+ article on the frosh guard.....
Hilltoppers' Hollingsworth impressing Stansbury with his defense
Freshman guard will face Marshall's Elmore on Saturday
Western Kentucky last week faced Louisiana Tech and its flashy point guard, DaQuan Bracey.
“Bracey is as good as anyone there is in this league getting into the lane,” Hilltopper coach Rick Stansbury said Tuesday on his weekly radio show.
Stansbury’s pick to guard Bracey, the reigning Conference USA Freshman of the Year? Taveion Hollingsworth, a freshman who, in the words of his coach, “never really had to defend in his life” until coming to WKU.
Hollingsworth clamped down on Bracey, holding the guard to a 6-of-19 shooting night. He pressured Bracey on the game’s final possession, forcing a contested shot that teammate Dwight Coleby blocked.
Hollingsworth scored 15 points that Dec. 28 night, but his defense was just as important in the Toppers’ 69-68 win at E.A. Diddle Arena.
“He was really tough,” Hollingsworth said after the win of Bracey. “Coach told me I’ve got to sit down.
“You know what’s going through my mind on defense is, ‘I can’t let my team down.’ I have to play defense.”
Two days later against Southern Mississippi, Hollingsworth drew Golden Eagles guard Tyree Griffin, a former starter at Oklahoma State. The transfer Griffin labored to a 5-of-16 shooting night while guarded by the WKU freshman.
Stansbury has trusted Hollingsworth this season to guard opponents’ top perimeter players. The 6-foot-2 guard has responded to that challenge, whether facing Bracey and Griffin last week, or Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards and Southern Methodist’s Shake Milton in November at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Stansbury said Hollingsworth is “starting to cherish that role a little bit.”
“He gets the toughest offensive player on that team on the perimeter,” Stansbury said. “ … He’s going to get the head of that snake on most teams.”
Hollingsworth came to WKU this season after a prolific career at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington. He became Fayette County’s all-time leading boys’ prep scorer (2,495 points).
Hollingsworth, the 2017 Kentucky Mr. Basketball, has been as good as advertised offensively. His 13.8 points per game rank second for the Hilltoppers behind Darius Thompson’s 14 ppg, and he leads WKU guards in shooting from the floor (52.2 percent) and from 3-point range (52.6 percent).
“I love what he’s doing, shooting the ball,” Stansbury said. “But what no one talks about is where he’s really valued, is his ability to defend.”
Hollingsworth’s on-ball defense has been key for a WKU team that’s defended effectively by forcing turnovers and not fouling.
The Hilltoppers rank No. 85 of 351 Division I teams in defensive turnover percentage against D-I teams, according to KenPom.com (20.8 percent of possessions). Hollingsworth has swiped 17 steals – third-most for WKU behind Lamonte Bearden (28) and Thompson (26).
The Tops have also avoided foul trouble, ranking No. 24 nationally in defensive free throw rate vs. D-I teams, according to KenPom. WKU’s opponents have attempted exactly 25 percent the number of free throws as they have field goal attempts.
That’s been vital for a team that’s had only eight players available for its first 15 games.
Hollingsworth and the Hilltoppers (10-5 overall, 2-0 C-USA) have the third-best defense in C-USA, according to KenPom. WKU allows 100.5 points per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponents, which ranks behind only Old Dominion (95.3) and Middle Tennessee (98.4) in the conference.
The Topper defense will be tested in its next outing Saturday at Marshall. The Thundering Herd (11-4, 2-0) score a C-USA-best 88.2 points per game, and averaged 89 points last season in two wins against WKU.
Jon Elmore (23.5 ppg) spearheads the Marshall attack. He scored a combined 59 points last season in the Herd’s victories against the Hilltoppers.
Graduate senior Junior Lomomba tried to defend Elmore last year for WKU, with unsuccessful results. Hollingsworth will draw that assignment Saturday in Huntington, W. Va., Stansbury said.
“Last year we had no answers for him. None,” Stansbury said of Elmore. “Junior, that was a tough matchup for Junior, being nice about it.
