2011–12 WKU Hilltoppers basketball team

2011–12 WKU Hilltoppers men's basketball

Sun Belt Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament South Region 16 Seed, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference East Division
2011–12 record	16–19 (7–9 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Ken McDonald first 16 games Ray Harper remainder of season
Assistant coach	Lawrence Brenneman
Assistant coach	Jake Morton
Assistant coach	Kip Wellman
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena

	Conf				Overall
2011–12 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Middle Tennessee	14	–	2	.875	27	–	7	.794
South Alabama	8	–	8	.500	17	–	12	.586
Florida Atlantic	7	–	9	.438	11	–	19	.367
WKU†	7	–	9	.438	16	–	19	.457
Troy	5	–	11	.313	10	–	18	.357
Florida International	5	–	11	.313	8	–	21	.276
West
Arkansas–Little Rock	12	–	4	.750	15	–	16	.484
Denver	11	–	5	.688	22	–	9	.710
Louisiana–Lafayette	10	–	6	.625	16	–	16	.500
North Texas	9	–	7	.563	18	–	14	.563
Arkansas State	6	–	10	.375	14	–	20	.412
*Louisiana–Monroe	2	–	14	.125	3	–	26	.103

† 2012 Sun Belt Tournament winner As of March 21, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll *Ineligible for conference tournament

The 2011–12 WKU basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by fourth year head coach Ken McDonald for the first 16 games of the season before he was fired and were then led by former assistant and new head coach Ray Harper for the remainder of the year. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and are members of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 16–19, 7–9 in Sun Belt Play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. The Hilltoppers were champions of the Sun Belt Basketball Tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament. It was their 22nd tournament appearance and first since 2009. WKU was also the first sub-.500 team to make the NCAA Tournament since Coppin State in 2008. They defeated Mississippi Valley State in the First Four round before falling in the second round to Kentucky.

Roster

Number	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
0	Kene Anyigbo	Forward	6–5	250	Sophomore	Bellaire, Texas
1	Kevin Kaspar	Guard	6–0	172	Freshman	Istanbul, Turkey
3	Kahlil McDonald	Guard	6–3	200	Senior	Brooklyn, New York
5	Derrick Gordon	Guard	6–3	185	Freshman	Plainfield, New Jersey
10	Caden Dickerson	Forward	6–4	200	Junior	Argyle, Texas
11	Spence Sheldon	Guard	5–11	165	Freshman	Bowling Green, Kentucky
14	Jamal Crook	Guard	6–3	175	Junior	Louisville, Kentucky
15	O'Karo Akamune	Forward	6–6	205	Sophomore	Miami, Florida
21	Nigel Snipes	Forward	6–5	205	Freshman	Marietta, Georgia
22	Teeng Akol	Forward	6–11	217	Junior	Wian, Sudan
24	Stephon Drane	Forward	6–7	228	Sophomore	Raleigh, North Carolina
25	Jay Starks	Guard	6–3	187	Junior	Scottsville, Kentucky
41	Vinny Zollo	Forward	6–8	240	Freshman	Winchester, Kentucky
44	George Fant	Forward	6–5	245	Freshman	Bowling Green, Kentucky
52	T.J. Price	Guard	6–3	220	Freshman	Slidell, Louisiana

Schedule

Date	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance)
Exhibition
11/05/2011*		Xavier (LA)	W 73–61		E. A. Diddle Arena
Regular Season
11/11/2011*		Saint Joseph's	L 61–72	0–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,813)
11/14/2011*		Tennessee State	W 52–49	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,372)
11/17/2011*		vs. Tulsa (Charleston Classic First Round)	L 49–65	1–2	TD Arena (2,532)
11/18/2011*		vs. LSU (Charleston Classic Consolation Round)	L 57–76	1–3	TD Arena (1,711)
11/20/2011*		vs. VCU (Charleston Classic 7th Place Game)	L 64–69	1–4	TD Arena (2,455)
11/23/2011*		VCU	L 45–68	1–5	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,285)
11/26/2011*		Southeastern Louisiana	W 72–67	2–5	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,714)
12/01/2011*		Murray State	L 59–70	2–6	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,845)
12/04/2011*		Bowling Green	W 60–53	3–6	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,119)
12/07/2011*		at Southern Illinois	W 62–55	4–6	SIU Arena (3,012)
12/10/2011*		at IUPUI	L 76–84	4–7	The Jungle (1,135)
12/17/2011*		Furman (BB&T Classic)	L 63–76	4–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,192)
12/23/2011*		at #4 Louisville	L 60–70	4–9	KFC Yum! Center (22,150)
12/29/2011		at Louisiana–Monroe	W 76–71 ^OT	5–9 (1–0)	Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,319)
12/31/2011		FIU	L 63–81	5–10 (1–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,375)
01/05/2012		Louisiana–Lafayette	L 70–72 ^OT	5–11 (1–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,137)
01/07/2012		Troy	L 65–67	5–12 (1–3)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,172)
01/12/2012		at North Texas	L 67–84	5–13 (1–4)	The Super Pit (3,941)
01/15/2012		at Denver	L 65–78	5–14 (1–5)	Magness Arena (6,232)
01/21/2012		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 65–53	6–14 (2–5)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,254)
01/26/2012		at Florida Atlantic	L 66–67	6–15 (2–6)	FAU Arena (1,554)
01/28/2012		at FIU	W 61–51	7–15 (3–6)	U.S. Century Bank Arena (1,171)
02/04/2012		South Alabama	W 75–66	8–15 (4–6)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,407)
02/09/2012		at Middle Tennessee	L 64–72	8–16 (4–7)	Murphy Center (7,080)
02/11/2012		at Troy	L 77–83	8–17 (4–8)	Trojan Arena (1,472)
02/16/2012		Florida Atlantic	W 64–57	9–17 (5–8)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,588)
02/18/2012		at South Alabama	L 61–66	9–18 (5–9)	Mitchell Center (4,126)
02/23/2012		Arkansas State	W 79–76	10–18 (6–9)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,298)
02/25/2012		Middle Tennessee	W 73–67	11–18 (7–9)	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,326)
2012 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
03/03/2012		vs. FIU (First Round)	W 67–63	12–18	Summit Arena (3,820)
03/04/2012		vs. Arkansas–Little Rock (Quarterfinals)	W 68–63	13–18	Summit Arena (4,365)
03/05/2012		vs. Denver (Semifinals)	W 67–73	14–18	Summit Arena (3,708)
03/06/2012		vs. North Texas (Championship Game)	W 74–70	15–18	Summit Arena (4,216)
2012 NCAA Tournament
03/13/2012*	#(S 16)	vs. (S 16) Mississippi Valley State (First Four)	W 59–58	16–18	UD Arena (8,510)
03/15/2012*	#(S 16)	vs. #1 (S 1) Kentucky (South Region Second Round)	L 66–81	16–19	KFC Yum! Center (22,131)
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region.

References

WKU 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

Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 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 1999–00 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

NCAA Final Four appearance in italics