GAME NOTES: The Southern Miss Golden Eagles will look to rebound after dropping their seventh league game this season, as they host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday in Conference USA action at Reed Green Coliseum.

After a 7-0 start to league play, the Hilltoppers lost their first C-USA game of the season when they were defeated 69-56 at Louisiana Tech on Thursday. The loss dropped WKU's conference mark to 7-1 and overall record to 14-6.

Southern Miss won its first conference game this season last Saturday, but then was defeated by Marshall on Thursday, 69-54. The loss put the Golden Eagles' C-USA record at 1-7, and overall mark at 6-13.

This is just the sixth meeting between these programs on the hardwood, with the Hilltoppers leading the series 4-1. The teams last met on Dec. 18, 2013, when WKU held off Southern Miss by a score of 68-65.

WKU converted just 37.5 percent of its first-half field-goal tries against Louisiana Tech, and faced a 31-23 deficit going into halftime. The Hilltoppers shot better in the final period, as they converted 44.8 percent of their shots. But WKU allowed Louisiana Tech to net 46.9 of its field-goal attempts in the second half and eventually lost by double figures. T.J. Price finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for WKU in the loss.

Price leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 17.1 ppg, which puts him in a tie for the best average in C-USA. George Fant is WKU's top rebounder with 8.5 rpg (second in C-USA) and second-best scorer with 13.9 ppg. The Hilltoppers have the third-best scoring offense in the league with 73.3 ppg and are converting 43.5 percent of their field-goal tries, which includes a 36.4 shooting percentage from 3-point range (second in C-USA). On the defensive side, WKU allows 67.2 ppg and opponents are converting just 40.9 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 30 percent from beyond the arc (second in the C-USA).

Southern Miss allowed Marshall to convert 47.4 percent its field-goal tries, including 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles meanwhile, connected on only 36.5 percent of their tries from the field, including a forgettable 2-of-17 from 3-point range. Marshall also out-rebounded Southern Miss 41-32. Matt Bingaya (19 points) and Chip Armelin (16 points) led Southern Miss in scoring, while Norville Carey finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards.

Bingaya (14.3 ppg) and Armelin (14.1 ppg) are Southern Miss' top scorers this season. The Golden Eagles rank last in C-USA in scoring with 60.7 ppg. Southern Miss does have a shooting percentage of .440, but it has the second least amount of field-goal attempts in the league (918). The Golden Eagles are allowing opponents to net 68.7 ppg and convert 47 percent of their field-goal tries (last in C-USA). Southern Miss is in the red for rebounding margin (-3.9) and turnover margin (-1.42).

Against three teams who rank in the top five for scoring offense in the conference, Southern Miss allowed its opponents to score an average of 78 ppg. Given that Western Kentucky has the third-best scoring offense in C-USA, the Golden Eagles could be in for a long night on the defensive end.