Western Kentucky senior Trency Jackson (3) goes up for a rebound against Marshall sophomore Austin Loop (35) and senior Cheikh Sane (5) Sunday, January 4, 2015, at E.A. Diddle Arena. WKU won 81-62. (Bac Totrong/Daily News)

NORFOLK, Va. — After a disappointing finish to the regular season, Western Kentucky now knows the task at hand.

The Hilltoppers (19-11) drew the No. 5 seed in next week’s Conference USA Tournament and a first-round matchup with No. 12 seed Marshall at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Ala.

WKU started Saturday in a four-way tie for second place in the league standings but finished the day without one of four first-round byes after a 75-52 loss at Old Dominion.

“It’s one game at a time now,” WKU coach Ray Harper said. “It is what it is. There will be 10 teams, 12 teams, whatever it is, and every team’s going to have to win some three, some four if they want to play after next week. Hopefully we can win four.”

The winner of the WKU-Marshall game will face No. 4 seed and tournament host UAB at 6 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. The Tops dropped their only game against the Blazers on Feb. 19 in Birmingham.

WKU will try to win four games in four days for the third time in the last four seasons. The Tops won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in a similar fashion in 2012 and 2013 in Harper’s first two seasons at the helm.

“It’s tournament time, and it’s do-or-die,” senior guard T.J. Price said. “We’ve got to get back on Monday and go at it hard, get ready to make some noise in the tournament. We’ve got to put this behind us. It happens. This stings, but we’ve got to come back Monday and put in work.”

WKU dusted the Thundering Herd 81-62 at home in its first league game Jan. 4, but dropped the rematch 87-82 on Feb. 14 in Huntington, W.Va.

Marshall is 1-13 away from home this season. It’s won seven of its last 12 games but has dropped four of the last six, including its final two on the road.

The Thundering Herd made 12 3-pointers, including nine in the first half, to beat WKU and cap a three-game winning streak in February.

Marshall, led by first-year coach Dan D’Antoni, starts two sophomores and a freshman.

Sophomore forward Ryan Taylor leads the way with 14.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Austin Loop averages 11.5 points.

“I finally said, ‘What am I doing? I know what’s going on. I’m asking these kids to do something before they’re ready to do it,'” D’Antoni said after beating WKU on Feb. 14. “I’ve backed off a little bit, tried to tell them to keep working on what we’re doing. Stay with what we’re doing, and these kids have responded to it.”

WKU has a 12-6 edge in the all-time series against Marshall. The Tops haven’t played the Herd in the postseason since Feb. 22, 1952, in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

— Zach Greenwell