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 Dec. 10.
Including the Conference USA portion of the schedule, which was previously announced in July, WKU will play 18 total home games this season.
“This is a very challenging schedule with a lot of good home games and great opportunities on the road against some of the better teams in the country,” Stansbury said. “Hopefully, the mixture of both will help prepare our team for conference play and give our fans an opportunity to create an exciting home atmosphere by selling out Diddle Arena.”
The Hilltoppers will play their first five contests of the year in E.A. Diddle Arena, starting with exhibitions against Campbellsville on Nov. 1 and Cumberland University on Nov. 7.
WKU beat Campbellsville 87-79 in its opening exhibition last season. Campbellsville is Stansbury's alma mater where he was a four-year letterman and got his coaching start as a student assistant. Stansbury received Campbellsville's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.
Cumberland is coached by Lonnie Thompson, the father of WKU graduate senior guard Darius Thompson.
WKU opens the regular season in Bowling Green against Missouri State on Nov. 10, followed by home games against Kentucky Wesleyan on Nov. 15 and Nicholls State on Nov. 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 Nov. 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.
Missouri State, Nicholls State and Wright State are first-time opponents for WKU.
Villanova, Wright State, Ohio, Wisconsin and Belmont all finished with at least 20 wins and in the top 150 of the RPI last season. WKU has a chance to add to the strength of its schedule with the tough Battle 4 Atlantis field.
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.
C-USA's television partners could still ask for date changes to accommodate broadcast schedules. Game times will be announced at a later date.
The Hilltoppers are 584-166 all-time at Diddle Arena and are one of the nation's most storied programs. WKU ranks third in NCAA history in regular-season league titles (42), seventh in 20-win seasons (43), ninth in all-time winning percentage (.660) and 18th in all-time wins (1,748).
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