The best rivalry in Conference USA is the stage for the biggest C-USA game of the season.

Western Kentucky will face No. 24 Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. Thursday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. A Blue Raider win would give them (23-5 overall, 15-1 C-USA) the outright conference championship, while the Hilltoppers (22-7, 14-2) would pull into a first-place tie with a victory.

A packed Murphy Center and an MTSU squad that’s won 10 straight games await a WKU team that’s won its last six contests.

“I’ve got no doubt our guys are going to get on the bus believing we have an opportunity,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “As a coach and as a player, that’s all you ask for. Will we be good enough? We’ll find out real soon.”

Middle Tennessee and WKU have met 135 times, with the Hilltoppers holding a 93-42 lead in the series. Coach Kermit Davis and his Blue Raiders have flipped that trend in recent years, winning 12 of the past 14 meetings.

The most recent meeting was a 66-62 MTSU win Jan. 20 in front of an over-capacity crowd of 7,759 at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Blue Raiders forward Nick King was the star that night at WKU, scoring 28 points. Many of his points came late in the shot clock, and the Tops vowed to limit those opportunities this time around.

“He hit some tough shots with that shot clock running down deep,” WKU forward Justin Johnson said. “I’m going to guard him the same, take on the task again and hopefully he doesn’t score 28.”

The Hilltoppers were in that game late but fell due to a combination of King’s heroics, a 1-of-9 3-point shooting effort and 15 turnovers compared to eight assists.

WKU won two games after that defeat before losing again Feb. 3 at Texas San-Antonio. The Toppers haven’t lost since, rolling off six straight victories. The most recent was an 88-66 drubbing Saturday of fellow C-USA contender Old Dominion on WKU’s senior day.

The Hilltoppers are playing their best basketball of the season, having won their last three contests by an average of 26.3 points per game. They’ve shot at least 55 percent from the field for the first time since 1978-79.

Johnson and guard Darius Thompson (14.8 ppg each) highlight a WKU offense that’s featured at least four double-digit scorers over each of the last five games.

“They score from every spot,” Davis told the (Murfreesboro) Daily News Journal. “It’s hard to cover. They’re really good in the open floor. They score in the post. They score on the perimeter.

“They’re playing as good as anybody in college basketball right now.”

The Blue Raiders are playing great basketball in their own right. They posted a 12-1 record this season in road games and started a three-game homestand to end the regular season Saturday with a 79-54 rout of Alabama-Birmingham.

King (21.5 ppg, 8.3 rebounds per game) is the leading candidate for the C-USA Player of the Year award. Guards Giddy Potts (13.1 ppg) and Antwain Johnson (10.2 ppg) and forward Brandon Walters (10.1 ppg) lead a cast of role players around the Alabama transfer King.

A win Thursday would be WKU’s first against a ranked team in a true road contest since a win Nov. 15, 2001, at No. 4 Kentucky.

“On the road there’s absolutely no margin for error when you’re playing a team like Middle Tennessee,” Stansbury said.

The crowd Thursday will likely be the second-biggest WKU has faced this season, behind only the 17,287 announced Dec. 13 by Wisconsin. The Murphy Center, which seats 11,500, sold out of its lower bowl tickets earlier this week and the school has pushed an effort to sell out the arena.

Stansbury challenged Hilltopper fans to make the 100-mile trip to Murfreesboro. The WKU ticket office announced earlier this week it had sold out its own allotment of tickets for Thursday’s showdown.

Fans in both blue and red will be treated Thursday to an electric college basketball atmosphere and a clash between two archrivals at the top of their games fighting for a C-USA title.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be, playing a meaningful game,” Stansbury said. “You guys are talking about it. National media is talking about it. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

Thompson returns to Murfreesboro

The graduate senior Thompson will play in his hometown when WKU takes on Middle Tennessee.

Thompson is a Murfreesboro native and former Blackman High School star. He amassed a 56-5 record over his last two prep seasons and was rated the nation’s No. 4 combo guard coming out of high school.

Thompson, a Class of 2013 prospect, was recruited by MTSU but chose Tennessee. The 6-foot-4 Thompson played one season for the Volunteers before leaving for Virginia, then ultimately transferred to WKU for the 2017-18 season.

“They recruited me since I was a sophomore in high school, so I have a really good feeling for them,” Thompson said of Davis and his staff. “They have a really good feel for me.

“I had the chance to go there but decided I wanted to go to a different place.”

Thompson will have plenty of friends and family in the Murphy Center stands Thursday but said there’s no extra pressure of playing in his hometown.

“It’s just another game to go out there and try to get a win, try to compete for a championship,” Thompson said.

Dixon likely to play for MTSU

Middle Tennessee guard Tyrik Dixon missed his team’s win Saturday against UAB as he went through concussion protocol. Davis said Wednesday that Dixon will likely play Thursday against WKU, the Daily News Journal reported.

The sophomore Dixon averages 5.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the Blue Raiders. He was held to two points Jan. 20 in MTSU’s first meeting with the Hilltoppers and was assessed a technical foul after an altercation with WKU guard Lamonte Bearden.

Notes

WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 967 consecutive games, dating back to March 15, 1987. The Hilltoppers’ streak is the sixth-longest in the nation behind Kentucky, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Duke and Arkansas. … Johnson (1,548 points) ranks No. 15 on WKU’s all-time scoring list. Next on the list is No. 14 A.J. Slaughter (1,581) … Johnson (970 rebounds) is 30 rebounds away from becoming the fifth member of the Toppers’ 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club. … Guard Taveion Hollingsworth (393 points) ranks No. 4 at WKU for points by a freshman in a varsity season. Next on the list is No. 3 Derrick Gordon (412). … The Hilltoppers beat then-No. 18 Purdue on Nov. 23. They’re trying to defeat multiple ranked teams in a season for the first time since 1993, when they beat No. 13 New Orleans and No. 6 Seton Hall.

Western Kentucky (22-7, 14-2) at No. 24 Middle Tennessee (23-5, 15-1)

7 p.m., Thursday, Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Probable starters

Western Kentucky

Lamonte Bearden, g, 6-3, r-jr. (10.9 ppg, 3.5 apg); Dwight Coleby, f, 6-9, g-sr. (11.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg); Taveion Hollingsworth, g, 6-2, fr. (13.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg); Justin Johnson, f, 6-7, sr. (14.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg); Darius Thompson, g, 6-4, g-sr. (14.8 ppg, 4.9 apg)

Middle Tennessee

Donovan Sims, g, 6-0 fr. (1.3 ppg, 1.0 apg); Antwain Johnson, g, 6-2, jr. (10.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg); Giddy Potts, g, 6-2, sr. (13.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg); Nick King, f, 6-7, sr. (21.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg); Brandon Walters, f, 6-10, sr. (10.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)

Broadcast

CBS Sports Network

Radio

WKLX 100.7-FM

Coaches

Rick Stansbury (37-24, second year; 330-190 overall), Western Kentucky; Kermit Davis (329-185, 16th year; 466-260 overall), Middle Tennessee.

Series record

Western Kentucky leads 93-42 (Middle Tennessee won last meeting 66-62 on Jan. 20 in Bowling Green).

Last time out

Western Kentucky beat Old Dominion 88-66 at home Saturday; Middle Tennessee beat Alabama-Birmingham 79-54 at home Saturday.{&end}