FROM WOODFORD COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL,
CHALLENGES THE PANTHERS INSIDE.
WKU COACH HANK PLONA: ‘THERE WAS GREAT EXCITEMENT IN THE BUILDING’
Two days before opening exhibition play at Western Kentucky University’s historic E.A. Diddle Arena, Hilltoppers sophomore forward Teagan Moore cut to the chase.
“I am so ready for it,” Moore said during the Hilltoppers’ preseason media day inside the Paul Just Media Center.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, when Western Kentucky had its first dress rehearsal under second-year WKU head coach Hank Plona.
For the most part, Plona liked what he saw in the Hilltoppers’ 82-43 trouncing of Kentucky Wesleyan College before a modest but enthusiastic Diddle Arena crowd.
“There was great excitement, in the building, in Diddle, with our fans,” Plona said in the postgame press conference. “Our players did a great job, at playing with energy, playing together, playing for one another and then playing for the name that’s on the front of their jersey …
“We probably got what we were hoping to get, out of tonight, and we’re looking forward to moving forward.”
That pretty much sums it up.
Looking forward, to moving forward.
BY TRANSFER FORWARD BRYANT SELEBANGUE (LEFT)
AND SOPHOMORE SWINGMAN TEAGAN MOORE.
WAS ONE OF TWO VETERANS IN THE STARTING LINEUP.
TO CHALLENGE KENTUCKY WESLEYAN INSIDE.
IS A GRADUATE TRANSFER
FROM WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY.
FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE,
FINISHED THE GAME WITH EIGHT POINTS.
Forward to next week’s second and final exhibition on the road against the UAB Blazers, which has made three NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances, most recently under fifth-year coach Andy Kennedy.
Teagan Moore, the Hilltoppers’ veteran swingman from Dry Ridge, Kentucky, missed the 2024-25 season after undergoing hip surgery. But the 6-foot-5, 220-pound redshirt sophomore was clearly ready to play on Wednesday night.
In his familiar sixth man role, Moore played like a man possessed. The Hilltoppers started getting some points in transition, with Moore finishing two fast breaks with resounding dunks. Meanhile, the WKU bench was staying engaged, and Hank Plona was making frequent substitutions.
All 15 WKU players who dressed out for Wednesday night’s exhibition finished in the scoring column.
Former Greenwood High School star Cade Stinnett — who left a solid NCAA Division III program, Centre College, to return home and play for the Hilltoppers, had four of those final points, two on a put-back and the other two at the free-throw line.
By the same token, Plona is emphasizing the big picture, with major emphasis on Opening Night against Tennessee Tech on November 3, and then Conference USA play beginning December 29 on the road against Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Alabama.
“I need to reward, I need to reward value on the court,” Plona said. “I think we have two months before our first conference game … I thought, defensively, I thought we were pretty good.”
IS A SEASONED SCORER FROM
GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
AND CENTRE COLLEGE …
WITH FOUR POINTS AND TWO REBOUNDS
IN SIX-PLUS MINUTES ON THE FLOOR.
HAS BEEN A VALUABLE PLAYER
OFF THE BENCH FOR TWO SEASONS.
SECOND-YEAR HEAD COACH,
WAS EVERY BIT ENGAGED AS HIS PLAYERS.
Kentucky Wesleyan College shot 31 percent from the field, including a dismal 26 percent in the second half. The Panthers’ Jorge Sancgez-Ramos led KWC with nine points, while teammate LaVonte Harris finished with eight. The Hilltoppers converted 22 KWC turnovers into 30 points, while outrebounding the Panthers, 39-32.
Pretty much what was expected.
Still, WKU’s Teagan Moore and Grant Selebangue, one of the seasoned newcomers on Plona’s roster, had reason to be optimistic. Moore and Selebangue joined Plona at the podium for Wednesday’s postgame presser.
“It was real exciting. I was looking forward to it, all week,” Moore said. “But once the first five minutes go by, it’s pretty much just basketball.”
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Selebangue is a Canadian citizen, a WKU transfer from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Selebangue stayed true to himself, in the early going, and stayed near the basket. He finished the game with 10 points, on 4-for-4 shooting, while adding three rebounds and a couple steals.
Newcomers such as Selebangue, transfer forward Louie Semona, energetic JUCO transfer L.J. Hackman and Chicago’s Grant Newll, a transfer from North Texas, helped the Hilltoppers pull away from the outmanned visitors from Owensboro in the final minutes of the first half.
Then, in the second half, it was time for everybody to shine.
HAS A DEADLY EYE FROM THE PERIMETER.
USED HIS BENCH EXTENSIVELY
AGAINST THE PANTHERS.
FOR A SECOND-HALF REBOUND.
Kade Unseld, the former Warren Central star who won a KHSAA state championship in 2023, needed a couple tries but hit one of his patented deep 3-point shots from the right side of the perimiter. Then, another one. Unseld had six points off 2-for-6 shooting, all from 3-point range, while adding a couple rebounds and a steal.
Teagan Moore led the Hilltoppers with 11 points, while Selebangue and Hackman each finished with 10. Plona limited the minutes of senior point guard Terrion Murdix, who is returning to the court after two years of assorted medical procedures. Freshman guard Armelo Boone, who was playing at Woodford County High School in Versailles, Kentucky at this time last year, led the Tops with eight rebounds, including three on the offensive end of the floor.
And that was that.
The Hilltoppers are looking forward to moving forward. To UAB, next week, and then beyond …
WKU newcomer Grant Selebangue might have put it best.
“It was amazing,” he said. “You know, seeing the crowd out there, all the fans, all the families, coming out to support us, in an exhibition game …
“It was a good experience, especially to come out here, and play. We’ve been going at it, since June … It felt good, to showcase what we’ve been working on, all summer, against another team.
“It was exciting. It was very exciting.”
IN ANOTHER EXHIBITION NEXT WEEK
IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.
OF COVERING WKU MEN’s BASKETBALL …
WHEN I BELLOW, ‘MILITARY SCHOOL’ …