1975–76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1975–76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1975–76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion; Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	20–9 (11–3 OVC)
Head coach	Jim Richards;
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena

The 1975–76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year Jim Richards and OVC Player of the Year Johnny Britt.[1] WKU won the OVC regular season and tournament championships, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.[2] Wilson James joined Britt on the All-OVC Team; they were also selected to the OVC Tournament team and Britt was tournament MVP.[3]

1975–76 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Western Kentucky †	11	–	3	.786	20	–	9	.690
Austin Peay	10	–	4	.714	20	–	7	.741
Morehead State	7	–	7	.500	13	–	14	.481
Tennessee Tech	7	–	7	.500	14	–	10	.583
Middle Tennessee	6	–	8	.429	16	–	12	.571
Eastern Kentucky	6	–	8	.429	10	–	15	.400
Murray State	5	–	9	.357	9	–	17	.346
East Tennessee State	4	–	10	.286	6	–	20	.231

† 1976 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/29/1975*		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 106–78	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/1/1975*		No. 19 Memphis State	W 87–84	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/8/1975*		ODU	W 84–76	3–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/20/1975*		Troy	W 88–72	4–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/26/1975*		at No. 9 NC State Holiday Doubleheader	L 98–110	4–1	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
12/27/1975*		vs. Duke Holiday Doubleheader	L 90–111	4–2	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
12/30/1975*		at Butler	W 76–62	5–2	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
1/5/1976*		No. 20 La Salle	L 100–104 ^OT	5–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/8/1976*		at Florida State	L 80–88	5–4	Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, FL
1/10/1976*		MacMurray	W 106–52	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/12/1976		at Middle Tennessee	W 83–69	7–4 (1-0)	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
1/17/1976		East Tennessee	W 82–60	8–4 (2-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/19/1976		Tennessee Tech	W 88–69	9–4 (3-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/24/1976		Eastern Kentucky	W 78–74	10–4 (4-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/26/1976		at Morehead State	L 71–82	10–5 (4-1)	Wetherby Gymnasium Morehead, KY
1/31/1976		Murray State	W 92–68	11–5 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/2/1976		at Austin Peay	L 81–91	11–6 (5-2)	Dunn Center Clarksville, TN
2/7/1976		Middle Tennessee	L 65–71	11–7 (5-3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/9/1976*		Dayton	L 82–93	11–8	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/14/1976		at Tennessee Tech	W 105–97	12–8 (6-3)	Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN
2/16/1976		at East Tennessee	W 76–67	13–8 (7-3)	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN
2/19/1976		at Murray State	W 70–68	14–8 (8-3)	Racer Arena Murray, KY
2/21/1976		Morehead State	W 100–82	15–8 (9-3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/23/1976		Eastern Kentucky	W 89–77	16–8 (10-3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/28/1976		Austin Peay	W 76–75	17–8 (11-3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1976 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
3/1/1976	(1)	(8) East Tennessee First Round	W 91–74	18–8	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/4/1976	(1)	(5) Middle Tennessee Semifinals	W 88–78	19–8	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/5/1976	(1)	(4) Morehead State Finals	W 65–60	20–8	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament
3/13/1976*		vs. No. 2 Marquette Mideast Region First Round	L 60–79	20–9	UD Arena Dayton, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
1975-76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 6 May 2020

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[Ruby-1] Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.

[2] 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020

[3] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[4] 1975-76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 6 May 2020

Western Kentucky 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 Statistical leaders
Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–21 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 1999–2000 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 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics