1949β50 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball | |
---|---|
Ohio Valley Conference Champion | |
NIT Tournament, Quarterfinals | |
Conference | Ohio Valley Conference |
Ranking | |
AP | No. 8 |
Record | 25β6 (8β0 OVC) |
Head coach |
|
Assistant coach | Ted Hornback |
Home arena | Health & Physical Education Building |
The 1949β50 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1949-50 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and All-American center Bob Lavoy. [1] The team then won the Ohio Valley Conference season championship and appeared in the 1950 National Invitation Tournament. [2] During this period, the NIT was considered to be on par with the NCAA tournament. [3] [4] Lavoy and Johnny Givens were named to the All-Conference team, Lavoy was also selected to the OVC All-Tournament team. [5]
Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular Season | |||||||||||
12/3/1949 |
at Morehead State | W 58β47 | 1β0 (1-0) |
Button Auditorium Morehead, KY | |||||||
12/5/1949* |
Kentucky Wesleyan | W 89β45 | 2β0 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | |||||||
12/8/1949* |
vs. Bowling Green State | W 78β57 | 3β0 |
Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY | |||||||
12/10/1949* |
at Xavier | W 59β57 | 4β0 |
Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH | |||||||
12/13/1949* |
Georgetown (KY) | W 67β48 | 5β0 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | |||||||
12/17/1949* |
at Cincinnati | L 54β55 | 5β1 |
Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH | |||||||
12/26/1949* |
at Canisius | W 74β61 | 6β1 |
Buffalo, NY | |||||||
12/29/1948* |
vs. Long Island | L 66β73 | 6β2 |
Madison Square Garden New York, NY | |||||||
1/2/1950* |
at La Salle | L 69β80 | 6β3 |
Wister Hall Philadelphia, PA | |||||||
1/7/1950 |
Eastern Kentucky | W 86β61 | 7β3 (2-0) |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | |||||||
1/9/1950* |
Xavier | W 63β51 | 8β3 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | |||||||
1/11/1950* |
No. 14 | at Louisville | L 59β70 | 8β4 |
Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY | ||||||
1/14/1950 |
No. 14 | at Murray State | W 58β52 | 9β4 (3-0) |
Carr Health Building Murray, KY | ||||||
1/16/1950* |
No. 14 | No. 12 Cincinnati | W 84β59 | 10β4 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
1/18/1950 |
No. 17 | at Evansville | W 73β69 | 11β4 (4-0) |
Evansville, IN | ||||||
1/21/1950 |
No. 17 | at Eastern Kentucky | W 69β51 | 12β4 (5-0) |
Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY | ||||||
1/27/1950* |
No. 17 | at Miami | W 66β61 | 13β4 |
Miami, FL | ||||||
1/28/1950* |
No. 17 | at Miami | W 78β61 | 14β4 |
Miami, FL | ||||||
1/30/1950* |
No. 17 | at Tampa | W 79β59 | 15β4 |
Tampa, FL | ||||||
1/31/1950* |
No. 14 | No. 15 Louisville | W 84β62 | 16β4 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
2/7/1950 |
No. 11 | Morehead State | W 77β65 | 17β4 (6-0) |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
2/9/1950* |
No. 11 | vs. Bowling Green State | W 103β87 | 18β4 |
Cleveland Arena Cleveland, OH | ||||||
2/11/1950 |
No. 11 | Murray State | W 54β50 | 19β4 (7-0) |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
2/15/1950* |
No. 9 | Miami | W 79β57 | 20β4 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
2/16/1950* |
No. 9 | Miami | W 83β47 | 21β4 |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
2/18/1950 |
No. 9 | Evansville | W 81β56 | 22β4 (8-0) |
Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY | ||||||
1950 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament | |||||||||||
2/24/1950 |
No. 9 | vs. Tennessee Tech OVC Tournament |
W 79β60 | 23β4 |
Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY | ||||||
2/25/1950 |
No. 9 | vs. Murray State OVC Tournament Semifinal |
W 58β54 | 24β4 |
Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY | ||||||
2/26/1950 |
No. 7 | vs. Eastern Kentucky OVC Tournament Final |
L 50β62 | 24β5 |
Jefferson County Armory Louisville, KY | ||||||
1950 National Invitation Tournament | |||||||||||
3/11/1950* |
No. 8 | vs.
Niagara NIT |
W 79β72 | 25β5 |
Madison Square Garden New York, NY | ||||||
3/13/1950* |
No. 8 | vs. No. 9
St. John's (NY) NIT Quarterfinal |
L 60β69 | 25β6 |
Madison Square Garden New York, NY | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from
AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
|
The tournament now determines the national champion, but that wasn't always the case. Until the 1950s, the NIT was just as big a tournament as the NCAA, and teams often chose to enter the NIT and bypass the NCAA tourney