HOUSTON — If a young Western Kentucky squad didn’t already face a stiff enough test at Houston on Saturday, the challenge got substantially harder without leading returning scorer A.J. Slaughter.

WKU hung close before falling 73-64 in its season opener, but still missed Slaughter, who is ineligible for the first two contests. The preseason third-team All-Sun Belt Conference guard averaged 7.6 points last year and had averaged 16 points in the Hilltoppers’ two exhibition contests this year.

Without Slaughter’s presence, WKU shot only 41 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers.

“A.J. is our playmaker and our leading scorer and we’re definitely going to miss him,” WKU senior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez said. “As soon as he gets back, I think we’re going to peak at the right time.”

Slaughter will also miss Tuesday’s home opener against Campbellsville before returning Nov. 22 at Murray State.

According to WKU coach Ken McDonald, the two-game suspension stemmed from playing in summer league contests not sanctioned by the NCAA. He said the league was sanctioned in the summer of 2007, but not in 2008.

“It’s a different game, it’s a totally different game if you throw A.J. in the mix,” McDonald said. “I’m disappointed it got to that point. A.J. made a decision to play in a summer league, and that’s disappointing because it hurt our team today. That’s just the bottom line.”

McDonald added that senior center Japeth Aguilar is also out for two contests - but he was already sidelined with a foot injury.

“It’s our fault,” McDonald said. “There’s no one to blame but us. A.J. made a decision to play in a summer league. For whatever reason, we have to live with those circumstances.”

The Hilltoppers were apparently able to prepare for life without Slaughter. McDonald said the NCAA informed WKU of its ruling earlier, but WKU had hoped the NCAA would review the situation again and grant leniency.

“We had been working on trying to see if there was ... a possibility of playing because of the confusion (of it being sanctioned last year),” McDonald said. “But we knew midweek that he probably wasn’t going to play. We had been preparing (for this for a) week or so.”

Back home again

Mendez-Valdez clearly had the most vocal section at Hofheinz Pavilion - the San Antonio native said he had approximately 120 fans as part of the announced crowd of 3,217.

The Mendez-Valdez fan club was also coordinated. Most of his fans wore black WKU T-shirts bearing Mendez-Valdez’s name and No. 20 on the back; some held signs such as “Viva Orlando.”

“Never (seen that),” McDonald said. “It’s the most impressive group I’ve seen.”

Mendez-Valdez does wish he could have put forth a better performance for his cheering section - he was just 4-of-11 from the field for 11 points, and he made four turnovers.

“It was good, it’s always good to play in front of family especially in your home state,” Mendez-Valdez said. “But you have to stay focused on what matters on the court.”

Inside issues

Foul trouble once again plagued sophomore forward D.J. Magley, as did ineffectiveness.

Magley picked up two fouls within the game’s first 2:34, didn’t play the rest of the first half and saw only six minutes of action, making the Hilltoppers basically a seven-man team.

“He’s just got to play smarter,” McDonald said. “He’s got to play harder, he’s got to play smarter. The second foul, he’s not running back on defense as hard as he needs to, the point guard catches him completely off guard and runs it right toward him and he fouls.”

The bulk of Magley’s minutes went to senior forward Mike Walker, who played 25 - one short of his career high. Walker, who is bouncing back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his 2007-08 campaign, had six points and eight rebounds.

“He went and got some rebounds, had a couple defensive plays that were important,” McDonald said.

Taking advantage of time

Uros Komadinic saw important game time and delivered after seeing only seven minutes of work in an exhibition against Bellarmine last weekend.

Komadinic, who was recruited for his 3-point shooting ability, had a team-high 14 points and hit 4-of-5 treys in 15 minutes of action.

“Today I hit some shots, the next day it’s going to be somebody else,” Komadinic said. “We lost, so it doesn’t matter.”