Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team has played well — enough even to win — on the road this season.

But the Hilltoppers are still searching for that first victory away from E.A. Diddle Arena. They’ll get their next opportunity on Saturday with a 1 p.m. matchup against Evansville at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

WKU (4-3) hasn’t spent much time away from Diddle this season, and the two previous ventures on the road were against stiff competition. The Hilltoppers came up short in the final second at Western Athletic Conference preseason favorite Grand Canyon in a 74-72 loss on Nov. 9, and played then-No. 8 Kentucky tough in a 87-68 loss at Rupp Arena on Nov. 26 in Lexington.

“I think we played pretty well in both road games, as far as getting ready to play with the right mentality and being fearless and playing aggressive,” WKU first-year head coach Hank Plona said. “We’ve played two very strong opponents on the road. I don’t think we’ve been negatively affected by that — maybe the last minute of the Grand Canyon game … that situation got pretty intense, but that’s a late-game situation that you learn from and you hope that next time you’re in that situation that you’re better prepared and you execute better.”

The Hilltoppers got back on track with a solid 90-82 win against former conference rival Marshall on Saturday night. WKU rallied from a four-point halftime deficit behind a career-high 19-point outing by freshman Julius Thedford as well as an 18-point outburst from graduate senior forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. It was a senior high point total for the Nashville native, who has scored in double figures just three times this season.

“There were some games a year ago where he really broke out in the second half of a game,” Plona said of Marshall, a 6-foot-7 forward. “It honestly reminded me of a couple of his bigger games a year ago. There was a stretch last year where we would say, ‘All right, time for second-half Woo to start coming out.’ And he kind of did that on Saturday. I guess we just want him to have an aggressive mindset. Sometimes I think Woo is a little unselfish to a fault. He doesn’t want anybody to think he’s a selfish basketball player, but he’s a force attacking the rim. He’s a force on the offensive glass. He can make catch-and-shoot 3s. We definitely want him to get up and down in transition.”

Senior forward Babacar Faye is the Tops’ leading scorer at 15 points along with 7.2 rebounds per game, while senior point guard Don McHenry is averaging 14.4 points, Thedford is at 13.4 points and graduate senior guard Khristian Lander is scoring 10.7 points per game.

WKU picked it up on offense in a major way in the second half against the Thundering Herd on Saturday, shooting 69.6% (16-of-23) and 80% from 3-point range (4-of-5).

“Our defensive numbers are a little stronger than our offensive numbers as of right now,” Plona said. “We want to be a well-rounded team on the offensive end. That means you score wherever the right play is whether it’s inside, whether it’s outside, whether it’s fast break, whether it’s half court. I though versus Marshall we probably did as good of a job as we’ve done taking what the defense gives us while having an aggressive mentality. especially in the second half.”

Evansville (3-5) dropped a 63-61 road decision to Missouri Valley Conference rival Murray State on Tuesday night. Freshman forward Gabriel Pozzato tallied 15 points and six steals while playing the full 40 minutes. Junior guard Cam Haffner registered 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting while senior guard Tanner Cuff added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

Pozzato (15.4 points per game), Haffner (15.1 ppg) and junior guard Tayshawn Comer (11 ppg) average double-digit scoring for the Purple Aces, who lost by 50 points (80-30) at Ohio State on Nov, 19, but have gone 2-1 since.

“Kind of got through that first stretch of the season and now we’re turning the page to December,” Plona said. “It’s very important for us to kind of establish ourselves and continue to play well and hopefully keep on improving on both ends of the floor as we prepare for conference. So looking forward to what’s in front of us and obviously a big road test this weekend at Evansville.”