When Western Kentucky first-year men’s basketball head coach Hank Plona started the work of putting together a schedule for the 2024-25 season, he kept one idea firmly in mind – a challenge.

Coming off a Conference USA tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance with most of that core group back for his first season, Plona wanted to ensure his team got tested early and often in the non-conference slate.

A tough non-conference schedule should help prepare the Tops for conference play, where if they do well once again and earn an NCAA Tournament bid those non-league games could also provide WKU with a better NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking and potentially a lower seed come Selection Sunday.

“I think we wanted to challenge our group as well as we could, to be honest with you,” Plona said during a news conference Monday at E.A. Diddle Arena. “Kind of the vibe last April-May, after all the coaching change and things like that, we started to figuring out where we’re at and what we wanted to do. This team wants another chance to play the best, so I guess we tried to create a schedule that would challenge us.

“I think there’s some games on there that are probably against better NET teams or something like that. There are definitely games that we know going in that we’ll have to play very, very well to win. At the same time, we have to play very well to win Conference USA. We have to play very well to win the Conference USA Tournament.”

The Tops’ non-conference slate features nine home games at Diddle Arena beginning with the team’s season opener against Wichita State on Nov. 4, and four marquee road matchups at Grand Canyon, Kentucky, Evansville and Michigan.

Plona enters his first season as head coach as WKU is coming off another banner year for the program in 2023-24. Last year, the Tops secured the CUSA Tournament title – marking a 44th conference championship for the program all-time – and earned an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in the program’s history. It was WKU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.

Following the Tops’ season-opening matchup against Wichita State on Nov. 4, WKU will travel to Phoenix and face Grand Canyon to open road play. The matchup with the Lopes will mark the first-ever meeting between the programs. Grand Canyon is coming off a WAC Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament run that included a win over No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s in 2023-24.

It’s a stronger set of opponents in the CUSA-WAC Challenge than the Tops got last season – Seattle is the other game in this year’s series – after playing at Cal Baptist and at home against Abilene Christian last year.

Plona said he had no imput on the pairings.

“From what I’m aware, the leagues – both of them – decide that,” Plona said. “We knew that we had those two matchups at the end of March. I don’t know if it has something to do with where teams fall in the standings or what it is

WKU returns to Diddle Arena for a three-game home stand beginning with a game against Campbellsville on Nov. 12, followed by matchups with Lipscomb (Nov. 17) and Jackson State (Nov. 20).

The Hilltoppers return to road play for a meeting against in-state foe Kentucky on Nov. 26 at Rupp Arena. The Hilltoppers last battled the Wildcats on Dec. 22, 2021, falling short on the road in Lexington. WKU holds a 2-5 all-time mark facing Kentucky with the Tops’ last win in the series coming in 2001 in Lexington.

The Lipscomb, Jackson State and Kentucky games are part of a multi-team event (MTE) put together by UK.

“I thought it was a great opportunity,” Plona said. “They do an MTE and we had an opportunity to be a part of that. And along with playing at UK, we’re able to get home games against Lipscomb and Jackson State, which I thought were very good games for us too. So I thought from an MTE perspective, I thought it was a smart and fun and exciting (event). I thought it was the best thing for our program to do. Obviously, the game at Rupp will be cool. I don’t know, if you want to challenge yourself against the absolute best well, go play at Kentucky.”

WKU returns home on Nov. 30 and will host former CUSA rival Marshall for the first time since 2022. The Hilltoppers hold a 22-12 all-time advantage against the Herd in a series dating back to 1944 and will look to extend a current seven-game winning streak facing the opponent. That matchup will cap off a busy day, as Hilltopper football hosts Jax State for Senior Day earlier in the day.

The Tops travel to Evansville on Dec. 7 in what will serve as the first matchup against the Purple Aces since 2009. WKU holds a 40-20 all-time advantage in the series dating back to 1927.

Plona said a longstanding relationship with Evansville head coach David Ragland helped make that two-year contract happen – the Purples Aces and Marshall are both two-year deals.

“I had a kid from Indian Hills who played for him the last two years, so obviously I’m familiar with the program,” Plona said. “We went up there and scrimmaged at their place last year in a preseason deal in October. It just makes a lot of sense. Shoot, (WKU graduate guard) Khristian Lander’s from Evansville and I thought it would be kind of a good homecoming game for him too. I’d be lying if I told you that’s not part of it. Khristian’s been a very important part of Hilltopper basketball for the last two-plus years and will continue to be.”

WKU enters a four-game homestand beginning with a matchup vs. Tennessee State on Dec. 10. The Hilltoppers currently hold a perfect 9-0 mark all-time when facing the Tigers.

WKU hosts historic rival Murray State on Dec. 14 for the 154th all-time meeting between the programs. The Tops traveled to Murray last season and defeated the Racers, 86-81, in CFSB Center. The game is the second of a four-year contract between the schools.

The Hilltoppers’ series with the Racers serves as the second-most played series in the program’s history and dates back to 1932. The teams competed as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948 to 1982. WKU holds a 99-54 advantage over Murray State and a 59-13 all-time mark when hosting the matchup in Bowling Green.

WKU welcomes Seattle to Diddle Arena on Dec. 17 for the first-ever meeting between the programs in the second game of the CUSA-WAC Challenge, then wraps the home portion of non-conference play by hosting Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 21. The Hilltoppers previously defeated the Panthers in a 90-64 win to open the 2023-24 season. The victory improved the Tops’ all-time mark facing Kentucky Wesleyan to 27-9 in a series dating back to 1922.

WKU will close its slate of non-conference competition with a road battle against Michigan on Dec. 29 in Ann Arbor. The Hilltoppers are 2-3 all time in games against the Wolverines. WKU previously faced Michigan in 2008 and secured a 73-69 win at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

All tipoff times and broadcast network information will be released on a later date.

“We now know what’s in front of us – I know our community is excited about what’s in front of us as well,” Plona said.{&end}