From the sounds of it, Western didn’t hit the snooze button in practice following what coach Ken McDonald called a ‘”wake-up call” in a 70-65 exhibition win over Bellarmine on Saturday.

McDonald said Western had two of their best practices of their pre-season workouts earlier this week, and he said he was seeing more intensity and better focus out of his team.

The Toppers have struggled this season in practice, oftentimes running short-handed due to injuries. But as Western’s season opener against Houston on Saturday draws nearer McDonald said he is seeing signs of improvement.

“Our coaching staff isn’t having to repeat ourselves as much,” McDonald said. “We’re not making the same mistakes. You get discouraged when kids are making the same mistakes over and over again. We’re not going to play perfect, by any means. We do need to take care of the ball, and take good shots.”

Even with the improvement in a short amount of time, some still feel like the Toppers probably aren’t quite where they should be two days before their season tips-off.

“We’re not nearly as ready as we’re supposed to be,” senior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez said.

Mendez-Valdez has been dealing with improvement of his own with his left knee.

Nearly five weeks since Mendez-Valdez had left knee surgery, he’ll be back on the floor in Western’s season opener against Houston.

And when he returns, there will be plenty of eyes on him that have interest in how he plays. About 120, to be specific, Mendez-Valdez said.

Houston is just a short drive from Mendez-Valdez’s home in San Antonio, Texas.

Mendez-Valdez had his surgery on Sept. 26 and was supposed to play only about 10 minutes in Western’s 70-65 exhibition win over Bellarmine on Saturday night.

Instead, Mendez-Valdez ended up playing 25 minutes and leading the Toppers off the bench with 18 points.

“There’s a noticeable difference when he’s in the game, and we saw that last Saturday,” McDonald said. “And in practice, there’s definitely a toughness and a cleverness and a little bit of leadership. He does a lot for this basketball team.”

On Wednesday, Mendez-Valdez went through a full practice.

“It’s taking a toll on me right now” Mendez-Valdez said. “But that’s what I gotta do. I get back in it and get ready for Saturday.

Sophomore forward D.J. Magley said that the team knew it was going to be different without Mendez-Valdez until he returned.

“I mean when we lost Orlando, everyone was like, ‘Oh, we lost Orlando, and it’s harder to practice,” Magley said. “He was there on the sidelines, but he wasn’t in. Now that he’s back, from the first day he was back, he was running line drills and making them. He wasn’t out of shape.”

McDonald said he felt like Mendez-Valdez struggled as a leader when he was having to sit out of practices.

“He struggled when he was out of practices, being vocal because he felt like it wasn’t his place to be vocal because he wasn’t in practice,” McDonald said. “And I talked to him a lot about that. He’s a great guy, a great leader by example.”

Western plays at Houston at 7 p.m. Saturday before playing Campbellsville here at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.