WKU Basketball: Tops Routed by Belmont, 79–62

In a disappointing game to end the year and non-conference play, the Hilltoppers got beat by the unbeatable to them Belmont Bruins, 79–62.

Carson Williams led WKU in scoring with only 12 points and seven rebounds while the team shot 34% and 6-of-27 from deep as the Bruins were led by Scanlon with 18 points. The Bruins didn’t shoot that well from deep but still shot 39% from three point range and 48% from the court.

This game just didn’t feel right from the start for the Tops. Lots of errors and missed shots on offense and couldn’t close out the three point shooters on defense. WKU only made one three for the entire first half and only had 24 points at halftime. Charles Bassey’s absence was definitely felt but even with him in there it wouldn’t have matter that much down the road.

The Belmont Bruins just seem to be an unbeatable team for WKU and tonight looked as bad as any game they’ve played against them.

As for WKU, non-conference play is over and they finish with a 7–5 record. C-USA play begins at home on Thursday night vs North Texas and I’m hoping tonight isn’t the beginning of a new trend for the Tops (although they have a lot to work on).

Coach Stansbury’s coaching strategies have definitely been exposed in this game and he needs to make some adjustments or else what we saw tonight could become the norm. Rawls played a good game with five points but still didn’t see as many minutes as he should have while Justice played the majority of the game with a bad shooting night.

It’s easy to sit here and nitpick everything but conference play is upon us and seeing how the Tops perform against conference competition will mean more than anything.

Let’s hope the losing stops in 2019 and this team figures things out moving into a new year and conference play.