Some would call it a night to forget for the Toppers.

It was a 25-point beating in the Sun Belt Conference championship – a game that would have put them in the Big Dance for the first time since their first round loss to Illinois in 2003.

For this year’s players, however, the loss has become the drive they plan to ride all the way to the conference championship and beyond.

“It’s all the fuel we need,” said junior guard Ty Rogers, who scored six points in 28 minutes of action in the game. “Remembering that loss is enough to make us work hard every day and just know that that’s where we’re going to be and that we’ll be ready this time.”

In what coach Darrin Horn says is a testament to his recruiting class and the talent that has returned from last year, the team is off to the right start, earning a preseason No. 1 ranking in the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division.

Ask Horn, however, and he’ll tell you the preseason honor means more to the fans and the media.

“It’s really not important at all,” he said. “What surprised me about it was that though we have the preseason player of the year and some guys returning, we also lost the player of the year and arguably the best athlete in the league, and we don’t have two people who are ready to step in and replace that.”

Not to say the newcomers have been a disappointment. In fact, according to Horn, they’ve shown exemplary work ethic and attitude and are fitting in well with the team.

“There are some mistakes, as can be expected, and some adjustment to how hard practice is and the work demands that we put on them,” he said. “But guys are stepping in and doing really good things, and that’s important because some of them will have to contribute.”

For the players, the allure of playing time and the chance to contribute has been the greatest motivator. The battling that goes on in practice is a good sign, considering the Tops are in need of a reliable second scorer to complement junior guard Courtney Lee.

Lee was voted by the coaches as the preseason Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference, and was put on the watch list of 50 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, which is given to college basketball’s player of the year.

In his sophomore season he recorded career-high averages in points (17.4) and rebounds (6.3), both team highs, and he also finished in the top 10 in the conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and free-throw percentage. In only his third season on the Hill, he is within 17 points of reaching 1,000 for his career.

With all of the accomplishments he’s earned and the many more likely to come his way, Lee remains humble and maintains the team-first mantra.

“It’s an honor to be listed as the top 50, but that’s not what we’re playing for,” he said. “We’re out here for the team and to get better as a team and win a championship. That’s what it comes down to. We’re not focused on individual goals.”

Even with Lee getting all the preseason recognition, Horn said this is a group that feels like they’re all on the same page and working toward a common goal.

“Courtney is our greatest example of that just because he does get a lot of attention and deservedly so. He’s been a consistent producer over two years and a performer at a high level,” he said. “But he’s so much about winning, and winning only, that I don’t think he gets real caught up in it.”

Lee’s ultimate goal is to get back to the Sun Belt championship game. And to do that, newcomers – both freshmen and transfers – must acclimate their bodies to the rigorous up-and-down system Horn employs.

Senior guard Butch Jointer, by now well accustomed to the gauntlet that is preseason training, said the high intensity early will pay off in late game situations.

“Coaches say at practice that fatigue is our friend, so we know that when we’re over there thinking we’re tired, the other team is going to be dead over there,” he said. “So that’s what we work on every day is pushing the tempo. This is a team that is going to keep pushing the ball nonstop and compete every game.”

Freshman guard A.J. Slaughter said the practices have been very competitive so far.

“The high intensity is way different than high school,” he said. “We never went this hard in high school so it’s a different look for me. I’m just trying to learn on the fly and do what I can do to help the team.

“The older guys have been good role models, the way they come out and go hard every day in practice. On the off days, they’re in the gym, running and working out.”

By now, however, the Tops are eager to get out onto the court for their first true test and to ultimately redeem last year’s season-ending loss.

The Toppers host Kentucky State at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 for their only exhibition game of the year.

“We’re ready to get out and compete against somebody else,” Lee said. “We’re tired of beating up each other, and we just want to put everything we learned out on the court against another team. It’s a sick feeling. We don’t want that feeling in our stomachs at the end of the season. We want to be the team on the other end of the court celebrating.”

Reach Ed Lukins at sports@wkuherald.com.