1961–62 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball team

1961–62 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball
1961–62 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball
Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	17–10 (11–1 OVC)
Head coach	Edgar Diddle (40th season);
Assistant coach	Ted Hornback
Home arena	Health & Physical Education Building
	Seasons ← 1960–61 1962–63 →

The 1961–62 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1961-62 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year Edgar Diddle, in his 40th year as coach, and leading scorer Bobby Rascoe, who averaged more than 25 points per game.^[1] The Hilltoppers won the OVC championship, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 1962 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.^[2] Rascoe, Darel Carrier, and Harry Todd were named to the all-conference team. Diddle coached his 1000th game at Western on January 6, a victory against New Mexico State.^[3]

Schedule

^[4]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
12/9/1961*	at Kent State	W 88–81	1–0	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, OH
12/12/1961*	Northwest Louisiana	W 93–66	2–0	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
12/15/1961*	vs. No. 9 St. Bonaventure Bluegrass Tournament	L 65–66	2–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
12/16/1961*	vs. Texas Bluegrass Tournament	L 68–78	2–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
12/19/1961*	Southeastern Louisiana	W 86–62	3–2	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
12/29/1961*	at Marshall	L 84–89	3–3	Memorial Field House Huntington, WV
12/30/1961*	at Xavier	L 83–95	3–4	Schmidt Fieldhouse Cincinnati, OH
1/6/1962*	New Mexico State Diddle’s 1000th Game	W 71–67	4–4	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
1/9/1962	Tennessee Tech	W 93–61	5–4 (1-0)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
1/13/1962	at Murray State	W 72–61	6–4 (2-0)	Racer Arena Murray, KY
1/18/1962	at Morehead State	W 80–79	7–4 (3-0)	Wetherby Gymnasium Morehead, KY
1/20/1962	Middle Tennessee	W 89–69	8–4 (4-0)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
1/27/1962	at Eastern Kentucky	W 96–62	9–4 (5-0)	Alumni Coliseum Richmond, KY
1/30/1962	at Tennessee Tech	L 72–79	9–5 (5-1)	Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN
2/3/1962*	at DePaul	L 78–86	9–6	Alumni Hall Chicago, IL
2/6/1962	at East Tennessee	W 89–84	10–6 (6-1)	Brooks Gymnasium Johnson City, TN
2/13/1962	at Middle Tennessee	W 87–81	11–6 (7-1)	Alumni Memorial Gym Murfreesboro, TN
2/17/1962	Murray State	W 96–77	12–6 (8-1)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
2/19/1962	Morehead State	W 77–51	13–6 (9-1)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
2/21/1962*	Xavier	W 88–83	14–6	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
2/24/1962	Eastern Kentucky	W 88–74	15–6 (10-1)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
2/26/1962	East Tennessee	W 77–66	16–6 (11-1)	Health & Physical Education Building Bowling Green, KY
3/2/1962*	at La Salle	L 84–88	16–7	Convention Hall Philadelphia, PA
3/7/1962*	at Louisville	L 71–88	16–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
1962 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
3/12/1962*	vs. Detroit Mideast Region First Round	W 90–81	17–8	Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY
3/16/1962*	vs. No. 1 Ohio State Sweet Sixteen	L 73–93	17–9	Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
3/17/1962*	vs. Butler Mideast Region Consolation	L 86–87	17–10	Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

^ Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
^ 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
^ 1961-62 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 12 May 2020

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[Ruby-1] Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.

[2] 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020

[3] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[4] 1961-62 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 12 May 2020

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v t e Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Venues	Red Barn (1920–1931) Health & Physical Education Building (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1914–15 1915–16 1916–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics