Western Kentucky weathered the nonconference schedule with a pair of significant injuries.

There’s still hope that graduate senior guard Terrion Murdix can return by early January after suffering a right knee injury in the Tops’ trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, while graduate senior forward Bryant Selebangue is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon suffered early in a road loss to Marshall.

Those who remain for WKU (7-4) face a daunting stretch to start Conference USA play, beginning with Monday’s 6 p.m. road matchup against Jacksonville State. The Tops will be back at E.A. Diddle Arena for a Friday matchup against Sam Houston, then another home game against Louisiana Tech on Sunday.

“We really need to show some physical, emotional and mental strength and toughness,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “I do think that we’re in a place where our players are excited about what’s in front of us and we do want to attack these challenges together.”

The Tops are coming off a tough 82-81 home loss to Tulsa on Dec. 19 – the team’s first loss at Diddle this season. WKU led for most of the game against the Golden Hurricane, but saw a 37-30 halftime lead erased in the first three minutes of the second half when Tulsa put together a 14-5 run. The Tops answered with a 9-3 run to regain a 51-46 lead and stayed in front most of the half and led 81-79 with five seconds to play before Tulsa’s Miles Barnstable hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.

It was the latest near miss for the Tops, who also suffered close losses to nationally-ranked Vanderbilt (83-78) and solid South Florida (97-91 in overtime) before closing out the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 75-70 win against Wichita State last month.

“Great basketball game I would think for a fan, but we’re certainly at a point now as we enter league play where we’ve got to figure out how to win these if we want to have a special season,” Plona said of the loss to Tulsa.

Jax State (5-6) has posted a 4-3 record on its home floor at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Gamecocks, led by former WKU head coach Ray Harper (2011-16), feat CUSA’s second-best scoring defense (63.3 points allowed per game) and eighth-best scoring offense (74.6 ppl) as the league’s worst-shooting team (43.2%).

Senior guard Mostapha El Moutaouakkil leads Jax State in scoring at 18.6 points per game, second-best in CUSA this season. Senior guard AC Bryant is second on the team with 12.5 points per game as the Gamecocks have just two players averaging in double-digit scoring.

Jacksonville State checks in at 289th in the NCAA men’s basketball NET Rankings – the Hilltoppers enter Monday’s matchup 123rd in the NET Rankings. ESPN+ will televise the game.

Despite the loss, the Tops showed plenty of encouraging signs on offense against a rugged Tulsa squad. Junior guard Grant Newell scored a career-high 28 points off 8-of-15 shooting with six 3-pointers, plus added a season-high nine rebounds. Freshman guard Armelo Boone tallied the first double-double of his career with 16 points and a career-best 12 rebounds to lock up his fourth CUSA Freshman of the Week honor, while redshirt sophomore guard Teagan Moore scored 15 points.

The loss against a Golden Hurricane team now 12-1 this season was a further indication to Plona that his squad is capable of playing with anyone.

But that lapse to start the second half against Tulsa was also the latest troubling indication that the Tops have had trouble staying locked in on defense for a full game.

“Consistently, our first-half defense has been better than our second half defense,” Plona said. “Is stamina a part of that? I think sometimes we start thinking about what we’re doing, good and bad. I do think we have some players that think about like, man, by minute 25, how many points do I have? I think that is the common thing in today’s world.

“ … How you’re playing should not affect what you do. Our team needs to have the competitive discipline to make sure for 40 minutes – the game’s a long game – for 40 minutes that we’re making the right plays and that we’re playing together and we’re staying locked into the actual moment.”

Moore continues to lead the Tops with 17.4 points per game, with Newell and Boone next at 12 points apiece. Graduate guard Ryan Myers has heated up on the offensive end and is just shy of averaging double digits at 9.9 points per game.

The Tops are fourth in CUSA in scoring (84.5 points per game) and 11th in scoring defense (76.8 ppg).