2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Ray Harper which was his first full year after coaching the final 19 games in 2011–12. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were members of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–16, 10–10 in Sun Belt play to finish in fourth place in the East Division.^[1] They were champions of the Sun Belt tournament, winning the championship game over FIU, to earn an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA tournament where they lost in the second round to Kansas.^[2] T. J. Price and George Fant made the All-Conference Team; Fant and Brandon Harris were selected to the SBC Tournament Team, and Price was tournament MVP.^[3]

2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Tournament champion
NCAA Tournament, round of 64
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Record	20–16 (10–10 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Ray Harper (1st Full season)
Assistant coaches	Lawrence Brenneman David Boyden Phil Cunningham
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2011–12 2013–14 →

2012–13 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Middle Tennessee	19	–	1		.950			28	–	6		.824
South Alabama	14	–	6		.700			17	–	13		.567
FIU	11	–	9		.550			18	–	14		.563
WKU †	10	–	10		.500			20	–	16		.556
Florida Atlantic	9	–	11		.450			14	–	18		.438
Troy	6	–	14		.300			12	–	21		.364
West
Arkansas State	12	–	8		.600			19	–	12		.613
Arkansas–Little Rock	11	–	9		.550			17	–	15		.531
Louisiana–Lafayette	8	–	12		.400			13	–	20		.394
North Texas	7	–	13		.350			12	–	20		.375
Louisiana–Monroe	3	–	17		.150			4	–	23		.148
† 2013 Sun Belt Tournament winner As of March 22, 2013 Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 0 Kene Anyigbo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Bellaire, Texas G 1 Kevin Kaspar 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 172 lb (78 kg) So Istanbul, Turkey F 2 Eddie Alcantara 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Chicago, Illinois F 10 Caden Dickerson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Argyle, Texas G 11 Spencer Sheldon 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Bowling Green, Kentucky G 12 Brandon Harris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Oklahoma City, Oklahoma G 13 Percy Blade 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Louisville, Kentucky G 14 Jamal Crook 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Louisville, Kentucky F 15 O'Karo Akamune 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Miami, Florida C 20 Aleksejs Rostov 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Riga, Latvia F 21 Nigel Snipes 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Marietta, Georgia F 32 Teeng Akol 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Wian, Sudan F 24 Stephon Drane 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Raleigh, North Carolina F 44 George Fant 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS So Bowling Green, Kentucky G 52 T. J. Price 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Slidell, Louisiana	Head coach Ray Harper (Kentucky Wesleyan) Assistant coach(es) Lawrence Brenneman (Geneva) David Boyden (Western Kentucky) Phil Cunningham (Campbellsville) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2012-03-13

