A Proud Supporter of WKU Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers 1860 CAMPBELL LANE 270-843-4321 GARY FORCE TOYOTA www.garyforcetoyota.com PAGE 2 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 College Basketball DAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY WKU MEN’S BASKETBALL WESTERN KENTUCKY Harper Mania: Part II HILLTOPPERS Hilltoppers out to prove Projected finish: Third in Sun Belt Conference East Division 2012 run was no fluke Last year: 16-19, 7-9. Third in SBC East. Bowling Green By CHAD BISHOP Location: Venue: E.A. Diddle Arena (7,326) The Daily News [email protected]/783-3241 Coach: Ray Harper (second season) The Hilltoppers are ready for an encore. 2012-13 roster 0 Anyigbo, Kene F 6-5 Jr. Seven months after an unfor- 1 Kaspar, Kevin G 6-0 So. gettable run through the Sun Belt 2 Alcantara, Eddie F 6-5 Fr. Conference tournament and a 1-1 10 Dickerson, Caden G 6-5 RJr. showing in the NCAA tourna- 11 Sheldon, Spence G 5-11 So. 12 Harris, Brandon G 6-1 Jr. ment, Western Kentucky starts 13 Blade, Percy G 6-4 Fr. anew with higher expectations – 14 Crook, Jamal G 6-3 Sr. internally and externally. 15 Akamune, O’Karo F 6-7 Jr. “We’ve got to be a basketball 20 Rostov, Aleksejs C 6-10 Fr. 21 Snipes, Nigel F 6-6 So. team that gets better each day, and 22 Akol, Teeng F/C 6-11 RSr. that’s kind of how we played out 24 Drane, Stephon F 6-7 RSo. last season,” WKU coach Ray 44 Fant, George F 6-6 So. Harper said. “We were playing 52 Price, T.J. G 6-4 So. our best basketball at the end of 2012-13 schedule the season. Our guys are working Nov. 10 at Southern Miss 7:30 p.m. hard and we know what’s ahead Nov. 13 Austin Peay 7 p.m. of us.” Nov. 17 Western Carolina 7:30 p.m. Harper’s record was 11-8 as an Nov. 20 vs. Iowa # 8:30 p.m. Nov. 21 vs. DePaul/Wichita State # TBA interim head coach and then full- Nov. 24 Brescia 7:30 p.m. time head coach last season. His Nov. 29 at ULM 7:30 p.m. team won seven straight contests Dec. 1 at Troy 7:30 p.m. Dec. 05 Southern Illinois 7 p.m. before losing to eventual national Joe Imel/Daily News Dec. 08 IUPUI 3 p.m. champion Kentucky. Western Kentucky senior point guard Jamal Crooks cuts off a piece of the net March 6 in Hot Springs, Dec. 16 at Murray State 2 p.m. Four starters are back from that Ark., after the Hilltoppers defeated North Texas to win the Sun Belt Conference championship. Dec. 18 at VCU 8 p.m. team, which finished 16-19 over- Dec. 22 vs. Louisville + 7:30 p.m. all. The Sun Belt’s coaches picked Dec. 27 FIU 7 p.m. “By now, we’re used to it, people wrong,” sophomore guard that’s what you’re going to get out Dec. 29 North Texas 7 p.m. WKU to finish third in a strong always getting picked not to win T.J. Price said. “Actually, we like of us. Yeah, we may make some Jan. 3 at UALR 7:30 p.m. East Division. anything and coming out proving it, to go out there and prove every- mistakes and we may not shoot Jan. 5 at Arkansas State 7:05 p.m. body wrong. Not really a disre- the ball particularly well every Jan. 12 Florida Atlantic 7 p.m. Jan. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette 7 p.m. spect thing.” night, but you can count on us Jan. 19 UALR 5 p.m. Four of the team’s top six giving you full effort and a lot of Jan. 24 at South Alabama 7:05 p.m. FIVE GAMES TO WATCH scorers are back, including energy.” Jan. 26 at Middle Tennessee 5 p.m. Price, sophomore forward Jan. 31 Troy 7 p.m. Harper added junior college Feb. 7 at North Texas 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Southern Mississippi George Fant, senior center transfer guard Brandon Harris – •New coach Donnie Tyndall begins his first season at what is expected Feb. 9 Arkansas State 7 p.m. to be a sold out Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles won 25 Teeng Akol and senior point who will likely start – and three Feb. 14 at Florida Atlantic 6 p.m. games last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. A frantic, guard Jamal Crook. freshmen – center Aleksejs Ros- Feb. 16 at FIU 6:30 p.m. full-court press with be tough for the Hilltoppers to deal with. A close Sophomore guard Kevin Kas- tov, forward Eddie Alcantara and Feb. 21 ULM 7 p.m. loss or win will do wonders for WKU. Feb. 23 at Louisiana-Lafayette 7:30 p.m. par, redshirt guard Caden Dicker- freshman walk-on guard Percy Feb. 28 South Alabama 7 p.m. son and