The Western Kentucky men’s basketball team will look to snap a three-game losing streak, but to get back in the win column the Hilltoppers will need to beat the preseason favorite to win Conference USA.

WKU is scheduled to host UAB in an 8 p.m. game Thursday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“It’s just the belief in ourselves,” WKU forward Jairus Hamilton said. “Our belief has never wavered. We always believe in what we can do and we know what we can do. We know what we’ve struggled on lately and we’ve really been focused on really getting better at those things as of right now, but just sticking to what we do well and sticking with a good mindset is the only way we can move forward.”

The Hilltoppers (10-9 overall, 2-4 C-USA) are coming off losses at FAU and FIU, and before the trip to Florida WKU fell to defending league champion North Texas at Diddle Arena 65-60. WKU is now near the bottom of C-USA’s East Division standings – the Hilltoppers and FIU are both 2-4 in league play and split the two games against each other, while Marshall is last at 0-6 – and will go up against the top team from a strong West Division.

“I think the focus of practice yesterday was just intensity and finishing plays and finishing drills and just trying to make an impact that was going to carry over into tomorrow and the next day and the next day. There’s no lack of focus or anything like that,” WKU guard Camron Justice said. “You just go back and look at all those games we lost and it’s by a matter of a couple possessions. It’s not like we lost these games by getting blown out or anything like that. It’s just a matter of one or two possessions every single game, so you focus and take those two possessions away, we’re on top and none of this is even being discussed.”

UAB (16-4, 6-1), Louisiana Tech and North Texas all sit at 6-1 in league play, and the Blazers are coming off a win over the Bulldogs in Ruston, La. UAB also beat North Texas in Denton, Texas, and their one league loss was at Rice, 85-80.

The Blazers were picked to win the league after returning four starters – Michael Ertel, Tavin Lovan, Quan Jackson and Trey Jemison – from last year’s team that fell to WKU in the C-USA Tournament semifinals, while head coach Andy Kennedy brought in eight newcomers, including a number of players from the transfer portal. Ertel led UAB in scoring last year, while Lovan – a Franklin native – was Second-Team All-C-USA and Jackson and Jemison were both on the C-USA All-Defensive team.

UAB leads the league in scoring at 81.2 points per game, is second in points allowed per game at 62.95 per game and is near or at the top of nearly all the league’s statistical categories.

Leading the Blazers is Tulane transfer Jordan “Jelly” Walker. The 5-foot-11 guard is fourth in the league with 17.95 points per game, 11th in field goal percentage at 40.2%, third in 3-point shooting percentage at 42.8% – his 62 3s leads the league – second in free-throw percentage at 88.3% and is third in assists with 4.42 per game. Walker is coming off a C-USA Player of the Week performance at Louisiana Tech in which he had 36 points, including nine made 3-pointers. He posted 27, 20 and 20 points in the three games prior against FAU, FIU and Rice, respectively.

Jackson adds 11.4 points per game, while Ole Miss transfer KJ Buffen averages 10.4, Ertel 9.7 and Lovan 8.3.

“Andy’s done a really good job doing it. He had the perfect storm for him. He got that COVID year, four starters back – all those starters came back,” WKU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “Then you go add those transfer guys – Buffen from Ole Miss, then Walker, who, right now, is the best player in this league, hands down. I know the guy at Louisiana Tech is really good, there’s some other really good players, but nobody is playing better than Walker. He’s a pro. His quickness and his athleticism, his ability to shoot that basketball is very rare, a guy that’s got his abilities doing that. “

UAB leads the all-time series 25-17, with the teams alternating victories the last six times they’ve met since WKU won back-to-back contests in Bowling Green in 2017 and 2018.

Thursday’s game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

WKU is scheduled to follow Thursday’s game with a 2 p.m. game Saturday at Diddle Arena against Middle Tennessee (12-6, 3-2).{&end}