Lunardi projects Hilltoppers as NCAA Tournament 12-seed
Published 12:38 pm Thursday, January 4, 2018
- Western Kentucky men’s basketball coach Rick Stansbury talks to his players Saturday during WKU’s 82-66 win over Southern Miss at E.A Diddle Arena.
Western Kentucky garnered an NCAA Tournament projection Thursday from ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
The Hilltoppers were listed in Lunardi’s latest projected NCAA Tournament bracket. Lunardi has WKU (10-5 overall, 2-0 Conference USA) earning C-USA’s automatic NCAA berth.
Lunardi projects the Toppers as a 12-seed in the South Region, playing a first-round matchup in Dallas against 5-seed Seton Hall from the Big East Conference.
The Pirates are coached by Bowling Green High School graduate Kevin Willard, son of former WKU coach Ralph Willard. He played his freshman year for the Hilltoppers before following his father to Pittsburgh.
WKU and Seton Hall met in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament, with the seventh-seeded Hilltoppers scoring a 72-68 upset victory over the second-seeded Pirates in Orlando, Fla. The Tops are 3-6 all-time in the series.
WKU’s last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2012-13. WKU, a 16-seed, lost 64-57 to 1-seed Kansas in the first round in Kansas City, Mo.
The Hilltoppers beat Louisiana Tech and Southern Mississippi last week to start C-USA play. They’ll face Marshall on the road at 6 p.m. CST Saturday.{&end}
