The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers return to the road on Thursday,
February 4 when they travel to Monroe, La. to take on the
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks in a Sun Belt Conference clash at 8pm ET
on FCS Pacific. ULM is 7-4 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum and will be
seeking its first win against the Hilltoppers in five attemps.
Louisiana-Monroe (9-14, 4-8 Sun Belt) looks to bounce back
from their current two game losing streak, in which they suffered a
heartbreaker, losing to conference rival Louisiana-Lafayette 72-67
on Jan. 30. The Warhawks, second in the Sun Belt in steals per game
(7.8) and fourth in free-throw percentage (.724), are led by guards
Dynile Forbes and Tony Hooper.
Forbes is averaging a team best 11.7 ppg, while Hooper
averages 11.4 ppg to go along with 1.9 steals per game, second best
in the conference. 5-foot-11 Senior Hooper recorded the 202nd steal
of his career against ULL, tying him with Brian Spencer (1985-88)
for the ULM career steals record. Big man Rudy Turner anchors the
frontcourt with a .584 FG percentage, fourth best in the conference
while also averaging 1.2 blocks per game, fifth best in the
conference.
Two-time defending Sun Belt champs Western Kentucky (12-10,
5-5 Sun Belt) look to tackle their road woes, in which they are
1-7. The team is fifth in the conference in both scoring offense
(68.7 ppg) and scoring defense, limiting opponents to 67.9 ppg. WKU
is led by SBC preseason player of the year AJ Slaughter, who
averages a conference best 16.9 ppg, and averages team bests in
assists (4 apg) and steals (1.8 steals per game, fourth best in the
Sun Belt).
Slaughter scored 18 points against New Orleans to give him
1,358 for his career, moving him past Craig McCormick (1979-82) for
14th on the WKU all-time scoring list. This win over New Orleans on
Jan. 30, ended the five game losing streak the Hilltoppers had
starting on Jan. 18 when they lost to Middle Tennessee.
Steffphon Pettigrew, averaging 15 points per game (ninth best
in the Sun Belt), also leads WKU along with Jeremy Evans, averaging
team bests in rebounds per game (7.3, fifth best in the
conference), field goal percentage (.608, best in the conference),
and blocks per game (1.5, fourth best in the conference).
The last time these teams faced off, WKU beat ULM 64-55 at
Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Feb. 5 in which AJ Slaughter scored 20
points in leading the Hilltoppers to victory.
