Western Kentucky guard Lamonte Bearden (left) drives March 10 while guarded by Old Dominion guard Xavier Green during the Hilltoppers’ 62-56 loss in Frisco, Texas.

One year after cracking the top 50, Western Kentucky finished outside of the top 100 in the final 2018-19 Ken Pomeroy adjusted efficiency rankings.

WKU (20-14) finished 116th (+5.20) in the KenPom rankings, which were finalized Monday as Virginia beat Texas Tech for the national championship.

Coach Rick Stansbury’s Hilltoppers are nestled between No. 115 Georgia Tech and No. 117 Wright State in the rankings of all 353 Division I men’s basketball programs.

Last season, WKU finished 47th (+14.45) in the rankings, the team’s best mark since finishing 43rd (+14.6) in 2007-08 under Darrin Horn.

KenPom’s rankings date back to the 2001-02 season. The Toppers’ best finish in that era has come from Horn’s 2008 team, while its worst came in Stansbury’s first season of 2016-17 (No. 232, -6.15).

WKU’s defense ranked well ahead of its offense this season.

The Hilltoppers defense ranked 92nd nationally, allowing an opponent-adjusted 99.9 points per 100 possessions. The team’s offense ranked 162nd, scoring an opponent-adjusted 105.1 points per 100 possessions.

WKU fell more than 30 spots from where it began the season. The Tops were ranked 80th at KenPom when they took the floor Nov. 6 in their season opener at Washington.

Old Dominion (No. 113, +5.45) ranked as Conference USA’s best team, per KenPom. The Monarchs beat WKU three times this season, including in the C-USA Tournament title game.

KenPom rated the Hilltoppers second in the league, followed by Southern Mississippi (No. 120, +4.93), Louisiana Tech (No. 141, +2.88) and Alabama-Birmingham (No. 147, +1.7).

KenPom ranks conferences by finding the adjusted efficiency margin of a team that’s expected to go .500 in league play. C-USA (-1.04) ranked 16th of 32 Division I conferences by that standard.{&end}