junior forward O’Karo Blade. March 2 Middle Tennessee 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Murray State Sun Belt Conference Tournament •Another great matchup is this long-running rivalry. The Racers will Akamune will be the first three The Tops showed off their once again be favored to win the Ohio Valley Conference and have the called upon off the bench. Sopho- March 8-11 at Hot Springs, Ark. chance to be a Top Ten team once again this year. depth in exhibition wins against Home games in bold more guard Nigel Snipes will not Campbellsville and Kentucky All times CST play this season, with a torn ACL – 2012 Cancun Challenge Dec. 18 at Virginia Commonwealth Wesleyan. At least 11 players saw # in his left knee. +– Nashville •Western Kentucky lost back-to-back games last season to VCU, once action in each contest. by three and once by 23 at home. This time the Tops head to the Rams’ Only five of the team’s 15 house to battle an always well-coached Shaka Smart squad. players are upperclassmen, mean- “I think it’s a basketball team ing Harper’s squad is still youth- that has a chance to be good,” and Virginia Commonwealth are North Texas is the team to over- Dec. 22 vs. Louisville Harper said. “Is it going to happen The Hilltoppers and Cardinals, who are coming off a Final Four ful, even if it returns quite a bit of on the slate along with neutral- come in the West. • Nov. 10 (in the season opener at appearance and currently ranked No. 2, will meet again in Nashville. experience. court games against Louisville, Western Kentucky will be WKU came away with a 68-54 victory over the Cardinals there in 2008, “We’ve got some guys that Southern Mississippi)? I don’t looking to win its first regular sea- but have since lost three straight to to Louisville. know. I know we’re going to play Iowa and either Wichita State or have been through the grind of DePaul. Southern Conference son SBC title since 2008-09. March 22 vs. Middle Tennessee college basketball, and I think hard and I know we’re going to “Just like losing is a habit, win- •A rivalry that becomes fiercer by the day, the Hilltoppers capped their they’re anxious and excited all at compete.” runner-up Western Carolina ning is a habit,” Harper said. regular season last March by upsetting MTSU inside a rowdy E.A. the same time to get started,” Western Kentucky will also comes to E.A. Diddle Arena. “They got a taste of it at the end of Diddle Arena. Once again the regular-season finale for both teams, this In the SBC East, Middle Ten- one will certainly have Sun Belt title implications. Harper said. “We’re going to be a have to survive a tough noncon- last season, and I think they liked hard-nosed, get-after-you type ference schedule along the way. nessee and South Alabama are the it. Hopefully we can build on it basketball team. For 40 minutes, Games at USM, Murray State favorites to beat out WKU, while this season as well.” Sheldon’s Sheldon’s .. .. .. A A SlamSlam DunkDunk forfor YourYour PrescriptionsPrescriptions Good Luck This Season Hilltoppers! www.sheldonsexpresspharmacy.com Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 843 Fairview Ave., 760 Campbell Lane, 212 S. Main Street, Bowling Green, KY Bowling Green, KY Franklin, KY 270-842-4515 270-782-6337 270-586-4471 Steve & Terri Sheldon 270-842-4515 270-782-6337 270-586-4471 Co-Owners DAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY College Basketball FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 - PAGE 3 WKU MEN’S BASKETBALL Caden Dickerson back to battle By CHAD BISHOP The Daily News [email protected]/783-3241 Caden Dickerson has been involved in a battle for nearly a year. A battle to get back to his for- mer self and to return as an inte- gral part of the Western Kentucky basketball team. A redshirt junior, Dickerson said he’s now as healthy as he’s been since his freshman year. “I feel good,” he said. “I feel confident right now. Everybody’s getting me open looks, and I have confidence to knock down shots. It’s been awhile.” Dickerson tried to manage a left shoulder injury at the start of last season, his true junior cam- paign. But after four games and miss- ing 15 of his 17 shot attempts, Dickerson and then coach Ken McDonald decided it would be best for the Argyle, Texas, prod- uct to have surgery on a torn labrum in his left shoulder.