Arena #133: E.A. Diddle Arena - Western Kentucky vs. #15 Wisconsin

After a break for the Christmas holiday, it was back on the road for a trip to Bowling Green, KY to see my alma mater, the #15 Wisconsin Badgers play a true road game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  It’s pretty rare that you see a power 5 school playing a true road game against a mid-major with no real affiliation between the programs, but a basketball home-and-home was negotiated as part of a combined football and basketball contract between the schools so I had to have this game on my calendar even if I’m not really a fan of Wisconsin basketball due to its style of play.  The E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of WKU is another well designed and right sized arena for a mid-major school like WKU.  It’s a bit older than other places I’ve been recently like the Siegel Center or the Schar Center so the concourses and amenities aren’t quite as nice as some newer facilities, but I love a circular arena designed for basketball only where all the seats are well angled towards the playing surface.  The only bad part about this game was the obnoxious nature of some of the kids in the crowd sitting behind me who were borderline offensive to the opposing team and fans throughout the game.  I’m all for cheering your team on, but it shouldn’t be in a way that’s inappropriate, especially coming from kids of a middle school age.  Guess that’s what happens when they’re allowed to be left unsupervised for the entire game though too.  Since I have no real interest in WKU basketball, I was actually rooting for the Badgers in this one, but Wisconsin struggled way too much on the defensive end in this contest.  Wisconsin gave up numerous uncontested drives through the lane to the Hilltoppers to where WKU was able to pull out the upset in front of a near capacity crowd.  Biggest disappointment other than the decorum of the crowd though was that they beat a top 15 ranked team and didn’t even storm the court! Boo…

Outside the E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY

Near capacity crowd for this one, even during holiday break

Opening tip between the Hilltoppers and Badgers

Ethan Happ with one of his numerous point blank misses in this contest

Arena #95: Murphy Center - Middle Tennessee St. vs. Mississippi

Finding a cheap $98 RT flight from Milwaukee to Nashville meant a chance to get a couple more random venues checked off the list in Tennessee, starting with a short trip south of Nashville to Murfreesboro for a rare opportunity to see a Power 5 conference team play a true road game against a Conference USA school.  Appreciated the free T-shirts and the nearly full building after the last couple games where the fans were few and far between.  Plus it's always fun seeing how one of the better "smaller" conference teams is able to defeat a team from the SEC.

Exterior view of the Historic Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee St.

Opening tip between the Blue Raiders and Rebels

MTSU with the flush

Having an SEC team in their building certainly brought the fans out to this one