A.J. Slaughter News

THE GOOD NEWS: The Hilltoppers return some talented young players, including sophomore forward Jeremy Evans, freshman forward D.J. Magley, sophomore guard A.J. Slaughter and freshman wing Steffphon Pettigew.

Welcome to Black Tuesday.

College basketball's hold on the nation is not what it was back in those quaint days when good players actually stayed in school for three, four years. But the end of a college hoops season remains a day of lamentation in Kentucky.

To ease you through the withdrawal, here are 10 key story lines that will shape college basketball (men's and women's) in Kentucky in 2008-09.

10. A doctor in the house? Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks are the only two proven scorers on the Kentucky roster heading into Billy Gillispie's second year. They were also relegated to the UK bench by the end of this past season because of injuries. It may well be that UK's fate in March 2009 will be determined in the summer of '08 in how Patterson (surgery for a stress fracture in an ankle) and Meeks (a sports hernia) recover from their ailments. Read more

“I want to keep you guys awake and on the edge of your seat, so you're welcome.”

Darren Collison had a tough time against the Western Kentucky defense, committing four turnovers. via ESPN

“I like to play him one on one and I can get him sometimes”

Local Western Kentucky Hilltopper guard A.J. Slaughter has quite the following in his beloved Shelby County. via WAVE-TV Louisville

“I've got to be a little more cautious and play a little bit smarter”

Odeen Domingo and Dave Lumia The Arizona Republic Mar. 27, 2008 11:22 PM Western Kentucky's full-court pressure began taking its toll on UCLA in the second half of Thursday night's 88-78 UCLA win at US Airways ... via Arizona Republic

“I'm unbelievably proud of my team.”

UCLA can make a double-digit win look difficult. With Kevin Love scoring a career-high 29 points, the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Western Kentucky 88-78 in the ... via Sacramento Bee Newspaper

In an unexpected turn of events, second round play in the West Regional has been turned upside down, as the 12th-seeded Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will take on the 13th-seeded San Diego Toreros this afternoon ... via Sports Network

“He's about as quick as anybody we've seen all year.”

Western Kentucky presses teams in hopes of forcing an up-tempo game and shoots plenty of 3-pointers. It is a formula the Hilltoppers used to nearly beat Gonzaga and Tennessee earlier this season. via San Gabriel Valley Tribune

“The four people in our group, the three in front of me were about 5-(foot-)9, and they walked right under the door. I kept walking (while reading text messages) and nailed it.”

The numbers shout out one reason why Western Kentucky is in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against San Diego on Sunday.

Twenty-six points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, 74 minutes. That was the contribution of Western's bench to its 101-99 overtime victory over Drake in the first round.

Drake's stat line for the bench? Three points, no rebounds, one assist, 27 minutes.

Western reserves Boris Siakam and Orlando Mendez-Valdez were on the floor when Ty Rogers won the game.

'Huge' is Western Coach Darrin Horn's description of his bench. 'It's one of the biggest reasons for our success. Our team has developed a confidence in each other that they don't feel like there's a lot of drop-off.' Read more

“We were plenty capable of going to our conference tournament and coming out as champions.”

Take your pick.

Do you predict the winner of the Western Kentucky-Drake game by relying on an upset special -- a fifth seed (Drake) being ousted by a 12th seed (Western)?

Or do you focus on the technical part of the game between the teams?

They meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 12:30 p.m. Friday at St. Pete Times Forum.

It is intriguing to realize that at least one 12th seed has upset a fifth seed every year but three since 1985. (Last year was one exception.) And the 12th seed has a 16-28 record in the last seven years. Read more

MOBILE, Ala. -- A balanced scoring effort by its starters earned the Western Kentucky University men's basketball team a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final after beating Arkansas-Little Rock ... via The Courier-Journal

Tyrone Brazelton added 17 points for the Hilltoppers , who have won their tournament opener in 10 of the past 11 seasons. via Fox Sports

“Florida Atlantic was playing really well coming into the game”

' Courtney Lee scored a game-best 29 points Saturday and Tyrone Brazelton added 22 to help lead Western Kentucky University to an 88-78 Sun Belt Conference basketball victory over Florida Atlantic at FAU Arena. via WBKO-TV Bowling Green

“We got out of this game exactly what we wanted coming in - ' a win and a great defensive effort”

' Western Kentucky University overcame a season-high 22 turnovers Wednesday with a defensive effort that saw the Hilltoppers force 21 miscues while limiting Florida International to just 34 percent shooting in ... via WBKO-TV Bowling Green

“I thought our guard play was as good as it has been all year. Our perimeter players really set the tone and were ready to play when the ball was tipped tonight.”

The Western Kentucky University women's basketball team entered Wednesday's game at Florida International having already secured the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, but with a 79-56 win over the ... via Glasgow Daily Times, Glasgow, KY

A.J. Slaughter scored 12 points off the bench and D.J. Magley added 10 as Western Kentucky led from the start to beat Florida International 69-54 Wednesday. via WAVE-TV Louisville

“He's developing, in my opinion, into the best point guard in our league.”

Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Sports They put forth a valiant effort, but the Blue Raiders were denied a chance to topple the two best teams in the Sun Belt Conference on Saturday when they lost 71-66 to Western ... via The Sidelines

“We had 20 more shots than they did, they just did not go down for us tonight.”

Western Kentucky University rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to take a one-point lead with less than seven minutes to go Thursday, but South Alabama went ahead on a DeAndre Coleman layup with just ... via Glasgow Daily Times, Glasgow, KY

“He shoots for a great percentage, runs the team, one turnover in 30 minutes we tried, now. We guarded the heck out of him and he got a tough 20 points”

By ROB HERBST, The Daily News, rherbst@bgdailynews.com Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:49 AM CST Joe Imel/Daily News Western Kentucky's Tyrone Brazelton scores Saturday in the HIlltoppers' 71-66 victory over ... via Bgdailynews.com

“It was one of the toughest games (we've had).”

Brazelton, Lee spur WKU past streaking Middle Tenn. By ROB HERBST, The Daily News, rherbst@bgdailynews.com Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:49 AM CST Joe Imel/Daily News Western Kentucky's Mike Walker breaks up a ... via Bgdailynews.com