1950–51 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball team

The 1950–51 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1950-51 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and All-Ohio Valley Conference player Rip Gish. Gish also made the OVC Tournament team. The team participated in the only National Campus Basketball Tournament. This was a new tournament hosted by Bradley University in response to the ongoing point shaving scandal. It was thought that hosting a tournament on a campus site would reduce the opportunity for such scandals.

1950–51 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball
NCBT Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	19–10 (4–4 OVC)
Head coach	Edgar Diddle (29th season)
Assistant coach	Ted Hornback
Home arena	Health & Physical Education Building

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/30/1950*	Southeastern Louisiana	W 73–59	1–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/5/1950*	Georgetown (KY)	W 93–44	2–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/9/1950*	at Cincinnati	L 45–70	2–1	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
12/12/1950*	West Texas State	W 74–46	3–1	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/14/1950*	Tampa	W 103–70	4–1	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/16/1950*	High Point	W 77–64	5–1	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/18/1950	at Morehead State	L 63–70	5–2 (0-1)	Button Auditorium  Morehead, KY
12/26/1950*	at No. 16 La Salle	W 73–63	6–2	Wister Hall  Philadelphia, PA
12/28/1950*	vs. No. 4 Long Island	L 70–77	6–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/30/1950*	vs. St. Bonaventure	L 57–62	6–4	Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, NY
1/8/1951*	Xavier	W 79–62	7–4	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/10/1951	vs. Evansville	W 75–63	8–4 (1-1)	Owensboro Sportscenter  Owensboro, KY
1/13/1951	Murray State	W 65–56	9–4 (2-1)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/16/1951*	Miami	W 89–47	10–4	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/18/1951	at Evansville	L 46–77	10–5 (2-2)	Evansville, IN
1/20/1951*	vs. Bowling Green State	W 69–68	11–5	Owensboro Sportscenter  Owensboro, KY
1/26/1951*	at Miami	W 68–64	12–5	Miami, FL
1/27/1951*	at Tampa	W 67–64	13–5	Tampa, FL
2/3/1951	at Eastern Kentucky	L 70–84	13–6 (2-3)	Weaver Gymnasium  Richmond, KY
2/8/1951*	No. 11 Cincinnati	W 75–70	14–6	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/10/1951	at Murray State	L 70–77	14–7 (2-4)	Carr Health Building  Murray, KY
2/14/1951*	Kentucky Wesleyan	W 86–62	15–7	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/17/1951	Eastern Kentucky	W 84–80	16–7 (3-4)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/19/1951	Morehead State	W 95–73	17–7 (4-4)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1951 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
2/24/1951	vs. No. 16 Murray State OVC Tournament Semifinal	L 77–78	17–8	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
2/24/1951	vs. Evansville OVC Tournament Consolation	W 72–71	18–8	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
Regular Season
2/28/1951*	at Xavier	L 64–67	18–9	Schmidt Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
3/15/1951*	vs. Bowling Green State	W 78–77	19–9	Toledo, OH
1951 National Campus Basketball Tournament
3/27/1951*	at No. 6 Bradley NCBT Quarterfinal	L 71–75	19–10	Robertson Memorial Field House  Peoria, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.