Here are three observations, two questions and one prediction heading into Western Kentucky’s Conference USA road game Wednesday night at Marshall.
Three observations
1. Taveion Hollingsworth is straight ballin’ right now.
Taveion Hollingsworth has been a scorer – heck, he’s the all-time points leader for high school basketball in the city of Lexington – ever since he began playing basketball. He’s already making his way up the all-time scoring list at WKU, and he continued to climb up it this past week.
After scoring 23 points last Thursday in a 71-69 win over Old Dominion – including the final nine points of the game in the Toppers’ comeback – and following that performance up with a 30-point outing last Saturday in an 80-63 victory against Charlotte, Hollingsworth is now up to No. 26 on WKU’s all-time scoring list with 1,264 career points.
He’s only five points away from moving into the top 25 – and I’d say he’ll easily make that move Wednesday in Huntington.
2. Camron Justice is back at the right time.
After being sidelined with a back injury, Camron Justice returned to action Saturday and is back just in time for the Marshall swing (the Hilltoppers play the Thundering Herd both Wednesday and Saturday this week).
Justice is one of WKU’s best shooters – and his ability to shoot the basketball is crucial for the Toppers, who are mostly playing with four guards and just one forward each night with Charles Bassey sidelined for the season.
Points are important for WKU, and Justice helps the squad record quite a bit of them.
3. The streak lives – and moves up nationally.
WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in many, many consecutive games. The Hilltoppers knocked down seven vs. Charlotte to keep their streak alive – and they also moved up the national list in that category as another team failed to make one over the weekend.
Vanderbilt, which didn’t make a single triple on Saturday night vs. Tennessee, helped WKU move into third nationally with 1,028 straight games with a made 3. The Toppers now only trail UNLV and Duke.
Two questions
1. Why in the world are WKU and Marshall playing twice in one week?
I wish I knew the answer, but I don’t – and I’ll direct all of your questions about the matter to Conference USA. As I mentioned before, WKU and Marshall are indeed playing both Wednesday and Saturday this week.
I don’t like it – and it’s just weird and unheard of. Why can’t we just play one long game instead of two in a week and call it a day or something?
2. Can the Toppers beat the Herd twice in four days?
I don’t think it’s impossible, but I certainly believe it’ll be tough for WKU to beat Marshall twice in the span of four days. It all depends on how the Herd is shooting the ball – as they live and die by the 3 – and if the Hilltoppers are having a good shooting night or not themselves.
One prediction
Well, I guess I’ll go ahead and give my picks for this week’s WKU-Marshall swing: Give me the home clubs – Marshall will win Wednesday at the Cam Henderson Center and WKU will beat the Herd on Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Book it, Vegas.
