Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey went toe-to-toe with one of the top players in the country Saturday and led the Hilltoppers to a memorable win, earning his fourth Conference USA Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week Award in the process Monday.

The 6-foot-11, 245-pound native of Lagos, Nigeria, tallied 19 points, six rebounds and four blocks in WKU’s 83-76 home upset of No. 15/16 Wisconsin on Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Bassey went 7-of-8 from the field and hit all five of his free throws, all while going up against Wisconsin preseason All-American Ethan Happ. He also added two assists and a steal.

His defense was stellar, holding the usually efficient Happ to a 9-of-23 performance from the field and swatting away multiple shots by the senior star in the final minutes of the game.

Bassey and the Hilltoppers begin C-USA play this week at Charlotte at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Following her breakout performance in Western Kentucky’s victory over Division-II Union (Tenn.) on Saturday, Meral Abdelgawad has been named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.

The weekly award is the first of Abdelgawad’s young career and the first received by a Lady Topper this season. The Cairo, Egypt, native is WKU’s first Freshman of the Week honoree since fellow Egyptian and reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year Raneem Elgedawy earned the accolades Jan. 22, 2018.

A starter in every game thus far during her freshman season, Abdelgawad caught fire for a career-best 26 points against Union (Tenn.), currently the top-ranked team in both Division II polls. The freshman missed only three combined shots from the field and the free-throw line, knocking down eight of her 10 field goal attempts and going 8-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Abdelgawad was instrumental in the closing minutes of Saturday’s game after Union closed within three points early in the fourth quarter. She tallied six points in the final seven minutes of action to help hold off the Lady Bulldogs’ charge and secure the victory for the Lady Toppers.

The 26 points scored by Abdelgawad were the most scored by any Lady Topper in a single game this season as well as the most by any freshman in C-USA. They were also the most by any Lady Topper freshman in a game since Kendall Noble tallied 27 points at Arkansas State on Feb. 5, 2014, as a redshirt freshman.

Abdelgawad and the Lady Toppers begin their C-USA campaign Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena as WKU hosts Charlotte in the conference opener for both teams.