Between two exhibition games and the regular-season opener, Western Kentucky hasn’t had a chance to put its entire eligible team on the floor yet.

Rick Stansbury knows he’ll have that Saturday – knock on wood – when the Hilltoppers host UT-Martin for the home opener at E.A. Diddle Arena (6 p.m., ESPN3, WKU-PBS).

“This will be the first game we’ve had everybody able to go,” Stansbury said while knocking on the table he was seated at Friday during a news conference in Diddle Arena. “We have to get some rhythm and chemistry playing together. Not just them, it’s coaches figuring it out and seeing some guys play. There’s a lot of newness to us.”

Stansbury announced Friday that Desean Murray has been reinstated and will play Saturday after serving an indefinite suspension that lasted a week. The graduate transfer from Auburn missed the Kentucky Wesleyan exhibition and didn’t travel with the team to Washington earlier in the week.

Sophomores Josh Anderson and Taveion Hollingsworth also served one-game suspensions during the exhibition stretch. Senior Lamonte Bearden, a starter last season, is academically ineligible for WKU’s first nine games.

Having the full available roster back against the Skyhawks will finally give WKU (0-1) the pieces it needs after shuffling through different lineups in a 73-55 loss at No. 25 Washington on Tuesday.

“A lot of lineups going into that game and the week prior to that we dealt with some things,” Stansbury said. “All those are learning and teaching moments as long as you learn from them.”

The Hilltoppers were forced into odd lineups Tuesday with Anderson in early foul trouble. The sophomore, and freshman Dalano Banton, guards expected to carry out WKU’s point roles combined to go scoreless. Banton earned the start and went 0-for-4 shooting.

Anderson, coming off a suspension from an arrest last week for second-degree disorderly conduct, came off the bench for 13 scoreless minutes and fouled out with four turnovers.

That moved Hollingsworth into point guard duties and away from the 3-spot. For a key stretch of WKU’s 17-0 run in the first half, Stansbury had a lineup of Hollingsworth, Jared Savage, Jake Ohmer, Marek Nelson and Matt Horton.

“That was a different lineup we never saw before,” Stansbury said. “Sometimes you get put in those situations and have to adjust.”

Savage and Hollingsworth played all 40 minutes against an experienced Washington team that set the tone right out of halftime for a second-half rally. Stansbury said ironing out mistakes against a senior-heavy top 25 team on the road would be a better payoff down the road.

“It was a shock to everybody,” Savage said. “Going into Washington with that crowd, it’s a shock for everybody. We got that out of the way and now we’re ready.

“Our lineups, we haven’t practiced with those lineups so it is kind of odd having those people out. I think people stepped up and did what they had to do, next man up mentality.”

Plugging Murray into the lineup gives WKU experience in the frontcourt it needs. In his collegiate debut, freshman Charles Bassey posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He added a pair of blocks and two steals, but fouled out after 28 minutes.

Stansbury said Bassey was effective when fed the ball, but that didn’t happen enough against the Huskies’ 2-3 zone. Adding Murray into the mix can give coaches the look they need to help Bassey inside.

“We’ll make no excuses for not having him, that’s for sure,” Stansbury said. “The obvious thing you miss is experience. We started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. We missed experience, and there’s no substitute for that. Could he have helped us in the middle of that zone, time will see.”

UT-Martin and WKU will meet for the first time since 1998. The Skyhawks out of the Ohio Valley Conference defeated Cumberland (Tenn.) on Tuesday 91-58 with senior Delfincko Bogan leading five players in double figures with 17 points.

“Always good to be home,” Stansbury said. “Always good to line back up and play against somebody else, especially when you have a bad taste in your mouth. We know UT-Martin is going to be a good opponent, so it’ll be a good learning experience from here and get ready for that next one.”

UT-Martin (1-0) at Western Kentucky (0-1)

6 p.m. CST, Saturday, Diddle Arena

Probable starters

Western Kentucky – Josh Anderson, g, 6-6, so. (7.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Taveion Hollingsworth, g, 6-2, so. (13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg); Jared Savage, g/f, 6-5, r-jr. (10.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg+); Marek Nelson, f, 6-7, so. (2.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg); Charles Bassey, c, 6-11, fr. (19.4, 12.8 rpg#)

+ – 2016-17 statistics

# – 2017-18 high school statistics

UT-Martin – Kevin Little, g, 6-0, r-sr. (16.0 ppg, 3.0 apg); Parrish Hewitt, g, 6-3, so. (12.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg); Derek Hawthorne, Jr., g, 6-3, jr. (14.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg); Quintin Dove, f, 6-8, jr. (2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg); Jailen Gill, c, 6-8, sr. (8.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg).

Broadcast

ESPN3; WKU-PBS

Radio

Hilltopper IMG Sports Network, TuneIn

Coaches

Rick Stansbury (42-29, third year; 335-195 overall), Western Kentucky; Anthony Stewart (33-34, third season; 33-34 overall), UT-Martin

Series Record

Western Kentucky leads 2-1 (Hilltoppers lost last meeting 70-67 on Jan. 26, 1998, at UT-Martin)

Last time out

Western Kentucky lost 73-55 at No. 25 Washington on Tuesday; UT-Martin defeated Cumberland 91-58 on Tuesday.{&end}