Nine home games and at least five contests against 20-win programs from a year ago highlight the Western Kentucky men’s basketball team’s 2017-18 nonconference schedule, as announced Tuesday by head coach Rick Stansbury. The Hilltoppers will play seven regular-season home games and two exhibitions in nonconference action, and they won’t travel for a true road game until December 10.
The Hilltoppers will play their first five contests of the year in Diddle Arena, starting with exhibitions against Campbellsville on November 1 and Cumberland University on November 7. WKU opens the regular season in Bowling Green against Missouri State on Nov. 10, followed by home games against Kentucky Wesleyan on November 15 and Nicholls State on November 19.
The Hilltoppers leave the following week for the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Paradise Islands, Bahamas. WKU will open the event against 2016 national champion Villanova on November 22, which finished last season with a 32-4 record and third in the RPI. WKU and Villanova have met only once before in the 1971 Final Four, a matchup the Wildcats won 92-89 in double overtime. The Hilltoppers are guaranteed to play two more games in the Bahamas on Nov. 23-24 and will face either Purdue or Tennessee in their second game on Nov. 23. Arizona, SMU, NC State and Northern Iowa are also competing, and all but UNI finished 2016-17 in the top 150 of the RPI.
After WKU returns to the states, it’ll host Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 29 and Wright State on Dec. 2. EKU and Hilltoppers have played 156 times dating back to 1914-15, with WKU holding a 112-44 edge. WKU’s 112 victories are its most against any opponent. The Hilltoppers finally hit the road on Dec. 10 with a trip to Ohio, followed by a quick swing to Wisconsin on Dec. 13. The Badgers finished 27-10 last season and 30th in the RPI. Wisconsin will return to E.A. Diddle Arena in 2018-19.
Home games against Indiana State (Dec. 16) and Belmont (Dec. 19) follow before the Hilltoppers wrap the nonconference slate Dec. 22 at Austin Peay.
The Hilltoppers begin the previously announced C-USA schedule Dec. 28 at home against LA Tech. Home games against five of the top seven finishers in the league last season highlight the conference play portion of the schedule. The Hilltoppers will play home-and-home series with 2017 C-USA regular-season and tournament champion Middle Tennessee and third-place Old Dominion, in addition to hosting second-place LA Tech.
The C-USA Tournament will take place March 7-10 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)