The short list of speculation

The List:

Here’s who the Herald is throwing around as the next coach at Western. Again, this is purely speculation.

Terry Bowden: Son of legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, Terry appears to maybe fit Western’s mold the best. He was at the helm of Auburn in the early part of the 90s before leaving amidst controversy that didn’t directly involve Bowden at Auburn. After nearly a decade away from the game, he is currently in his first season of a three-year contract as head coach at North Alabama in Florence, Ala. He would not only bring name recognition, but also big-time experience to Bowling Green.

Willie Taggart: Another logical choice. Taggart is currently an assistant at Stanford, and his playing days at Western left him as one of the most successful players in the program’s history. The only issue: should the Taggart experiment fail, would his relationship and reputation with Western be tarnished?

Randy Sanders: Sanders is currently the offensive coordinator at Kentucky. In terms of ties to the state, he’s about as good as it would get. He doesn’t bring a lot of name recognition, but he would bring a solid recruiting base within the commonwealth.

Gus Malzahn: Malzahn is currently the offensive coordinator at Auburn under Gene Chizik. Malzahn is 44 years old and has no head coaching experience at the college level. He has also had stops at Arkansas and Tulsa. Malzahn runs a “wildcat” style offense and is considered an innovator of the scheme. Malzahn probably wouldn’t get much of a raise in his salary by taking the head spot at Western, meaning Selig and co. would have to possibly shell out additional cash to get Malzahn on the Hill.

Trooper Taylor: Like Malzahn, Taylor is currently the assistant head coach at Auburn. The 39-year-old Taylor also has no head coaching experience.

Jim Chaney: Chaney is currently the offensive coordinator at Tennessee under first-year coach Lane Kiffin. Before coming to Tennessee, Chaney was an assistant coach for the St. Louis Rams. Chaney also coached Drew Brees during a eight-year stint at Purdue.

Xavier (La.) 35, Western 85 (2:46 2nd half)

It’s hard to ignore Anthony Sally’s assist-to-turnover ratio. On Western’s last breakaway, Sally unselfishly gave up an easy two to Cliff Dixon.

That one put Sally at 10 assists on the night. The senior now sits at 11 with 2 turnovers.

This one’s about wrapped up. Check out wkuherald.com for a recap and photos after the game.

Xavier (La.) 31, Western 76 (7:10 2nd half)

William Green put up his first points of his Topper career last segment — another one that went in favor of Western.

Over the past four minutes, the Toppers have outscored the Gold Rush 11-4.

Xavier (La.) 27, Western 65 (11:47 2nd half)

Xavier looks tired, and Western continues to go to the bench.

William green is the only Topper that’s yet to record a point.

Xavier (La.) 19, Western 53 (15:42 2nd half)

Sergio Kerusch came out firing with an half-opening three-pointer.

Then he returned to the bench after committing his first turnover of the game.

Regardless, Western outscored Xavier 8-5 and extended its lead in the first segment of the second half.

Xavier (La.) 15, Western 45 (Halftime)

The Western bench emptied in the first half, the Toppers allowed a skimpy 15 points and nobody was hurt — all coach Ken McDonald can ask for 20 minutes into a season full of expectations.

Kerusch led Western with 11 points and ended the half on a high note, skying for a block and bringing the crowd to its feet as time ran out.

Dixon tallied 10 points and Slaughter added eight.

Xavier (La.) 12, Western 39 (3:49 1st half)

Western only out-scored Xavier — only — six to four last segment.

Dixon continues to be a presence as he’s now reached double figures, adn Slaughter is clawing there bit by bit.

Slaughter has eight points.

Evans leads the Toppers with six rebounds.

Xavier (La.) 8, Western 33 (7:41 1st half)

Sergio Kerusch came to play tonight, and so did Western on the defensive end.

Kerusch has eight points already, and transfer Cliff Dixon added eight of his own before leaving the game.

-Jonathan Lintner

Xavier (La.) 4, Western 24 (11:45 1st half)

Head Coach Ken McDonald started the game’s second segment with a new lineup comprised of new players.

The results hardly changed.

Cliff Dixon scored seven straight points for the Toppers, who went with a young lineup.

Dixon, Jamal Crook, Caden Dickerson, Jordan Swing and Nemanja Milosevic all saw their first minutes in a Western uniform. Freshman Will Green also entered the game with just over 13 minutes left and Jameson Tipping entered for Swing right before the break.

-Jonathan Lintner

Xavier (La.) 0, Western 13 (15:58 1st half)

It’s safe to say the Toppers have lived up to their billing, if only for four minutes.

Junior forward Sergio Kerush scored six of the team’s first eight points, and the teams head to the first timeout with A.J. Slaughter at the line. Slaughter was fouled on his only field goal attempt so far but managed to sink a three anyway.

Something to leave Topper fans worried? Kerush missed his only free-throw attempt, a problem that dates back to the end of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Starters tonight were as expected: Steffphon Pettigrew, Jeremy Evans, Anthony Sally, A.J. Slaughter and Kerusch.

-Jonathan Lintner