Hilltoppers Defeat Tennessee Tech 82-70 In Season Opener

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball opened the 2025-26 season with an 82-70 win over Tennessee Tech on Monday evening in E.A. Diddle Arena.

Five WKU gamers scored in double figures, led by Grant Newell and Teagan Moore with 16 factors apiece. Newcomer Bryant Selebangue posted a double-double in his debut, notching 14 factors and 10 rebounds, whereas Terrion Murdix added 13 factors and Ryan Myers chipped in 11. WKU made 28-of-35 free throws, out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 42-36 and led for greater than 36 minutes on the way in which to an opening-night win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• WKU constructed a 17-6 first half lead with seven of its factors coming from the free-throw line, as Teagan Moore scored the primary 5 for the Hilltoppers earlier than 5 completely different gamers contributed to stretch the margin to double digits.
• WKU continued to assault the rim, changing eight extra free throws over the subsequent eight minutes to carry a 30-18 benefit. Ryan Myers scored seven factors throughout that stretch with 4 free throws and a 3-pointer.
• Bryant Selebangue and Terrion Murdix mixed for the group’s final 11 factors of the opening half. Selebangue scored three baskets on the rim, whereas Murdix added a free throw and a putback layup to beat the buzzer, sending WKU to the break with a 41-28 lead.
• After Tennessee Tech minimize the deficit to 41-36 early within the second half, the Hilltoppers responded with a 17-5 run fueled by six factors from Grant Newell on jumpers and 5 extra from Murdix, who added layups and a free throw to develop the result in 58-41.
• The Golden Eagles fought again to get inside 60-54 with simply over six minutes left, however WKU closed out the sport over the ultimate minutes with Moore and Newell combining for 14 factors. Moore completed two consecutive journeys on the rim and went 4-for-4 from the road, whereas Newell hit a 3-pointer and completed an and-one layup to assist WKU draw back for an 82-70 win in its season opener.

NOTABLES

• WKU improves to 1-0 on the season and 73-32 all-time in season openers. 
• WKU’s starters for the sport had been Jack Edelen, LJ Hackman, Teagan Moore, Grant Newell and Blaise Keita.
• Announced attendance for the sport was 3,247.
• Five Hilltoppers scored in double figures. Grant Newell and Teagan Moore every had 16 factors, Bryant Selebangue added 14, Terrion Murdix completed with 13 and Ryan Myers chipped in 11.
• Grant Newell’s16 factors got here on 5-of-8 capturing, went 5-for-5 on the free-throw line and hit 1-of-2 from 3-point vary. He added three rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes.
• Moore went 4-for-10 from the sphere and 8-for-9 from the road whereas including 9 boards, one steal and one block in 26 minutes.
• Selebangue recorded a double-double in his Hilltopper debut, ending with 14 factors, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block. He went 5-of-7 from the sphere and made all 4 of his free throw makes an attempt.
• Murdix was spectacular in his Hilltopper debut, capturing 5-of-9 from the sphere, grabbing six rebounds and accumulating one steal in 19 minutes off the bench. 
• Myers caught fireplace early, scoring 9 of his 11 factors within the first half. He shot 3-of-5 from the sphere, knocking one in from behind the arc. He was additionally an ideal 4-of-4 from the free throw line. 
• Armelo Boone recorded a team-high 4 steals and had three rebounds in his collegiate debut.
• WKU shot 41.9% from the sphere, hitting 26-of-62 makes an attempt.
• The Hilltoppers shot 28-of-35 (80%) from the free throw line whereas limiting the Golden Eagles to simply 6-of-12 (50%) on the charity stripe.
• WKU received the rebounding battle, 42-36.
• The Hilltoppers led for 36:52 whereas Tennessee Tech led for simply the primary 1:15 of the sport.

QUOTABLES

• “Obviously happy to come out of here with a win tonight. As I stare at this stat sheet right now, I think we got a little too focused on our individual things tonight. So, I thought our ball movement, our team offense and our team defense didn’t quite reflect the team that we’ve worked really hard to build the last five months. Obviously, Tennessee Tech is a very good team. We knew they would compete. They got a lot of older, experienced players and they certainly did not back down.” — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on the opening evening win over Tennessee Tech.
• “This is definitely a first step. Coaches emphasize my motor, motor, motor to keep pushing myself in practice. That’s something I’m going to continue working on. They emphasize it’s going to translate. I’m just making sure my motor is always high running in practice, not to take days off. I’m sure that’s going to translate.” — Forward Bryant Selebangue, on his double-double. 
• “It was a good experience to finally have an official game in front of everyone. It wasn’t just me — it was a team effort. I’ve tried to do as much as I can. At the beginning, like coach said, I made a couple of selfish plays. Not intentional, but that’s not really me. Then I feel like we got to a point where we turned the ball over fewer times, and that’s winning basketball. When you play like that, that attributes to winning.” — Forward Grant Newell, on taking part in his first sport as a Hilltopper.

NEXT UP

• The Hilltoppers head to Richmond, Kentucky on Nov. 10 for his or her first highway sport of the season towards Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for six p.m. CT at Alumni Coliseum and the sport can be streamed on ESPN+.

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