February 26, 2008

One Thing Left To Do
by Cortney Basham

Win the whole bloody thing.  That’s what must be done for WKU to make the NCAA Tournament after their painful, spirit-crushing loss to South Alabama last Thursday night.  Their NCCA at-large hopes were modest before that game, but a win over Team USA would have cranked up the talk of ending the regular season with a 17-game winning streak.  Then, even if they lost to USA in the Belt Tourney, WKU could have made an interesting argument (which still would have been a 50/50 proposition in my estimation) for inclusion in the Big Dance.

But, that all went down the drain in front of a foamy, white-clad sea of 7,800 fans.  It seems everyone did their part on and off the court, but the ball stubbornly avoided the hoop all night long, as WKU shot a dismal 34% from the field.  Shot selection played a role in that and USA’s defense was a big factor in the poor shot selection.  Even at that, big guns Courtney Lee and Tyrone Brazelton simply seemed “off.”  Pressure?  USA’s defense?  Hard to say, but they certainly were not themselves finishing around the hoop.

The Toppers rebounded (sort of) with a ho-hum 86-75 win over UL-Monroe, but it was clear that they clearly were still feeling the deflation applied by USA.  They will have to recharge and refocus this week as they make the Florida swing at FIU on Wednesday and at FAU on Saturday.  They already have the 3-seed locked up for the tourney, so their motivation will have to come from simply improving, winning these individual games, and building momentum for the postseason.  Most would expect the Toppers to take care of FIU, but beware of FAU.  The Owls have are 9-4 in their last 13, and they just took care of Middle Tennessee in Boca Raton on the weekend.  That will be a nice test for WKU as they head into the conference tournament.