TROY, Ala. — A stretch of six-of-eight games on the road comes to a close Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 contest that wraps up the Hilltoppers’ season series with Troy.

The Trojans defeated WKU by two points a month ago in Ray Harper’s first game as interim head coach, and since then WKU has won three of its last five games.

Following Saturday’s game against Troy, WKU concludes the regular season with three-of-four at home with the chance to improve its seeding prospects for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the beginning of March.

The Trojans have defeated WKU in three of the last four meetings and have won three-straight in Troy dating back to the 2007-08 season. The state of Alabama has not been kind to WKU in Sun Belt Conference play, as the Hilltoppers’ only two losing road records all-time against current league foes are against Troy (2-4) and next week’s opponent, South Alabama (11-17).

Saturday's game is produced by the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network and will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports and DirecTV channel 617 and locally in Bowling Green on WKYU-PBS. Randy Lee will be doing the play-by-play with Hal Schmitt providing the expert analysis.

The game will be broadcast on the radio on the Hilltopper IMG Sports Network with Lee and Schmitt on the call. WKUSports.com offers a video webcast, audio streaming and live stats for the game.

Complete game notes are available at WKUSports.com.

GAME 25

WKU (8-16, 4-7 SBC) at Troy (7-15, 2-9 SBC)

February 11, 2012 // 1:00 PM (CT)

Sartain Hall (4,000) // Troy, Ala.

QUICK SHOTS

• WKU is 3-1 on Saturdays under interim head coach Ray Harper, compared to 0-3 and 1-6 for the season on Thursdays.

• WKU is shooting 79.7 percent from the free throw line (63-for-79) in the final five minutes of conference games.

• WKU has lost 12 of its last 15 games away from home.

• George Fant has led WKU in rebounding in five-straight games.

• The Hilltoppers are 5-0 this season when allowing fewer than 60 points in a game and 3-13 when surrendering 60-79 points.

• WKU, South Alabama and Arkansas State are the only Sun Belt Conference schools with two players in the top-10 in rebounding this season (Fant, 6th; Gordon, 10th).

• WKU is 3-7 in its last 10 regular-season games versus the Sun Belt Conference East Division, and four of WKU’s last five regular-season games are against the east.

• WKU is averaging 11.6 assists and 12.4 turnovers in the last seven games, compared to 10.7 assists and 16.8 miscues on average in the first 16 games of the season.

• Since the start of the 2010-11 season, WKU is 15-6 when Jamal Crook has at least four assists and 8-2 when he and Kahlil McDonald combine to dish out at least eight assists.

• Derrick Gordon is one of two Sun Belt Conference freshmen to be averaging at least 11.0 points per game so far this season.

THE LAST TIME OUT

WKU had a chance to come within two with the clock running down, but the veteran Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders traded baskets and kept the Hilltoppers at arms length down the stretch to earn a 72-64 win Thursday night in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Blue Raiders were helped by LaRon Dendy’s 26 points and 14 rebounds, with 19 and 10 coming in the second half. WKU got 12 points and 11 rebounds from George Fant, his first career double-double and second of the season by a Hilltopper, and T.J. Price had 14 and seven. Derrick Gordon had nine points, seven rebounds and six assists with no turnovers. WKU made all 14 of its free throw attempts in the game, and Middle Tennessee made just 17 of its 37 tries from the charity stripe (.459).

HILLTOPPER INDIVIDUAL TRENDS

• T.J. Price has hit multiple three-pointers in four-straight games.

• Jamal Crook is second on the team in scoring in his 15 starts this season (10.7 ppg).

• Jamal Crook is averaging 13.0 points per game in the last five games and is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor in that span (25-of-55).

• T.J. Price is averaging 10.2 points per game on the road this season and has hit 40.5 percent of his three-point tries.

• Jamal Crook has had 10 10-plus point scoring games in his last 15 after entering this season with just one in two previous years.

• A freshman has led WKU in scoring in 14 of the last 16 contests.

• Nigel Snipes has converted on 12-straight free throws.

• Derrick Gordon has played at least 30 minutes in 20 of the last 23 games.

• George Fant has had 14 games of at least six points and six rebounds this season.

• In WKU’s 16 losses in 2011-12, Derrick Gordon, T.J. Price and Jamal Crook have combined for 6.3 turnovers per game.

HILLTOPPER TEAM TRENDS

• In the last five games, WKU is holding opponents to 61.8 points per game while forcing an average of over 14 turnovers a contest.

• WKU is surrendering an average of nearly 17 points off turnovers in the last four games.

• The opponent’s leading scorer has had at least 20 points in each of the last four contests.

• The Hilltoppers are first in the Sun Belt Conference in free throw percentage, third in assist-to-turnover ratio and fourth in scoring and assists per game in conference games.

• WKU is in the top-half of 12 of 21 conference statistical categories in league games.

• The Hilltoppers have had 16 or fewer turnovers in 13 of the last 17 games.

• Derrick Gordon is the only Hilltopper to have started each of the first 24 games of the year.

• The Hilltoppers have used 12 different starting lineups in 24 games played.

• Five different Hilltoppers have missed at least one of the first 24 games of the season due to injury, and three others have been unavailable for games at various points.

• WKU has started four freshmen eight times this season (2-6 record when doing so).

• Seven different players have led WKU in scoring this season after four did so in 2010-11.

• WKU has scored 60 or fewer points seven times in 24 games played this season, topping its total from the entire 2010-11 campaign (6).

• WKU’s 16 losses in 2011-12 have come by an average of 11.1 points, and its eight wins have been by an average of 7.3 per.

• WKU has faced a double-digit deficit at one point in 27 of its last 32 losses dating back to the start of the 2010-11 season.

• In 56 games since the start of the 2010-11 season, WKU has trailed at halftime 33 times (5-28 in those games).

• The Hilltoppers have advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament seven-straight times and in 20 instances in 29 years as a member of the league dating to 1983.