“Taveion’s got some more quickness to him. I don’t think that anyone has shut him down, but the one thing I feel more comfortable about going into that game is knowing I have a guy that’s going to fight and scratch.”{&end}
Hilltoppers' Hollingsworth impressing Stansbury with his defense
Freshman guard will face Marshall's Elmore on Saturday
Western Kentucky last week faced Louisiana Tech and its flashy point guard, DaQuan Bracey.
“Bracey is as good as anyone there is in this league getting into the lane,” Hilltopper coach Rick Stansbury said Tuesday on his weekly radio show.
Stansbury’s pick to guard Bracey, the reigning Conference USA Freshman of the Year? Taveion Hollingsworth, a freshman who, in the words of his coach, “never really had to defend in his life” until coming to WKU.
Hollingsworth clamped down on Bracey, holding the guard to a 6-of-19 shooting night. He pressured Bracey on the game’s final possession, forcing a contested shot that teammate Dwight Coleby blocked.
Hollingsworth scored 15 points that Dec. 28 night, but his defense was just as important in the Toppers’ 69-68 win at E.A. Diddle Arena.
“He was really tough,” Hollingsworth said after the win of Bracey. “Coach told me I’ve got to sit down.
“You know what’s going through my mind on defense is, ‘I can’t let my team down.’ I have to play defense.”
Two days later against Southern Mississippi, Hollingsworth drew Golden Eagles guard Tyree Griffin, a former starter at Oklahoma State. The transfer Griffin labored to a 5-of-16 shooting night while guarded by the WKU freshman.
Stansbury has trusted Hollingsworth this season to guard opponents’ top perimeter players. The 6-foot-2 guard has responded to that challenge, whether facing Bracey and Griffin last week, or Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards and Southern Methodist’s Shake Milton in November at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Stansbury said Hollingsworth is “starting to cherish that role a little bit.”
“He gets the toughest offensive player on that team on the perimeter,” Stansbury said. “ … He’s going to get the head of that snake on most teams.”
Hollingsworth came to WKU this season after a prolific career at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington. He became Fayette County’s all-time leading boys’ prep scorer (2,495 points).
Hollingsworth, the 2017 Kentucky Mr. Basketball, has been as good as advertised offensively. His 13.8 points per game rank second for the Hilltoppers behind Darius Thompson’s 14 ppg, and he leads WKU guards in shooting from the floor (52.2 percent) and from 3-point range (52.6 percent).
“I love what he’s doing, shooting the ball,” Stansbury said. “But what no one talks about is where he’s really valued, is his ability to defend.”
Hollingsworth’s on-ball defense has been key for a WKU team that’s defended effectively by forcing turnovers and not fouling.
The Hilltoppers rank No. 85 of 351 Division I teams in defensive turnover percentage against D-I teams, according to KenPom.com (20.8 percent of possessions). Hollingsworth has swiped 17 steals – third-most for WKU behind Lamonte Bearden (28) and Thompson (26).
The Tops have also avoided foul trouble, ranking No. 24 nationally in defensive free throw rate vs. D-I teams, according to KenPom. WKU’s opponents have attempted exactly 25 percent the number of free throws as they have field goal attempts.
That’s been vital for a team that’s had only eight players available for its first 15 games.
Hollingsworth and the Hilltoppers (10-5 overall, 2-0 C-USA) have the third-best defense in C-USA, according to KenPom. WKU allows 100.5 points per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponents, which ranks behind only Old Dominion (95.3) and Middle Tennessee (98.4) in the conference.
The Topper defense will be tested in its next outing Saturday at Marshall. The Thundering Herd (11-4, 2-0) score a C-USA-best 88.2 points per game, and averaged 89 points last season in two wins against WKU.
Jon Elmore (23.5 ppg) spearheads the Marshall attack. He scored a combined 59 points last season in the Herd’s victories against the Hilltoppers.
Graduate senior Junior Lomomba tried to defend Elmore last year for WKU, with unsuccessful results. Hollingsworth will draw that assignment Saturday in Huntington, W. Va., Stansbury said.
“Last year we had no answers for him. None,” Stansbury said of Elmore. “Junior, that was a tough matchup for Junior, being nice about it.
“Taveion’s got some more quickness to him. I don’t think that anyone has shut him down, but the one thing I feel more comfortable about going into that game is knowing I have a guy that’s going to fight and scratch.”{&end}
