1951–52 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball team

The 1951–52 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1951-52 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and leading scorer, forward Tom Marshall.^[1] The Hilltoppers won the Ohio Valley Conference season and tournament championships, and were invited to the 1952 National Invitation Tournament.^[2] During this period, the NIT was considered on par with the NCAA tournament.^[3][4] Marshall, Art Spoelstra, Gene Rhodes, and Richard White were named to the All-Conference and OVC Tournament teams.^[5]

1951–52 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NIT Tournament, Quarterfinals
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
Record	26–5 (11–1 OVC)
Head coach	Edgar Diddle (30th season)
Assistant coach	Ted Hornback
Home arena	Health & Physical Education Building
Seasons ← 1950–51 1952–53 →

Schedule

^[6]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/30/1951*		Southeastern Louisiana	W 77–57	1–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/1/1951		Tennessee Tech	W 89–62	2–0 (1-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/6/1951		at Evansville	W 69–56	3–0 (2-0)	Evansville, IN
12/8/1951*		Bowling Green State	W 89–57	4–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/10/1951		at Morehead State	W 65–54	5–0 (3-0)	Button Auditorium  Morehead, KY
12/15/1951*		at Cincinnati	W 76–71	6–0	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
12/17/1951*		Central Missouri	W 76–56	7–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/19/1951*	No. 16	vs. Xavier	W 92–82	8–0	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
12/29/1951*	No. 11	vs. St. Bonaventure	L 60–73	8–1	Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, NY
1/1/1952*	No. 11	at No. 13 La Salle	L 58–67	8–2	Wister Hall  Philadelphia, PA
1/3/1952*		vs. No. 11 Seton Hall	L 65–77	8–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
1/12/1952		at Murray State	W 77–64	9–3 (4-0)	Carr Health Building  Murray, KY
1/16/1952		at Tennessee Tech	W 64–55	10–3 (5-0)	Memorial Gymnasium  Cookeville, TN
1/19/1952		Eastern Kentucky	W 69–63	11–3 (6-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/25/1952*		at Miami	W 102–74	12–3	Miami, FL
1/28/1952*		at Tampa	W 82–77	13–3	Tampa, FL
1/30/1952*		Cincinnati	W 79–63	14–3	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/2/1952		Marshall	W 76–65	15–3 (7-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/5/1952	No. 20	at Morehead State	W 80–72	16–3 (8-0)	Button Auditorium  Morehead, KY
2/7/1952*	No. 20	Tampa	W 79–70	17–3	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/9/1952	No. 20	at Eastern Kentucky	L 62–73	17–4 (8-1)	Weaver Gymnasium  Richmond, KY
2/12/1952		at Marshall	W 86–82	18–4 (9-1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
2/16/1952		Murray State	W 97–63	19–4 (10-1)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/18/1952		Evansville	W 92–58	20–4 (11-1)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1952 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
2/21/1952		vs. Evansville OVC Tournament	W 83–63	21–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
2/22/1952		vs. Marshall OVC Tournament Semifinal	W 89–74	22–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
2/23/1952		vs. Murray State OVC Tournament Final	W 47–45	23–4	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
Regular Season
2/27/1952*	No. 18	at Kentucky Wesleyan	W 94–68	24–4	Owensboro Sportscenter  Owensboro, KY
3/3/1952*	No. 18	at Bowling Green State	W 82–75	25–4	Bowling Green, OH
1952 National Invitation Tournament
3/8/1952*	No. 18	vs. No. 17 Louisville NIT First Round	W 62–59	26–4	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
3/10/1952*	No. 18	vs. No. 15 St. Bonaventure NIT Quarterfinal	L 69–70	26–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.