The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DWIGHT Coleby posted a double double in the final game of his collegiate career, but the postseason run for his Western Kentucky Hilltoppers ended in the National Invitational Tournament semi-finals.

The Hilltoppers' season came to an end in a 69-64 loss to the Utah Utes in the NIT semi-finals at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday night.

Coleby finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

WKU finished the season 27-11 and they achieved the programme's most wins in a decade. Their 38 games played tied the programme record and their three postseason victories also tied a school record as they advanced to the NIT semis for the first time since 1954.

"First coming here, it was a whole new team and we had to step up and be leaders," Coleby said.

"Normally we'd step in and someone was already the leader on the team. Coach told us we needed to be leaders. That's not really our personality to be outspoken and be leaders like that. We tried our best to help the team out."

They finished the season 4-2 against Power 5 conference schools. After an 8-0 run the Hilltoppers led by as much as 13 in the first half, 18-5 with about three minutes left. Utah went on an 11-0 run to eventually take the lead and the teams went into the break tied at 32.

WKU last led 64-63 with 1:27 left to play, but the Utes closed the game on a 6-0. Hilltoppers head coach Rick Stansbury has called this particular group special due to the group of players coming together quickly over the course of a single season.

Senior forward Justin Johnson was the lone player on active roster who played minutes for last year's team. Nearly every other player on the roster, including Coleby, experienced their first year with the programme.

Coleby averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his lone season as a graduate transfer in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Last season with the Kansas Jayhawks, he averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in his lone season in Lawrence after transferring from Ole Miss. He was already set to spend the 2015-16 season on the sidelines as a transfer but he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during a light team workout in October 2015 and had to undergo a gruelling rehab process.

"I've talked about our seniors all year long. They're incredible people, they always play great, they're the kind of people that you want to be around and you want to coach," Stansbury said. "I told y'all one thing Dwight would average more than 1.7 like he did at Kansas. I think he surpassed all of our expectations, the one thing I knew we were getting is a quality person and when you are trying to mix a whole new team together you better have good ingredients, meaning good people and that's where it started."