Coach Rick Stansbury and his Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will get an early season gauge of where they stand. It was announced Monday afternoon that WKU will face 2016 national champion Villanova in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Toppers will take on the Wildcats at 1:30pm, Wednesday, Novmber 22 in the eight-team tournament, which will be played November 22-24 at Atlantis Paradise Island in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
WKU has faced Villanova just once before, in the 1971 Final Four. The Wildcats won that matchup 92-89 in double overtime.
The Hilltoppers will meet either the winner of Purdue/Tennessee or the loser of SMU/Northern Iowa in their second game in the Battle 4 Atlantis, depending on their result against Villanova. Arizona and North Carolina State are also competing, and every team is guaranteed three games. The entire tournament will be televised.
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)
