Khristian Lander has played a pivotal role in keeping Western Kentucky’s roster together for the past two seasons.

Lander’s decision to stick with WKU through two coaching changes motivated some of his teammates to do the same despite the uncertainty – it paid off last season when the Tops won the Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament championship and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 – it was the Hilltoppers’ first CUSA tournament title as well. Lander and his teammates, old and new alike, hope that decision to stay the course pays off again this season at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama, where the No. 7 seed Hilltoppers return to chase another title starting Tuesday night at 8 p.m. against No. 10 seed Florida International.

“If we brought the same core people back, I felt like we could run it back again,” Lander said. “There was no need to split up and start from square one with chemistry with a whole bunch of new guys when we could do it again.”

Lander has been a glue guy for the Tops, but he’s much more than just an influential teammate. The Evansville native has emerged into one of the team’s top playmakers in his graduate senior season. Heading into Tuesday’s matchup against FIU, Lander is second on the team among active players with 12.1 points per game. He’s also been one of the Tops’ most reliable 3-point shooters (48-of-139, 34.5%) and has maintained his strong defense while upping that offensive production.

“I just put it in perspective,” Lander said. “If you get stops on defense, then offense is going to come. I feel like if I get a stop or a steal, or force somebody into a bad shot and get a rebound, be able to get out in transition and just possibly be able to get my offense going. It’s the possibility to get myself going on the other end as well.”

Lander needed to make a change to eventually become a rock-steady presence on WKU’s roster. After two different head coaches in two years at Indiana, Lander went looking for a new opportunity. That he settled on WKU wasn’t necessarily surprising – Evansville is an easily manageable drive to Bowling Green, and he already had a strong connection to the school since his father, Keith, played football for the Hilltoppers and was a three-year letter winner as a defensive back playing under former coach Jack Harbaugh.

“I just think it was a really good opportunity,” Lander said. “During that process while WKU was recruiting me, my dad tried to stay out of it as much as possible because he would obviously have a little bias to go here. But I definitely picked it for myself – loved the community, liked the coaches at the time and I just felt like it was a good fit.

“ … He’s told me a million stories about coach Harbaugh, growing up and stuff like that. I went to Homecoming when I think I was 11 or 12 with my dad … I remember that, it was a pretty fun weekend. But other than that, I haven’t really been up here other than to hoop I guess.”

WKU offered stability as well, with Rick Stansbury entering his seventh season coaching the program and primed to pursue a CUSA title with another veteran roster. It didn’t work out – Stansbury battled health issues and ultimately resigned after a disappointing 17-16 season that included an early exit from the CUSA tournament.

Lander, who averaged 3.2 points per game and 11.4 minutes as part of the extended rotation on that team, could well have joined the expected exodus after the departure of Stansbury and most of his staff.

Instead, Lander banded together with teammates Tyrone Marshall Jr., Fallou Diagne and Dontaie Allen – incoming freshman guard Teagan Moore also chose to honor his commitment – to form an experienced nucleus for new head coach Steve Lutz.

That worked out well, for all concerned. Lutz coached the Hilltoppers to a 22-12 record and led the program to the CUSA Tournament championship – WKU’s first since joining the league in 2014 – and back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.

“It was a surreal feeling, for sure,” Lander said. “We had a rough ending to our conference season last year, losing four straight. And so a lot of minds were going everywhere going into the tournament. We tried to consolidate it as much as possible, but going into it I would say we weren’t as together as I thought we were. But once we hit that court and saw those fans, I feel like something clicked and we just played our best basketball at the right time.

“We were rolling too much for anybody last year.”

Lander’s minutes more than doubled from the previous season and he boosted his scoring to 9.0 points per outing while becoming one of Lutz’s go-to defenders.

“It’s definitely developed over the last couple years,” Lander said. “I think my biggest jump was from Rick to coach Lutz. He emphasized defense a whole lot and it just made me want to guard more. It helps me on both ends. Playing defense just opens up so much other stuff.”

Lutz departed to become the head coach at Oklahoma State shortly after the Tops’ 87-69 loss to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, played in Lander’s home state at Gainbridge Arena in Indianapolis.

“It was pretty great,” Lander said. “Obviously not the outcome we expected but it was definitely a big moment for my career.”

With Lutz gone, the holdover Hilltoppers had another decision to make – when top assistant Hank Plona was elevated to the job, it became easier for this year’s large returning cast to remain – 12 in all.

Plona at least has some common traits with Lutz, but it is still Lander’s fifth head coach in five years of playing college basketball. Lander said the switch from Lutz to Plona has been the easiest transition he’s had in his career.

“It’s definitely rough, for sure, just getting a whole different system every single year and not being able to come back to the same coach you played for the year before,” Lander said. “It’s definitely a challenge.

“Every coach has their different methods of winning and it can definitely be totally different than what you’re used to the year before, so you have to learn new words, new stuff to call different plays and stuff like that when you’ve already gotten used to it for a whole year. It’s like restarting every year.”

Lander was one player Plona very much wanted to retain this season, for both his play and his leadership.

“Khristian’s a very intelligent player and finds ways to make defensive plays, to make plays to score the ball,” Plona said after Lander scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half of last Thursday’s 76-67 home win against FIU. “We have a lot of seniors on this team, but because of the way the rules are all of a sudden there’s a lot of seniors that have another year of eligibility. The seniors that know that they only have more regular-season games like Khristian, sometimes that makes you play a little bit different.

“Khristian, obviously his father is a WKU grad, this place means a lot to him. I can see the heart that he has and the care that he has and the desire that he has to finish his career on a good note.”

WKU has been bedeviled by injuries this season, and Lander hasn’t been immune. Tendonitis in his knee cost him some time earlier this season, and a sore back forced Lander to miss a game and most of another.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Lander said. “My back’s a little sore, but I figured that was going to come with that. It’s just pain tolerance and it’s pretty good right now. All of my little injuries have happened on some weird plays, but it comes with the sport.”

The 6-foot-3 guard can’t help but look forward to the next step in his career.

“The end goal has always been the NBA, for sure,” Lander said. “But it’s definitely going to be a little tougher from the route that I’m going through now, but I can definitely still make it there. Go overseas, go to the G-league, work my way up. I definitely want to touch the NBA though, for sure.”

That can wait just a little longer, though. Lander very much enjoyed the Tops’ postseason run last year and thinks this team can pull it off again with the experience gained from last year.

“I think it benefits us a lot,” Lander said. “Coach (Plona), when he talks to me, he always says it’s easier to do something twice. I feel like we’ve already done it, we know what it takes to get there so I feel we could have an idea of what it will take.”