Lamonte Bearden lets his personality show through his style of play.

The between-the-legs backcourt dribbling. Letting the ball roll across half court before picking it up, end-of-game-style, at random times of the first half. The high-fives with imaginary teammates after making a free throw. The air guitars, the dancing and, of course, all the talking.

“It’s always having fun,” the Western Kentucky guard Bearden said Tuesday. “But there’s serious having fun and joking-around having fun. Usually about five minutes to go in the game, that’s the serious having fun.”

Bearden’s flash and charisma have been evident ever since he became a Hilltopper after transferring from Buffalo. Now he’ll play one more game in front of WKU’s home fans.

The Toppers (18-12 overall, 11-6 Conference USA) will host Texas-San Antonio (16-13, 10-6) on Wednesday in their regular-season finale. BeIN Sports will broadcast the 6:30 p.m. matchup from E.A. Diddle Arena.

Bearden, a redshirt senior, is the lone senior on WKU’s roster who’ll be honored before facing the Roadrunners.

“My emotions are going to be high and I’m pretty sure everyone else’s will be too,” Bearden said. “We’re going to treat it like a normal game and try to come out here and get the win.”

Senior night will be the culmination of a career that’s featured bumps along the way but is now ending on an upswing.

Bearden helped Buffalo to NCAA Tournaments in 2015 and ’16 but sought a new home after his sophomore season. He transferred the summer of 2016 to WKU, which had just hired coach Rick Stansbury.

After sitting out the 2016-17 season, Bearden was a key player for a team that won 27 games and made the 2018 National Invitation Tournament semifinals. He averaged 11.8 points per game and dished out 131 assists for that squad.

Bearden entered the NBA Draft after that season before taking his name out and announcing a return to the Hilltopper program. But he failed to meet academic requirements in the spring of 2018 and had to sit out WKU’s first nine games this season.

“It did give me a chance to sit back and reevaluate myself, look at the season, mature a little bit and become the leader they want me to become,” Bearden said of sitting out the first semester.

Bearden’s playing time was sporadic after his Dec. 16 return. He played only four minutes Dec. 22 in a home win against Saint Mary’s, didn’t appear at all for wins Dec. 29 vs. then-No. 15 Wisconsin and Jan. 3 at Charlotte and then came off the bench for the following few weeks.

Stansbury finally re-inserted Bearden into the starting lineup following a Jan. 26 loss at Louisiana Tech. At that point, WKU stood 11-10 overall and 4-4 in C-USA play and was struggling mightily with turnovers.

“I just saw I needed to take care of the ball,” Bearden said. “That was it. For me to come out and take care of the ball was my job to do.”

The Tops are now 7-2 since Bearden’s return to the starting lineup and have won two straight bonus-play games heading into Wednesday. The Milwaukee native has played some of the best basketball of his career during that stretch.

Over the last nine games, Bearden has 58 combined assists against just 15 turnovers. He leads Conference USA with a 3.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in league play.

Bearden now averages 9.4 points and 4.6 assists per game in C-USA action.

“He’s lived up to the expectations as a point guard, the way he plays and passes the ball,” center Charles Bassey said. “It’s just different.”

Stansbury said he thinks Bearden’s best basketball has coincided with his commitment off the court.

The coach noted how Bearden, whose academics prevented him from playing early this season, is now on track to graduate. He also said the guard has been more focused and taken on a bigger leadership role as his career winds down.

“Sometimes that light comes on at the end,” Stansbury said. “That light’s on now because you can see to the end of the tunnel. You’re down to one game in this season. Every game after that is your last game.

“He’s practiced good for the last month. He’s been at his best. It’s amazing there’s a correlation with how he’s playing. So I’m proud of him.

“Sometimes it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. I feel good about the way he’s finishing his career as a player and academically, too.”{&end}