Losing is painful, even as a 12th seed losing to a No. 1 seed in Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Western Kentucky still found a reason to celebrate its season when it returned home to Bowling Green, Ky.

After losing 88-78 to UCLA, the Hilltoppers were greeted by 200 fans devoted enough to wait through rain and cold to greet them at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport.

"Losing has definitely sunk in, but when you come home to this, it takes it all away," guard Courtney Lee said. "It makes it all worthwhile. We appreciate everybody being here."

In a way, it was also a chance for the fans to say goodbye to five seniors who led the Hilltoppers to a 29-7 finish, including starting guards Tyrone Brazelton, Ty Rogers and Lee, the player of the year in the Sun Belt.

"We set the bar high for everybody to follow," Lee told the Bowling Green Daily News. "We've had tremendous underclassmen that have stepped up and got experience. They are definitely going to build on (our success)."

It's not going to be easy to replace three senior starters in the backcourt and the job of rebuilding the program falls to a new coach. Darrin Horn, a former Western Kentucky guard, accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina on March 31. He will be the second former WKU coach in the SEC. Horn's predecessor, Dennis Felton, is the head coach at Georgia.

Indeed, the Hilltoppers have some big shoes to fill.

Sophomore forward Jeremy Evans and freshman forward D.J. Magley must build on their late-season improvement and take on bigger roles next season while junior point guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez, sophomore A.J. Slaughter and freshman Steffphon Pettigew must take over in the backcourt.

"It's going to be very difficult, but I believe in the guys coming back and the incoming freshmen we have coming in," Slaughter said. "(This tournament experience is) going to make us work extra hard to get to this point, to get even further. I'm sure we're going to want more next year."

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