Tops rout Panthers 82-43 in exhibition debut
Published 11:00 pm Wednesday, October 22, 2025
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Western Kentucky redshirt sophomore guard Teagan Moore drives to the basket for a shot during the Tops’ 82-43 exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
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Western Kentucky graduate senior forward Bryant Selebangue goes up for a shot during the Tops’ 82-43 exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
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Western Kentucky senior guard Cam Haffner drives for a shot during the Tops’ 82-43 exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
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Western Kentucky graduate senior guard Terrion Murdix dribbles downcourt during the Tops’ 82-43 exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
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Western Kentucky graduate senior guard Ryan Myers looks downcourt during the Tops’ 82-43 exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The first time in the spotlight at E.A. Diddle Arena provided plenty of room for special moments for Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team Wednesday night.
The Hilltoppers rolled over NCAA Division II-level program Kentucky Wesleyan for an 82-43 victory, with each of the 15 available WKU players on the roster getting into the scoring column in the team’s first game action of the 2025-26 season. Only injured true freshman guard Lawson Rice, still rehabbing from ACL surgery from an injury suffered his senior year at nearby Butler County High School, missed out on all the fun.
As debuts go, Wednesday’s performance was a smashing success for the new-look Tops.
“I thought there was a great excitement in the building, in Diddle, with our fans and I thought our players did a great job at playing with energy, playing together, play for one another and playing for the name that’s on the front of their jersey,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “All in all, I thought we probably got what we were hoping to get out of tonight and we’re looking forward to moving forward.”
Featuring a reconstructed roster after last season’s 17-15 finish — Plona’s first as head coach after being elevated to the top job after serving as Steve Lutz’s top assistant the previous season — the Tops took the Diddle floor as a little bit of old, a lot of new and a ton of unproven in terms of health. Unproven in an actual game situation, that is — WKU had three players who missed all last season due to injury play Wednesday in graduate guard Terrion Murdix, redshirt sophomore guard Teagan Moore and redshirt freshman guard Kade Unseld. Only Murdix, who has been sidelined for more than two years due to various knee surgery procedures, was limited in minutes as Plona eases the player who will be a primary point guard back onto the court.
“Just being cautious with him,” Plona said. “He hasn’t missed a thing — a drill, a run, I don’t think he’s missed anything. He’s done everything that we’ve done. But when you get out to the game, it’s a little bit different. So he and I have kind of talked about it a little about what would be his ceiling on that, but once in that game wasn’t in doubt win or loss in the second half I think it was just let’s see how your body reacts.”
Moore, who sat out all last season with a hip injury that required surgery following a strong freshman season at WKU, looked much like his old self. The Dry Ridge native checked in early in the first half and immediately came up with back-to-back steals and played a pivotal role in a 14-2 start with consecutive baskets to cap the rally. Moore finished as the Tops’ leading scorer with 11 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 17 minutes.
“It was really exciting. I was looking forward to it all week,” Moore said. “I was waiting to get out there, but once you’re out there it’s just basketball and I’ve played basketball my whole life. Once the first five minutes went by, I was just like, ‘Yeah, I’m just playing basketball, I’m out here to play basketball. I’m out here to win.’ “
Kentucky Wesleyan cut the deficit to 24-20, but WKU answered with a 12-4 run paced by Grant Newell and Bryant Selebangue combining for eight points to close out the first half, giving the Hilltoppers a 36-24 lead at the half.
Selebangue, a transfer from McNeese, also had a solid debut with 10 points and a 4-for-4 shooting night.
“It was amazing. You know, seeing the crowd out there, all the fans, all the families coming out to support us on the exhibition game,” Selebangue said. “It was a good experience, especially to come out here and play. We’ve been going at it since June playing each other, so it felt good to showcase what we’ve been working on all summer against another team. It was exciting, it was very exciting.”
After going just 1-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half, the Tops used some long-range shooting to pull away from the Panthers for good in the second half. Unseld, another player who missed all last season with an injury, hit a pair of 3s as the Tops were a much more effective 5-of-12 from 3-point range in the second half.
WKU started the second half on another 14-2 run, finished off with a layup and a jumper from LJ Hackman and a 3-pointer and dunk from Newell that pushed the lead to 50-26 with 15:07 to play.
Hackman, another newcomer to the program as a junior-college transfer, finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and added three assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals. Newell chipped in with nine points and guard Cam Haffner had eight.
True freshman guard Armelo Boone scored just two points but had a strong all-around performance with a team-high eight rebounds, three steals and three assists.
The Tops’ final exhibition will be on Oct. 29 against UAB at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
“I thought all 15 guys tonight did a very, very good job tonight staying engaged, staying focused on playing with one another and playing to win,” Plona said. “Sometimes you’re not sure how you’re going to react when those lights turn on, so it was very good to see and I’m very proud of the guys for doing that tonight.”
