HILLTOPPER FOCUS: WKU’s T.J. Price surges late at Portsmouth Invitational

Published 12:36 pm Sunday, April 12, 2015

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers guard T.J. Price (52) drives to the basket Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro. The Hilltoppers lost 68-66 to Middle Tennessee. (Joe Imel/Daily News)

After a rough debut, Western Kentucky senior guard T.J. Price had a solid showing to complete his time last week in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

Price played three games with the Portsmouth Sports Club in the PIT, which is an annual four-day event in Portsmouth, Va., that invites 64 of the top college basketball seniors to play in front of representatives from NBA teams.

Price averaged 9.7 points with eight total assists and three turnovers over three games. He shot 41.7 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range.

He struggled in his first game of the tournament, scoring just two points while missing all of his 3-point attempts.

But he picked up the pace over his club’s final two games, averaging 13.5 points with six assists and no turnovers. Price shot 52.9 percent from the field in the last two games and made 7 of 14 3-pointers.

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WKU has had players compete in the event before, including A.J. Slaughter and Anthony Winchester.

Price was a first-team All-Conference USA selection this season at WKU after averaging 17.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and four assists per game.

— Zach Greenwell