Western Kentucky officially opens their 2022-23 season against a quality opponent in Eastern Kentucky on the road on Thursday. WKU is looking to showcase their newly added depth this year and they'll have a chance to prove it tonight.
EKU is coming off a dominant 132-52 win against Miami (OH)-Middletown on Monday and the Colonels will look to build off that same success, but they'll have their hands full in a more formidable opponent in the Hilltoppers.
The Hilltoppers are coming off some impressive exhibition wins against Montevallo and Georgetown College.
InsideHilltopperSports.com has your quick facts and keys to the game against EKU.
Quick Facts
Matchup: WKU (0-0) at EKU (1-0)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 10th
Time: 6:00 PM (CT)
Location: Richmond, KY | Alumni Coliseum McBrayer Arena
Watch: ESPN+
History: WKU leads the all time series against EKU 115-44, and the Hilltoppers won the last matchup 85-80 on December 4th 2021.
The Opponent: EKU is a team who loves to score a lot of points and shoot three-pointers, as they were 16th in the entire country in scoring last year and third in three-pointers made per game. WKU will have to show up on the defensive end if they want to win this game.
Junior Forward Michael Moreno is expected to have a big time season for the Colonels this year, as he was named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Moreno had an impressive outing to start the season against Miami (OH)-Middletown. He finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, which is an all around performance that he's looking to build off of. The Hilltoppers will have a great chance to win this game if they can limit Moreno's scoring and overall impact.
Junior guard/wing Devontae Blanton will also have a large role for the Colonels this season. Blanton played in 29 games a season ago and he started in 19 of them. This season he'll get his chance to be a full-time starter and he opened the year on a good note. Blanton is coming off a 14-point performance, with two rebounds, and four assists. He plays a huge role on the Colonels ability to win games, so WKU will have to contain him and rely on star guard Dayvion McKnight to outshine him in tomorrow's matchup.
Junior forward John Ukomadu is a new transfer from Macomb Community College and his impact was immediately felt for EKU, as he had an excellent game on Monday. Ukomadu had 19 points, seven rebounds, and three steals on a ridiculous 9/10 from the field. He was named a second team NJCAA All-American at Macomb where he averaged 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals, which shows his well balanced style of play. The matchup between him and Jairus Hamilton will definitely be something to watch.
Also, Western Kentucky will see an old face in Isaiah Cozart, who played 17 minutes, tallying 12 points and eight rebounds in Eastern Kentucky's season-opening win.
EKU has a high-powered offense that is designed to score with the best of them. They are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation and they've showcased that the past couple of seasons. EKU has led their conference in scoring for two years straight and they've returned most of their key guys so we could see them do this once again. Their strength is obviously scoring, so the Hilltoppers will have to take that away from them and make EKU play a different style of basketball.
Defensively, they have guards that love to steal the ball and big men who've shown their shot blocking ability, but they'll have a tough task guarding the duo of Dayvion McKnight and the tallest player in the country, Jamarion Sharp.
Keys to a Win
WKU will have to limit three-pointers made and break them down defensively so they can't score the ball in bunches. WKU needs to keep Eastern Kentucky off the perimeter and make them finish over the top of Sharp, and that won't be easy for them to do. Dayvion McKnight will have to penetrate their defense and put pressure on their big men, if he can do that, it will be hard to guard him and Jamarion Sharp in the paint. WKU has some quality three-point shooters themselves, so if they can end this game with more three-point field goals than EKU, a win will most likely be the result.
