Western Kentucky’s fans did their part Saturday for the second week in a row.
An over-capacity crowd of 7,362 packed E.A. Diddle Arena to see the Hilltoppers face Marshall, seven days after 7,759 showed up to see WKU host Middle Tennessee.
The Toppers didn’t take advantage of the Jan. 20 sellout, falling 66-62 to the Blue Raiders. WKU guard Darius Thompson said he and his teammates didn’t want to let down another big crowd this time.
“If we would’ve lost tonight, there probably would’ve never been a sold-out Diddle again,” the graduate senior Thompson quipped. “I’m glad we could get that one for them.”
Thompson and the Hilltoppers sent the crowd home happy Saturday with an 85-74 victory against the Thundering Herd. WKU (15-6 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) fed off the energy of its fans down the stretch.
The Tops scored the game’s final 15 points and rallied to win a game they trailed 74-70 with four minutes to go. With every big moment – among them a Taveion Hollingsworth go-ahead 3-pointer, a Justin Johnson rim-rocking dunk and 10 consecutive defensive stops – the noise grew louder.
Thompson, who scored a team-best 20 points Saturday, joked that the arena got so raucous during the final stretch that it scared him.
“Tonight, the last five minutes of that game, the students and the fans were the difference in the game,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We fed off that. It gave us that energy to go make those plays and that’s what you’ve got to have.”
The announced tally of 7,362 on Saturday marked the seventh-largest crowd to see a Hilltopper game on campus since Diddle Arena’s capacity was reduced to 7,326 seats after its 2002-03 renovation.
That came one week after Diddle Arena saw its second-biggest post-renovation crowd.
The 7,759 who showed up Jan. 20 for the MTSU/WKU game has been topped only once the last 15 years. A crowd of 8,118 saw the Toppers beat the Blue Raiders on March 11, 2003, in a Sun Belt Conference Tournament game in the arena.
Dan D’Antoni’s Marshall squad lost Saturday, but the Herd coach came away complimentary of the environment.
“Your crowd was great,” D’Antoni said. “I love to see the students. You had your students out. That’s what’s fun.
“I’ve always said I’d rather play in front of a packed house and lose then play in front of 10 people and win. If you’re winning in front of 10 people, no one cares anyway. You all care.”
The back-to-back sellouts of Diddle Arena were WKU’s first since 2005-06, and first consecutive in conference play since 2001-02.
The Hilltoppers have averaged a home attendance number of 5,170 through their first 11 games this season at Diddle Arena. WKU hasn’t drawn an average of 5,000-plus fans to its arena since the 2008-09 season (5,138).
Packed arenas were an integral part of Stansbury’s mission when he took the Tops’ head coaching job in March 2016. He promised throughout his opening news conference there was going to “come a time real soon” when fans wouldn’t be able to buy tickets on game day because the arena was already sold out.
That’s come to fruition the last two games, with WKU running out of its pregame tunnel past a full student section and onto the floor of a sold-out arena.
Playing in those environments can take some getting used to though, Stansbury said, especially for players not accustomed to it. The Jan. 20 sellout marked the Hilltoppers’ first home crowd of 7,000 or more since 7,119 showed up for a Feb. 28, 2015, win against Florida International.
WKU players adjusted better to that atmosphere Saturday because they’d played a game the week before in front of it, the coach said.
“When you’re not used to playing in front of an absolutely packed house every night, it can change the emotions of you some,” Stansbury said. “I’ve seen it happen a bunch – saw it happen (against Middle Tennessee).
“You get used to doing it every game and your players learn that feeling, what it is every game.”
WKU is heading back on the road this week, playing Thursday at Texas-El Paso and Saturday at Texas-San Antonio. Then it’s back home for games Feb. 8 vs. Florida Atlantic and two nights later against FIU.
Stansbury, ever the salesman, advocated for more sellout crowds just minutes after winning in front of one Saturday.
“Keep coming back,” Stansbury said. “There are going to be more Ws than there are Ls, for sure.”
Average crowd sizes since Diddle Arena renovation
2017-18: 5,170
2016-17: 3,915
2015-16: 3,672
2014-15: 4,625
2013-14: 4,715
2012-13: 4,714
2011-12: 3,993
2010-11: 3,821
2009-10: 4,461
2008-09: 5,138
2007-08: 5,564
2006-07: 5,229
2005-06: 5,731
2004-05: 4,963
2003-04: 4,854
2002-03: 5,473
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