Hilltoppers Host Tennessee Tech to Open 2025-26 Season

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After months of anticipation, WKU Hilltopper Basketball will formally be underway with the 2025-26 season on Monday evening, internet hosting Tennessee Tech in E.A. Diddle Arena at 6:30 p.m. CT. The sport will stream dwell on ESPN+.

GAME INFO

AT THE GAME

• Purchase WKU Hilltopper Basketball season tickets HERE.
• Purchase tickets to Monday’s sport in opposition to Tennessee Tech HERE.
• The ticket cubicles at E.A. Diddle Arena can be open previous to doorways opening. Doors will open 90 minutes previous to tipoff for the general public. 
• Monday can be Wild Wild Western evening. Join us as we tip off the 2025-26 season. Saddle up for an evening of nation enjoyable in Diddle Arena! 
• Schedule playing cards and posters can be obtainable on the advertising and marketing desk close to the doorway whereas provides final. 
• WKU Athletics provides a child’s nook in Diddle Arena, an space for youths to take pleasure in. This space consists of bean bag tic-tac-toe, inflatable axe throwing and extra. The child’s nook is situated on the upstairs concourse by the concessions stand.
• After the sport, stick round for postgame fist bumps from the WKU Hilltopper Basketball workforce. 
• The full 2025-26 WKU Hilltopper Basketball promotional schedule will be discovered HERE.
• Want to make your gameday particular? Check out our Hilltopper Highlights premium fan experiences for basketball season, together with videoboard messages, Big Red visits, fan tunnels and extra! Check out our Hilltopper Highlights HERE.
• For the total WKU Basketball Gameday Information web page, click on HERE.
• For the total WKU Basketball Winter Sports Yearbook, click on HERE.

ABOUT THE TOPS

• WKU Hilltopper Basketball begins the 2025-26 marketing campaign underneath second-year Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona with a dramatically retooled roster.
• Seven gamers return to the workforce for the 2025-26 season, 5 guards and two huge males, whereas 9 newcomers be a part of the squad — 5 guards and 4 huge males.
• Guards Teagan Moore, Jack Edelen, Terrion Murdix, Cade Stinnett and Kade Unseld return for WKU this season. Edelen is the lone returning guard to see flooring time in 2024-25, averaging 2.9 factors per sport. Moore, Murdix, Stinnett and Unseld redshirted and didn’t see time on the ground in 2024-25. Moore is trying to construct on a promising freshman marketing campaign in 2023-24, the place he was twice named CUSA Freshman of the Week and earned a spot on the CUSA All-Freshman Team.
• Blaise Keita and Leeroy Odiahi are the 2 returning huge males for the Hilltoppers. Keita began 12 of 24 appearances, averaging 2.5 factors and three.8 rebounds per sport whereas Odiahi led the squad with 29 blocks in 31 video games.
• Transfer guards LJ Hackman, Cam Haffner and Ryan Myers are anticipated to have vital roles in WKU’s backcourt whereas switch huge males Bryant Selebangue, Noah Boyde, Grant Newell and Louie Semona can be important to WKU’s success within the frontcourt.
• WKU signed freshmen guards Armelo Boone and Lawson Rice. They come to WKU after standout highschool careers in Kentucky.

LAST TIME OUT

• WKU closed out exhibition play with a 78-76 win over UAB Wednesday evening in Birmingham.
• The Hilltoppers led for a lot of the second half earlier than LJ Hackman drove down the lane for the go-ahead layup with eight seconds left, then blocked the Blazers’ remaining shot to seal the victory.
• Teagan Moore led all scorers with 26 factors, going 8-for-11 from the sphere and an ideal 8-for-8 on the line. Hackman added 12 factors, whereas Bryant Selebangue grabbed 9 rebounds.
• The Hilltoppers outscored UAB 44-30 within the paint and gained the rebounding battle 52-49 to maneuver to 2-0 in preseason play. 

QUOTABLE

• “I think the experience of winning together, winning on the road and putting ourselves in a very challenging situation. You learn from these experiences. Hopefully, we learn something about ourselves when we watch the film. I’m sure we’ll figure out how we can improve, but having 14 guys play, everybody care about winning and different guys step up. You want to build successful experiences. Hopefully coming down here (UAB) is something that helps us get off to a great start this season.” — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on what they’re going to convey from the UAB exhibition into the season opener in opposition to Tennessee Tech on Monday.

SERIES INFORMATION

• WKU and Tennessee Tech have beforehand met 103 instances with the newest assembly coming within the 2020-21 season. The Hilltoppers lead the all-time collection 83-20.
• WKU defeated the Golden Eagles, 88-68, on Dec. 12, 2020 in Diddle Arena.
• The Hilltoppers gained 4 of the final 5 in opposition to Tennessee Tech, together with wins within the final three contests. The Hilltoppers gained by at the least a 12-point margin in all three video games. 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES

• Tennessee Tech compiled a 15-17 general report in 2024-25, together with a 10-10 mark in OVC play.
• The Golden Eagles return three gamers from final 12 months’s workforce whereas welcoming 13 newcomers to this system.
• Tennessee Tech completed fifth within the OVC common season standings and misplaced to UT Martin, 70-67, within the OVC Tournament Quarterfinals final 12 months.

How to observe WKU Hilltopper Basketball: For full info on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, go to WKUSports.com or observe this system through social media @WKUBasketball on Instagram and X.