1937–38 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers basketball team

1937–38 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1937–38 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
SIAA Champions; KAIC Champions
NIBT Tournament, Withdrew / Forfeit
Conference	Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Record	30–3 (9–1 KIAC)
Head coach	Edgar Diddle (16th season);
Home arena	Health & Physical Education Building
	Seasons ← 1936–37 1938–39 →

The 1937–38 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College during the 1937-38 NCAA basketball season. The team was led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and the school's first player recognized as an All-American, William “Red” McCrocklin.^[1] The Hilltoppers won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships, were the first NCAA team to win 30 games in a season,^[2] and received an invitation to the 1938 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament;^[3] however, the team was unable to make the trip and withdrew from the tournament.^[4] The NAIA lists the game as a forfeit, but Western Kentucky does not officially recognize the contest.^[5] Ralph Dudgeon, Harry Saddlerand, and McCrocklin were selected to the All-SIAA and All-KIAC teams.^[6]

Schedule

^[7]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
12/9/1937*	at McKendree	W 51–33	1–0	Lebanon, IL
12/10/1937*	at Bradley	L 33–39	1–1	Peoria Armory Peoria, IL
12/11/1937*	at Illinois College	W 38–36	2–1	Jacksonville, IL
12/15/1937*	McKendree	W 37–28	3–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
12/16/1937*	at New Albany CCC	W 36–19	4–1	New Albany, IN
12/17/1937*	at Edantide AC	W 34–28	5–1
12/18/1937*	Ft. Knox Ind	W 38–32	6–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
12/20/1937*	Beechmont AC	W 60–48	7–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1/3/1938*	at Southeast Missouri	W 27–25	8–1	Houck Field House Cape Girardeau, MO
1/8/1938*	at Vanderbilt	W 39–25	9–1	Old Gymnasium Nashville, TN
1/13/1938*	at Tennessee Tech	W 40–33	10–1	Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN
1/15/1938*	Evansville	W 44–30	11–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1/19/1938	at Louisville	W 62–42	12–1	Belknap Gymnasium Louisville, KY
1/22/1938	Murray State	W 29–26	13–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1/24/1938*	Vanderbilt	W 38–18	14–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1/28/1938	Eastern Kentucky	W 51–34	15–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
2/1/1938	at Morehead State	W 38–30	16–1	Button Auditorium Morehead, KY
2/3/1938	Louisville	W 53–32	17–1	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
2/5/1938	at Murray State	L 18–30	17–2	Lovett Auditorium Murray, KY
2/8/1938*	Tennessee Tech	W 31–19	18–2	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
2/11/1938*	Bradley	L 24–32	18–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
2/12/1938	at Eastern Kentucky	W 34–21	19–3	Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY
2/14/1938	at Berea	W 53–23	20–3	Berea, KY
2/16/1938	Morehead State	W 42–25	21–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
2/17/1938*	at Evansville	W 52–42	22–3	Evansville, IN
2/18/1938	Cumberland (KY)	W 49–36	23–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1938 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament
2/25/1938	vs. Union (KY) KIAC Tournament	W 28–22	24–3	Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY
2/26/1938	vs. Morehead State KIAC Tournament Semifinal	W 46–25	25–3	Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY
2/26/1938	vs. Murray State KIAC Tournament Final	W 35–23	26–3	Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY
1938 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament
3/3/1938	Louisiana Normal SIAA Tournament	W 45–30	27–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
3/4/1938	Union (KY) SIAA Tournament Quarterfinal	W 49–28	28–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
3/5/1938	Delta State SIAA Tournament Semifinal	W 59–40	29–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
3/5/1938	Murray State SIAA Tournament Final	W 44–39	30–3	Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY
1938 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament
3/8/1938*	vs. Simpson First Round	L 0–2 ^Forfeit	*	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Western Kentucky does not recognize the NIBT game as part of their official records

References

^ Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
^ E. A. Diddle CBB Records, Sports Reference, retrieved October 6, 2018
^ NAIA Through the Decades, NAIA.org retrieved May 20, 2020
^ The Historical NAIA Tournament VSN (admin) Published Wednesday, July 04, 2018, retrieved May 20, 2020
^ Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
^ Western Kentucky Men's Basketball Archive, retrieved 14 May 2020

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[Harrison-1] Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.

[2] E. A. Diddle CBB Records, Sports Reference, retrieved October 6, 2018

[3] NAIA Through the Decades, NAIA.org retrieved May 20, 2020

[4] The Historical NAIA Tournament VSN (admin) Published Wednesday, July 04, 2018, retrieved May 20, 2020

[Ruby-5] Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.

[6] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[7] Western Kentucky Men's Basketball Archive, retrieved 14 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