Western Kentucky University will face its biggest challenge of the season, by far, with a nationally televised road matchup at No. 8 Kentucky on Tuesday.
Tipoff from Rupp Arena is at 5:30 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on ESPNU.
WKU beat Jackson State 79-62 in Diddle Arena on Nov. 20. It was the third straight win for WKU which is 3-2 on the season.
Three Hilltoppers scored in double figures, Khristian Lander leading the way with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Don McHenry had 13 points, five rebounds, five steals and an assist. Freshman Julius Thedford put up 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
Lander led the Tops in scoring for the second time on the season last Wednesday night.
McHenry has has scored 20 or more points in three of the Tops’ five games this season, recording a team-high 23 points on the road at Grand Canyon and 21 points in the team’s season opener against Wichita State and Lipscomb on Nov. 17.
McHenry is WKU’s leading scorer at 17.2 points a game and has averaged 1.8 assists per game, good for second-most on the team.
Babacar Faye led the Tops in scoring in the team’s season opener against Wichita State with a career-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Faye leads the team in rebounding and blocks, pulling down 7.8 rebounds a game and a total of five blocks on the year.
“I hope that we’ve gotten better in these last two games, but most importantly, they’re two early-season wins against teams that will be pretty solid in their respective leagues,” WKU head coach Hank Plona said last week. “I was happy to see a lot of different guys contribute tonight, get their feet under them and build some confidence.
“(Kentucky) will be quite a challenge for us and we’ll need everyone to be at their absolute best, so it was good that multiple guys got on the floor and got some game minutes and some game success.”
