LEXINGTON — Western Kentucky basketball doesn’t necessarily excel in any area defensively. The Hilltoppers are outside the top 100 nationally (of 355 Division I teams in the NCAA rankings) in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage defense.
But Kentucky basketball sharpshooter Koby Brea, who has made a scorching 74.1% (20 for 27) of his 3-point attempts this season, said the numbers don’t tell the whole story about tonight’s opponent.
“They’re a pretty good defensive team from what we’ve seen,” said Brea, whose 3-point accuracy leads the country. “They change up their defenses a lot. They’ve got a lot of aggressive defenders. So I think it’ll be something new for us.”
Offensively, WKU averages 81 points per game. And no team has produced more points from its reserves this season than the Hilltoppers: They average a Division I-topping 31.8 bench points per outing.
And they’re similar to the Wildcats in another way: Per KenPom, the Hilltoppers are tied for 12th nationally in adjusted tempo, averaging 73.2 possessions per 40 minutes (adjusted based on opponent). That’s just one spot behind UK (11th; 73.3).
“(Western Kentucky is) a team that plays a pretty unique style that we haven’t really seen too much of yet, so it’ll be a new challenge for us,” Brea said, “and it’s something that, later on in the season, we might see another team like this. So we’ll be able to use this for the future.”
Follow along below with live updates from Rupp Arena:
The Wildcats end the half making five of their last seven shots, upping their percentage to 45.2 (14 of 31) for the opening 20 minutes. The Hilltoppers are 10 for 33 (30.3%).
Otega Oweh and Andrew Carr have nine points apiece to lead UK. Julius Thedford has a team-high eight for WKU.
At the under-8 timeout, Kentucky holds a 24-18 lead over Western Kentucky.
The Wildcats have made 40.9% (9 for 22) of their shots from the field. But they’re struggling in the last few minutes, hitting just two of their last 10. UK also is shooting just 18.2% (2 for 11) beyond the 3-point arc. WKU is at 29.4% (5 of 17) overall and 2 of 9 (22.2%) on 3s.
There’s 7:39 left in the first half.
Here are Kentucky’s starters vs. Western Kentucky:
It’s the same starting five UK has trotted out for its two preseason exhibitions (versus Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State Mankato, respectively) and all four regular-season games so far (Wright State, Bucknell, Duke and Lipscomb).
And here’s Western Kentucky’s lineup:
The contest between the Wildcats and Hilltoppers will air on ESPNU. Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (analyst) will have the call.
Authenticated subscribers can access ESPNU via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
You also can stream ESPNU on Fubo, which offers a free trial.
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.
You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.
Betting odds: Kentucky is a 22 ½-point home favorite (-110) on BetMGM, which set the over/under at 164 ½ points (-105).
- Oct. 23: exhibition vs. Kentucky Wesleyan ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 123, Kentucky Wesleyan 52
- Oct. 29: exhibition vs. Minnesota State Mankato ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 98, Minnesota State Mankato 67
- Nov. 4: vs. Wright State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 103, Wright State 62
- Nov. 9: vs. Bucknell (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 100, Bucknell 72
- Nov. 12: vs. Duke (Champions Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Duke 72
- Nov. 19: vs. Lipscomb, (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 97, Lipscomb 68
- Nov. 22: vs. Jackson State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 108, Jackson State 59
- Nov. 26: vs. Western Kentucky (Rupp Arena), 6:30 p.m., ESPNU
- Nov. 29: vs. Georgia State (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Dec. 3: at Clemson (ACC/SEC Challenge), 9:30 p.m., ESPN
- Dec. 7: vs. Gonzaga (Climate Pledge Arena; Seattle), 10 p.m.
- Dec. 11: vs. Colgate (Rupp Arena), 8 p.m., ESPN2
- Dec. 14: vs. Louisville (Rupp Arena), 5:15 p.m., ESPN
- Dec. 21: vs. Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York), 5:30 p.m., CBS
- Dec. 31: vs. Brown (Rupp Arena), 2 p.m., ESPNU
- Jan. 4: vs. Florida (Rupp Arena), 11 a.m., ESPN
- Jan. 7: at Georgia, 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 11: at Mississippi State, 8:30 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 14: vs. Texas A&M (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
- Jan. 18: vs. Alabama (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN
- Jan. 25: at Vanderbilt, 2:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
- Jan. 28: at Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 1: vs. Arkansas (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 4: at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 8: vs. South Carolina (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN/ESPN2
- Feb. 11: vs. Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 15: at Texas, 8 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 19: vs. Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Feb. 22: at Alabama, 6 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 26: at Oklahoma, 9 p.m., SEC Network
- March 1: vs. Auburn (Rupp Arena), 1/4 p.m., ABC/ESPN
- March 4: vs. LSU (Rupp Arena), 7/9 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
- March 8: at Missouri, noon, ESPN/SEC Network
Record: 5-0
- Ansley Almonor (forward, senior)
- Koby Brea (guard, graduate)
- Lamont Butler (guard, graduate)
- Andrew Carr (forward, graduate)
- Collin Chandler (guard, freshman)
- Grant Darbyshire (guard, junior)
- Brandon Garrison (forward, sophomore)
- Walker Horn (guard, junior)
- Kerr Kriisa (guard, senior)
- Trent Noah (forward, freshman)
- Otega Oweh (guard, junior)
- Travis Perry (guard, freshman)
- Jaxson Robinson (guard, graduate)
- Zach Tow (forward, junior)
- Amari Williams (center, graduate)
Western Kentucky went 22-12 overall last season, posting an 8-8 mark in Conference USA play. Its season ended in an 89-67 loss to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Hilltoppers are 3-2 this season. After dropping their first two games (Wichita State and Grand Canyon), they’ve rebounded to win three in a row: Campbellsville, Lipscomb and Jackson State.
Click here to see the Hilltoppers’ full 2024-25 schedule.
Want to learn the Hilltoppers’ roster?
Click here for player bios and more.
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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
