Rick Stansbury said throughout Western Kentucky’s preseason Costa Rica trip in August that defense is where his team would have to improve the most before the start of the season.

While certainly a short sample size, the Hilltoppers looked much better in that area Sunday in an exhibition win at Samford. WKU held the Bulldogs to 37.9 percent shooting and grabbed 12 steals in a 78-64 win in Birmingham, Ala.

The Toppers will look for another strong defensive effort Wednesday when they host NAIA school Campbellsville in another exhibition at E.A. Diddle Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., with the match streamed on CUSA.tv.

Freshman guard Jake Ohmer said communication on defense has been a focal point in practices as WKU gets ready for the 2017-18 season.

“I think we’ve improved mostly on communication, everyone just talking to each other and helping each other out,” Ohmer said. “That’s what we need to keep working on. …

“We started off the first couple of practices where no one wanted to talk. A lot of kids on our team don’t talk anyway. But we’ve been talking a lot more lately.”

The Hilltoppers were active defensively in holding Samford to 11-of-29 marks from the floor during both the first and second halves. Guard Darius Thompson swiped a team-best four steals, with Ohmer and Marek Nelson grabbing three each.

All those steals helped WKU win battles in points off turnovers (26-16) and fast-break points (19-5).

“We’ve actually been better,” guard Taveion Hollingsworth said of the defense. “Since Costa Rica, we came in here and played way better defense than we did then. We looked really good on defense and I liked that.”

Hollingsworth led a short-handed WKU squad at Samford with 19 points. The Hilltoppers played without guard Lamonte Bearden (ankle) and the duo of guard Josh Anderson and forward Moustapha Diagne, both of whom are awaiting NCAA clearance.

No ruling on either player had been made as of Wednesday morning, meaning WKU won’t have their services against Campbellsville. The Tigers’ roster includes Simpson Anderson, who is the brother of Josh Anderson.

Stansbury is optimistic Bearden will be back soon, however. His return would bolster a Tops roster that played Samford with just six scholarship players.

WKU is facing Stansbury’s alma mater Wednesday night. The coach was a four-year letterman at guard for Campbellsville from 1977-81 and got his coaching start with the program as a student assistant.

The Hilltoppers are 56-4 all-time in preseason exhibition games, and the Hilltoppers have won 24 straight preseason tune-ups dating back to a 2002-03 loss to the Harlem Globetrotters.{&end}