Western Kentucky Hilltoppers guard Brandon Harris (12) scores off a steal Sunday, March 10, 2013, in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Ark. The Hilltoppers defeated ASU to face FIU in the Sun Belt finals on Monday. (Photo by Joe Imel/Daily News)

What seems so new and exciting for Western Kentucky basketball was once old hat. Ray Harper and company are hoping this year is a start to a return to normalcy for the Hilltoppers’ program.

There’s a calmer, more business-like approach for WKU (20-15) this time around. While the 2012 run to the NCAA tournament was wild and unexpected, leading to a whirlwind trip back to Bowling Green from Hot Springs, Ark., on to Dayton, Ohio, and finally to Louisville, this year’s Sun Belt Conference tournament title run was more subdued, as evidenced by the days that have followed.

“It’s definitely exciting, but we kind of got that used-to-it feeling because we’ve been there before,” WKU senior point guard Jamal Crook said. “The difference about this time is we’re trying to make some noise. We were just content with being there last year. We made it, but this year we made it again and we’re trying to make some noise.”

When Western Kentucky returned to Bowling Green on Tuesday, a small group of fans waited at E.A. Diddle Arena to greet them. Last year, throngs of fans rushed to the Carroll Knicely Conference Center to celebrate the team’s memorable wins after the league tourney title.

Media requests from local, regional and national outlets have also trailed off this season since the shine of something new has worn off.

The Tops are more concerned with next week’s tournament, where they have won at least one game in their previous three trips, including last season’s 59-58 win against Mississippi Valley State in a matchup of two 16 seeds.

Western Kentucky has been to the tournament three times in the past five years, but the gap seems much longer than that after having been absent in 2010 and 2011.

Thus, no one on the 2012 roster had played in the NCAA tournament before, but now, nine players on this year’s roster – Caden Dickerson, Kevin Kaspar, Stephon Drane, T.J. Price, Kene Anyigbo, O’Karo Akamune, George Fant, Nigel Snipes and Crook – experienced last season’s run through the SBC, win over MVSU and loss to eventual national champion Kentucky a the KFC Yum! Center.

“It’s our second year in a row and like I’ve been saying, it’s a way more mature team,” Fant said. “The coaches believe in us and I think our thing now is, since we’ve been there and it’s our second year, we’re not just going just to go. We’re trying to win and advance now.

    “We were trying to win and advance last year, but I felt like this team is a little more mature, buying into it more this year.”

    Harper, in his second year, is the first WKU coach in program history to take his team to two straight NCAA tourneys in his first two chances.

    The Hilltoppers are also the first team in NCAA Division I history to win four conference tournament games in four days in consecutive seasons.

    “Just that experience alone just helps us out a lot,” Crook said. “I think we’re all starting to buy into it. Guys are getting back healthy, so that’s always a plus.”

    Western Kentucky is 19-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and last advanced past the field of 64 in 2009 when they beat Illinois in the first round in Portland, Ore.

    This year WKU will be up against it again, likely to be a 16 seed with an outside shot at a 15. That means the odds are stacked against them when discussing the chances of making a deep run through March, or even April.

    “We had one of our former players (Mark Bell) talk to them (Wednesday) about when they made their run to the Sweet 16 in (1993),” Harper said. “I think one of the things that Mark talked to them about was, ‘No one is talking about you right now and no one was talking about us in 1993. Don’t worry about that. Let them talk about you after you take care of your business.’

    “Most important thing right now is we are still playing. You guys that have been here for awhile know there’s not a lot of guys that thought we were still going to be playing right now.”

    Since 1993, WKU has won seven NCAA Tournament games while any other Sun Belt Conference team has gone 0-14 combined.

CBS to broadcast live “look-in” Sunday

    As the 2013 NCAA Tournament bracket is unveiled Sunday during a national television broadcast on CBS, the network will cut to a live shot of Western Kentucky and its fans simultaneously watching inside E.A. Diddle Arena.

    Doors open to the public at 4 p.m., Harper will address the crowd at 4:40 and the show is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

    The event is free to the public.