Former Kentucky high school stars lead WKU basketball to rivalry win at EKU
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- Western Kentucky men’s basketball defeats Eastern Kentucky in rivalry game.
- WKU was led by former Kentucky high school stars Armelo Boone and Teagan Moore.
- Western Kentucky has now won six straight games against Eastern Kentucky.
In the men’s basketball rivalry between Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, it’s “‘Tops on top” once again. For the sixth straight time, WKU men’s basketball has defeated EKU on the hardwood.
And it was a pair of former Kentucky high school basketball stars that keyed Western’s 87-79 victory on Monday night at Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond.
WKU sophomore guard Teagan Moore — a former standout at Owen County who missed all of last season after undergoing hip surgery — had a game-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. He also added six rebounds and three steals.
Former Central Kentucky high school standout Armelo Boone — a freshman guard at WKU who played prep ball at Frederick Douglass in Lexington and Woodford County in Versailles — had 14 points for the Hilltoppers. Like Moore, Boone also had six rebounds and three steals.
With the game tied at 72 and less than three minutes to play, Moore scored on a putback to give Western the lead for the final time at 74-72. On the game’s next possession, Boone had a breakaway steal and dunk to give the Hilltoppers breathing room.
Postgame, Eastern Kentucky head coach A.W. Hamilton said Boone’s late-game performance was the difference in the outcome. EKU was one of the schools that recruited Boone.
“I’m happy for that kid,” Hamilton said postgame. “We recruited him. He’s a talented player.”
Also scoring in double figures for Western Kentucky were senior forward Grant Newell (15), junior guard LJ Hackman (13) and graduate student guard Terrion Murdix (10).
WKU only committed three turnovers in the game, compared to EKU’s 14 giveaways. The Hilltoppers enjoyed a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
“We were just a little out of sorts, a little out of character,” Hamilton said of his team’s failure to defensively press on inbounds passes after scoring. “I don’t know if we were too pumped up to play the game or what it was. We shouldn’t have been.”
Western also posted a 42-32 advantage in points in the paint.
Redshirt sophomore forward Austin Ball scored 20 points to lead Eastern. Graduate student forward Montavious Myrick had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Fellow graduate student forward Jalen Cooper scored eight points and pulled down 14 boards.
“This one hurts. In my years of basketball, I don’t think a loss has hurt this bad, ever,” said Ball, who previously played at George Mason. “... We should have beat these dudes. We should have beat these dudes. We absolutely should have.”
In the second half, EKU senior guard Turner Buttry — who scored 14 points in the contest — saw a streak of 57 consecutive made free throws come to an end. That was the longest such streak in Eastern Kentucky history.
Buttry was the 2022 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award winner at Bowling Green, where Western Kentucky is located.
“Coach says it nearly every day. ‘We’ll be defined by how we handle adversity,’” Buttry said. “... How do we bounce back and become more together? Or do we pull apart and think it’s the end of the world? We all wanted to really beat these guys. I mean, this really hurts.”
“There’s nobody that wanted to win this game more than Turner Buttry,” Hamilton added.
EKU last beat WKU in men’s basketball in 2016.
Monday’s rivalry matchup between the school’s was the first EKU athletic competition held inside the fully-renovated Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum. The venue underwent a three-phase renovation project and was officially reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning.
What’s next for Eastern Kentucky basketball after loss to WKU?
Eastern Kentucky is now 1-1 after Monday’s loss. The Colonels torched NAIA school Midway University 122-60 in their season opener last week in Berea.
The Colonels are seeking a fourth-straight winning season under the direction of Hamilton, who is in his eighth season in Richmond. EKU is a legitimate contender this season to win the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title, which Eastern did in 2024.
This will be EKU’s final season in the ASUN. Starting next season, all of Eastern’s sports will play in the United Athletic Conference.
EKU will need to find a way to win the end-of-season ASUN Tournament in order to reach the NCAA Tournament. Eastern last made the Big Dance in 2014. It will be a tall ask for the Colonels, though, after the offseason departures of program legend Devontae Blanton (eligibility expired) and leading scorer George Kimble III (transferred to Vanderbilt).
Eastern has begun the 2025-26 season without senior guard Amarr Knox, an NCAA Tournament hero from last season who transferred to EKU in the offseason from Alabama State.
Last month, Sports Illustrated reported that Alabama State, Knox’s former team, is a school of interest in an ongoing NCAA investigation into game fixing and performance manipulation in college basketball.
“Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball player Amarr Knox is currently ineligible under NCAA rules to participate in games,” the school said in a statement to the Herald-Leader. “He is practicing and traveling with the team. Knox and the University are currently working with the NCAA staff and we are hopeful for a quick resolution. The University and Knox cannot comment further at this time.”
Knox was a First Team All-SWAC selection last season at Alabama State, averaging 14.5 points and 1.7 steals per game.
The 2025-26 season has only just started, but there’s already plenty of local interest in how the Colonels will fare next season. That’s because EKU recently got a commitment from Lexington’s top high school player, Bryan Station senior Amari Owens.
With the rivalry contest against Western Kentucky done and dusted, EKU’s nonconference schedule rolls on. Eastern plays at Vanderbilt, an NCAA Tournament team last season, Wednesday night in Nashville. ASUN play for the Colonels begins Jan. 1.
Hamilton said defending in one-on-one situations needs to be a point of improvement for EKU moving forward.
Western Kentucky basketball extends winning streak over Eastern Kentucky
With Monday night’s result, the Hilltoppers are 2-0. Western beat Tennessee Tech, coached by former Kentucky great John Pelphrey, in its season opener last week in Bowling Green.
Hank Plona is in his second season both at Western Kentucky and as a Division I college coach. WKU went 18-15 overall last season. Before arriving in Bowling Green, Plona spent eight seasons as the head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. He won 86.5% of his games at the junior-college level.
Plona was hired in April 2024 to replace Steve Lutz, who spent only one season in charge at Western. Lutz led Western Kentucky to the 2024 NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA Tournament. That was Western’s first trip to March Madness since 2013. Lutz left the Hilltoppers to become the head coach at Oklahoma State, where he went 17-18 overall last season.
This season, Plona’s second team at Western Kentucky was picked to finish sixth in Conference USA in a vote of the league’s head coaches. The rest of Western’s nonconference schedule is highlighted by an appearance in the Thanksgiving week Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in The Bahamas. WKU opens play in that event against Vanderbilt on Nov. 26.
Conference USA play begins for Western on Dec. 29.
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM.
