After several schedule changes, the Western Kentucky men’s basketball team is preparing for its home opener.

The Hilltoppers are scheduled to host Mississippi Valley State on Sunday at E.A. Diddle Arena in a 2 p.m. game, and are hoping to see the WKU team that played three games in South Dakota, and not the one that lost at Louisville on Tuesday.

WKU (2-2) is coming off a 75-54 loss to the Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center where it turned the ball over 21 times and shot just 3 of 18 from 3-point range and 5 of 11 from the free throw line.

“There’s no question that wasn’t the same team that I witnessed basically all fall long,” WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said after the loss. “Don’t ask me why. Give Louisville credit.”

The Hilltoppers started the season with a strong showing at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D., where they beat Northern Iowa and Memphis before falling to No. 15 West Virginia 70-64 in the championship.

Sunday’s game wasn’t originally on the schedule this early in the season. The Hilltoppers were supposed to play two more games in Louisville against Prairie View A&M and Little Rock, but the game against the Panthers was canceled before Tuesday’s tipoff with Louisville because of COVID-19 issues with Prairie View. Following the loss to the Cardinals, Stansbury said Friday’s scheduled game against Little Rock would be moved to Diddle, but later that night it was canceled entirely.

Tuesday’s game marked the eighth day on the road for WKU, and Sunday will be the first time this season the Hilltoppers have played outside of a bubble environment.

“We’re all ready to get back home, that’s for sure,” Stansbury said Tuesday, when Little Rock was still the next scheduled game. “ … We’re ready to get out of this bubble. We ain’t had no practice time for basically a week and you lay around these hotels, that’s never easy, but there’s no excuses.”

WKU went 12-2 at home last season, and has a 4-0 record all-time against MVSU (0-4). The last meeting was in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

The Hilltoppers have played a tough schedule so far – their strength of schedule was ranked 13th by Ken Pomeroy and 20th by Sagarin Ratings as of Friday – but their next opponent has yet to see much success this season.

The Delta Devils have been on the road all season, with losses at Arkansas, North Texas, Wyoming and Grand Canyon. MVSU has lost its four games by an average margin of 52.3 points – the Delta Devils have allowed 110.8 points per game and have scored 58.5 per game.

Terry Collins and Kam’Ron Cunningham are the only two MVSU players averaging double-figure scoring with 12.5 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Treylan Smith, Devin Gordon and Caleb Hunter are all adding at least eight points per game.

Despite a poor offensive outing Tuesday, WKU is still averaging 71.5 points per game, led by 19 per game from Taveion Hollingsworth and 15 from Charles Bassey, who is also averaging 11.3 rebounds and, as of Friday, led the nation with 16 total blocks. WKU is shooting just 27.6% from 3-point range this season.

Nine WKU players are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, and the Hilltoppers have rolled with the same starting five in their four games – Hollingsworth, Bassey, Carson Williams, Josh Anderson and Kenny Cooper, who became eligible this season after having to sit out last year to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.

“We’ve got to be aggressive. That’s just the thing,” Hollingsworth said after Tuesday’s loss. “Kenny’s still trying to knock the rust off, so I think he’ll be ready next game and we’re just going to come out fired up.”

WKU is currently scheduled to follow Sunday’s game with a home game against Rhode Island the following week. The Hilltoppers are still trying to fill the two vacancies from the lost Prairie View and Little Rock games.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (0-4) AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (2-2)

2 p.m., Sunday, E.A. Diddle Arena

Probable starters

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE

Terry Collins, g, 6-3, jr. (12.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg); Devin Gordon, g, 6-4, fr. (9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg); Caleb Hunter, g, 5-10, so. (8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg); Kam’Ron Cunningham, g, 6-7, jr. (12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg); Alexander Perry, g, 6-6, sr. (6.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg).

WESTERN KENTUCKY

Taveion Hollingsworth, g, 6-2, sr. (19.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg); Kenny Cooper, g, 6-0, r-sr. (3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg); Charles Bassey, c, 6-11, jr. (15.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg); Carson Williams, f, 6-5, r-sr. (8.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg); Josh Anderson, g, 6-6, sr. (7.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg)

Television

ESPN+; WKU PBS in Bowling Green

Radio

Hilltopper Sports Network

Coaches

Lindsey Hunter (3-31, second year; 3-31 overall), Mississippi Valley State; Rick Stansbury (84-54, fifth year; 377-220 overall), WKU.

Series record

Western Kentucky leads the series 4-0 (WKU won the last meeting 59-58 on March 13, 2012, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Dayton, Ohio).

Last time out

Mississippi Valley State lost 88-49 at Grand Canyon on Tuesday.; Western Kentucky lost 75-54 at Louisville on Tuesday.{&end}