals per game. Murdix didn’t score a lot of points, but his effectiveness came from assists, leading the team with 4.1 per game, and steals, where he had numerous games in February with at least three or more.
On Feb. 4 against Jacksonville State and Feb. 14 against Middle Tennessee State, he had four steals in each game.
Armelo Boone and L.J. Hackman also added 1.3 steals per game.
The Hilltoppers will look to regroup and build around a new team, following graduations from eight players. Plona will look to rebound in the offseason and find more success ahead of his third season at the helm.
