BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU begins play in the campus site portion of the 2014 NIT Season Tip-Off Tuesday night at 7:00 (CT) at Minnesota.
WKU opened the season with a win for the first time since 2010-11 after a 77-70 victory over Austin Peay Saturday afternoon, and the Hilltoppers will play three of their next four games away from home including three games in the NIT Season Tip-Off surrounding a matchup at E.A. Diddle Arena against Belmont.
This is WKU’s fifth appearance in the early-season NIT, with the last coming at the start of the 2009-10 season where WKU went 2-2 after starting in the Baton Rouge Regional. Overall, the Hilltoppers are 5-5 all-time in the event.
The Hilltoppers and the Golden Gophers have met once prior in an exempt tournament, with Minnesota earning a 95-77 win in the 2010 Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Minnesota won the 2014 postseason NIT and is coached by Richard Pitino, who has squared off against WKU on three separate occasions while the head coach at FIU in 2012-13. Hilltopper head coach Ray Harper is 2-1 against Pitino, including a victory in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
GAME 2
WKU (1-0) at Minnesota (0-1)
2014 NIT Season Tip-Off
November 18, 2014 | 7:00 PM (CT)
Minneapolis, Minn. | Williams Arena (14,625)
WKU Game Notes
QUICK SHOTS
– WKU is 11-19 all-time against current members of the Big Ten conference, with its last matchup against the league coming against Iowa in the 2012 Cancun Challenge and its last win coming over Illinois in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Portland, Ore.
– None of the current Hilltoppers were in the program at the time of WKU’s last meeting with Minnesota in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but first-year graduate assistant Jamal Crook had six points, six assists and five rebounds with no turnovers in 16 minutes off the bench in his sophomore season as the Hilltoppers’ point guard.
– T.J. Price has recorded five-straight double-figure scoring outings and 63 in 94 games as a Hilltopper.
– Chris Harrison-Docks has made 13-straight free throw attempts after going 3-for-3 against Austin Peay and finishing third in the nation among freshman from the charity stripe a season ago.
– With the win over Austin Peay, WKU became just the 18th program in NCAA history with 1,700 wins as a program, with Texas reaching the mark one day before the Hilltoppers.
– Seniors George Fant and T.J. Price accounted for two of the 10 spots on the Preseason All-Conference USA Team, as voted by the league head coaches.
– Nine of the Hilltoppers’ 13 Conference USA foes have previously been in a conference with WKU at one time or another, with only Rice, Southern Miss, UTEP and UTSA being new league rivals.
– WKU has won seven of its last eight regular-season home games.
– The Hilltoppers have improved on their E.A. Diddle Arena win total each season since 2010-11, winning 13 at home last season following seasons of 11, eight and seven dating back to 2010-11.
BROADCAST
– Listen: Hilltopper IMG Sports Network, TuneIn Radio (free) (Randy Lee, pxp | Hal Schmitt, analysis)
– Watch: ESPN3 (Clay Matvick, pxp | Homer Drew, analysis)
– Live Stats: GopherSports.com (free)
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Basketball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKUBasketball on Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUBasketball.
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