WKU MBB: Hilltoppers Defeat Tennessee Tech 82-70 In Season Opener

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Hilltopper Basketball opened the 2025-26 season with an 82-70 win over Tennessee Tech on Monday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.

Five WKU players scored in double figures, led by Grant Newell and Teagan Moore with 16 points apiece. Newcomer Bryant Selebangue posted a double-double in his debut, notching 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Terrion Murdix added 13 points and Ryan Myers chipped in 11. WKU made 28-of-35 free throws, out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 42-36 and led for more than 36 minutes on the way to an opening-night win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• WKU built a 17-6 first half lead with seven of its points coming from the free-throw line, as Teagan Moore scored the first five for the Hilltoppers before five different players contributed to stretch the margin to double digits.
• WKU continued to attack the rim, converting eight more free throws over the next eight minutes to hold a 30-18 advantage. Ryan Myers scored seven points during that stretch with four free throws and a 3-pointer.
• Bryant Selebangue and Terrion Murdix combined for the team’s last 11 points of the opening half. Selebangue scored three baskets at the rim, while Murdix added a free throw and a putback layup to beat the buzzer, sending WKU to the break with a 41-28 lead.
• After Tennessee Tech cut the deficit to 41-36 early in the second half, the Hilltoppers responded with a 17-5 run fueled by six points from Grant Newell on jumpers and five more from Murdix, who added layups and a free throw to grow the lead to 58-41.
• The Golden Eagles fought back to get within 60-54 with just over six minutes left, but WKU closed out the game over the final minutes with Moore and Newell combining for 14 points. Moore finished two consecutive trips at the rim and went 4-for-4 from the line, while Newell hit a 3-pointer and finished an and-one layup to help WKU pull away for an 82-70 win in its season opener.

NOTABLES

• WKU improves to 1-0 on the season and 73-32 all-time in season openers.
• WKU’s starters for the game were Jack Edelen, LJ Hackman, Teagan Moore, Grant Newell and Blaise Keita.
• Announced attendance for the game was 3,247.
• Five Hilltoppers scored in double figures. Grant Newell and Teagan Moore each had 16 points, Bryant Selebangue added 14, Terrion Murdix finished with 13 and Ryan Myers chipped in 11.
• Grant Newell’s16 points came on 5-of-8 shooting, went 5-for-5 at the free-throw line and hit 1-of-2 from 3-point range. He added three rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes.
• Moore went 4-for-10 from the field and 8-for-9 from the line while adding nine boards, one steal and one block in 26 minutes.
• Selebangue recorded a double-double in his Hilltopper debut, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block. He went 5-of-7 from the field and made all four of his free throw attempts.
• Murdix was impressive in his Hilltopper debut, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, grabbing six rebounds and collecting one steal in 19 minutes off the bench.
• Myers caught fire early, scoring nine of his 11 points in the first half. He shot 3-of-5 from the field, knocking one in from behind the arc. He was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
• Armelo Boone recorded a team-high four steals and had three rebounds in his collegiate debut.
• WKU shot 41.9% from the field, hitting 26-of-62 attempts.
• The Hilltoppers shot 28-of-35 (80%) from the free throw line while limiting the Golden Eagles to just 6-of-12 (50%) at the charity stripe.
• WKU won the rebounding battle, 42-36.
• The Hilltoppers led for 36:52 while Tennessee Tech led for just the first 1:15 of the game.

QUOTABLES

• “Obviously happy to come out of here with a win tonight. As I stare at this stat sheet right now, I think we got a little too focused on our individual things tonight. So, I thought our ball movement, our team offense and our team defense didn’t quite reflect the team that we’ve worked really hard to build the last five months. Obviously, Tennessee Tech is a very good team. We knew they would compete. They got a lot of older, experienced players and they certainly did not back down.” — Mahurin Family Foundation Head Coach Hank Plona, on the opening night win over Tennessee Tech.
• “This is definitely a first step. Coaches emphasize my motor, motor, motor to keep pushing myself in practice. That’s something I’m going to continue working on. They emphasize it’s going to translate. I’m just making sure my motor is always high running in practice, not to take days off. I’m sure that’s going to translate.” — Forward Bryant Selebangue, on his double-double.
• “It was a good experience to finally have an official game in front of everyone. It wasn’t just me — it was a team effort. I’ve tried to do as much as I can. At the beginning, like coach said, I made a couple of selfish plays. Not intentional, but that’s not really me. Then I feel like we got to a point where we turned the ball over fewer times, and that’s winning basketball. When you play like that, that attributes to winning.” — Forward Grant Newell, on playing his first game as a Hilltopper.

NEXT UP

• The Hilltoppers head to Richmond, Kentucky on Nov. 10 for their first road game of the season against Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Alumni Coliseum and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.