1981–82 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 1981–82 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by coach Clem Haskins and All-Ohio Valley Conference center Craig McCormick.[1] In what would be their last year in the conference, WKU won the OVC championship, were OVC tournament runners-up, and received a bid to the 1982 National Invitation Tournament. Bobby Jones joined McCormick on the All-OVC Team; Jones and Kenny Ellis made the OVC Tournament Team and McCormick was tournament MVP.[2] McCormick was selected in the NBA draft following the season.[3]

1981–82 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NIT Tournament, First Round
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record19–10 (13–3 OVC)
Head coach
Home arenaE. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons
1981–82 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Western Kentucky 13 3   .813 19 10   .655
Murray State 13 3   .813 20 8   .714
Middle Tennessee State 12 4   .750 22 8   .733
Morehead State 11 5   .688 17 10   .630
Tennessee Tech 8 8   .500 12 14   .462
Youngstown State 5 11   .313 8 18   .308
Austin Peay 4 12   .250 6 20   .231
Akron 3 13   .188 7 19   .269
Eastern Kentucky 3 13   .188 5 21   .192
1982 OVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 27, 1981*
vs. Nevada
Sun Met Classic
L 70–84  0–1
Selland Arena 
Fresno, CA
November 28, 1981*
vs. Oklahoma City
Sun Met Classic
W 51–49  1–1
Selland Arena 
Fresno, CA
December 4, 1981*
New Hampshire
Wendy’s Classic
W 83–52  2–1
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
December 5, 1981*
No. 3 Louisville
Wendy’s Classic
L 66–71  2–2
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
December 9, 1981*
Butler W 96–65  3–2
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
December 12, 1981*
at Evansville L 70–73  3–3
Roberts Municipal Stadium 
Evansville, IN
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
December 19, 1981
Austin Peay W 77–64  4–3
(1–0)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
December 22, 1981*
at No. 17 Georgetown (D.C.) L 45–64  4–4
Capital Centre 
Landover, MD
December 30, 1981*
Duquesne L 62–63 OT 4–5
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
January 3, 1982
Murray State W 71–54  5–5
(2–0)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
January 7, 1982
at Morehead State L 57–59  5–6
(2–1)
Ellis Johnson Arena 
Morehead, KY
January 10, 1982
at Eastern Kentucky W 75–65  6–6
(3–1)
Alumni Coliseum 
Richmond, KY
January 14, 1982
Middle Tennessee W 65–49  7–6
(4–1)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
January 16, 1982
Tennessee Tech W 51–50  8–6
(5–1)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
January 21, 1982
at Akron W 77–68  9–6
(6–1)
James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
January 23, 1982
at Youngstown State W 68–59  10–6
(7–1)
Beeghly Center 
Youngstown, OH
January 25, 1982*
Dayton W 65–57  11–6
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
January 28, 1982
at Austin Peay W 48–46  12–6
(8–1)
Dunn Center 
Clarksville, TN
January 30, 1982
at Murray State L 60–63  12–7
(8–2)
Racer Arena 
Murray, KY
February 4, 1982
Eastern Kentucky W 61–34  13–7
(9–2)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
February 6, 1982
Morehead State W 68–53  14–7
(10–2)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
February 11, 1982
at Tennessee Tech L 64–70 OT 14–8
(10–3)
Eblen Center 
Cookeville, TN
February 13, 1982
at Middle Tennessee W 75–64  15–8
(11–3)
Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
February 18, 1982
Youngstown State W 63–51  16–8
(12–3)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
February 20, 1982
Akron W 82–68  17–8
(13–3)
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
February 27, 1982*
Northern Iowa W 75–67  18–8
UNI-Dome 
Cedar Falls, IA
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
March 5, 1982
(1) (4) Morehead State
Semifinals
W 95–87  19–8
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
March 6, 1982
(1) (3) Middle Tennessee
Championship
L 52–54  19–9
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
NIT
March 10, 1982*
at Purdue
First Round
L 65–72  19–10
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
  2. ^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
  3. ^ "1982 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "1981-82 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Men 's Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2023.