Schedule

^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
10/29/2012* 7:00 pm		Campbellsville	W 84–46		E. A. Diddle Arena (3,671) Bowling Green, KY
11/03/2012* 7:00 pm		Kentucky Wesleyan	W 83–71		E. A. Diddle Arena (4,576) Bowling Green, KY
Regular Season
11/10/2012* 7:30 pm		at Southern Miss	L 64–67 OT	0–1	Reed Green Coliseum (7,097) Hattiesburg, MS
11/13/2012* 7:00 pm		Austin Peay Cancún Challenge	W 74–54	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,160) Bowling Green, KY
11/17/2012* 7:30 pm		Western Carolina Cancún Challenge	W 92–81	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,124) Bowling Green, KY
11/20/2012* 8:30 pm, CBSSN		vs. Iowa Cancún Challenge Semifinals	L 55–63	2–2	Moon Palace Resort (902) Cancún, Mexico
11/21/2012* 6:00 pm, CBSSN		vs. DePaul Cancún Challenge 3rd Place Game	W 70–61	3–2	Moon Palace Resort (902) Cancún, Mexico
11/24/2012* 7:30 pm		Brescia	W 74–46	4–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,062) Bowling Green, KY
11/29/2012 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Louisiana–Monroe	W 65–54	5–2 (1–0)	Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,517) Monroe, LA
12/01/2012 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Troy	W 75–71	6–2 (2–0)	Trojan Arena (1,121) Troy, AL
12/05/2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Southern Illinois	W 58–57	7–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,833) Bowling Green, KY
12/08/2012* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		IUPUI	W 77–57	8–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,255) Bowling Green, KY
12/16/2012* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Murray State	L 70–75	8–3	CFSB Center (7,080) Murray, KY
12/18/2012* 6:00 pm, NBCSN		at VCU	L 44–76	8–4	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA
12/22/2012* 7:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. No. 5 Louisville	L 55–78 Vacated	8–5	Bridgestone Arena (10,728) Nashville, TN
12/27/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN3		FIU	W 76–63	9–5 (3–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,461) Bowling Green, KY
12/29/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN3		North Texas	W 70–64	10–5 (4–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,776) Bowling Green, KY
01/03/2013 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Arkansas–Little Rock	L 67–75	10–6 (4–1)	Jack Stephens Center (3,871) Little Rock, AR
01/05/2013 7:05 pm, ESPN3		at Arkansas State	L 61–75	10–7 (4–2)	Convocation Center (2,922) Jonesboro, AR
01/12/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Florida Atlantic	L 62–65	10–8 (4–3)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,823) Bowling Green, KY
01/17/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Louisiana–Lafayette	W 72–49	11–8 (5–3)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,914) Bowling Green, KY
01/19/2013 5:00 pm, ESPN3		Arkansas–Little Rock	L 54–59	11–9 (5–4)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,221) Bowling Green, KY
01/24/2013 7:05 pm, ESPN3		at South Alabama	L 57–65	11–10 (5–5)	Mitchell Center (2,335) Mobile, AL
01/26/2013 3:00 pm, ESPN2		at Middle Tennessee	L 53–72	11–11 (5–6)	Murphy Center (10,105) Murfreesboro, TN
01/31/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Troy	W 65–61	12–11 (6–6)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,244) Bowling Green, KY
02/07/2013 7:00 pm		at North Texas	W 70–59	13–11 (7–6)	The Super Pit (3,528) Denton, TX
02/09/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Arkansas State	L 49–67	13–12 (7–7)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,862) Bowling Green, KY
02/14/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Florida Atlantic	L 78–84	13–13 (7–8)	FAU Arena (1,331) Boca Raton, FL
02/16/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at FIU	L 82–87	13–14 (7–9)	U.S. Century Bank Arena (1,422) Miami, FL
02/21/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Louisiana–Monroe	W 75–57	14–14 (8–9)	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,623) Bowling Green, KY
02/23/2013 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Louisiana–Lafayette	W 88–77	15–14 (9–9)	Cajundome (2,947) Lafayette, LA
02/28/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3		South Alabama	W 79–73	16–14 (10–9)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,024) Bowling Green, KY
03/02/2013 5:30 pm, ESPN3		Middle Tennessee	L 62–70	16–15 (10–10)	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,326) Bowling Green, KY
2013 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
03/08/2013 6:00 pm	(6)	vs. (11) Louisiana–Monroe First Round	W 74–60	17–15	Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR
03/09/2013 8:30 pm	(6)	vs. (3) South Alabama Quarterfinals	W 62–59	18–15	Convention Center Court (N/A) Hot Springs, AR
03/10/2013 9:18 pm, ESPN3	(6)	vs. (2) Arkansas State Semifinals	W 58–56	19–15	Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR
03/11/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN	(6)	vs. (4) FIU Championship game	W 65–63	20–15	Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR
2013 NCAA tournament
03/22/2013* 9:07 pm, TNT	(16 S)	vs. (1 S) No. 3 Kansas Second Round	L 57–64	20–16	Sprint Center (18,488) Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South Louisville’s win was later vacated by the NCAA due to recruiting violations by the Louisville basketball program.[5].