1941–42 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball none 1941–42 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers WKU Hilltoppers wordmark.png 150 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference KIAC 29–5 7–2 Edgar Diddle 20th Ted Hornback Health & Physical Education Building SIAA ChampionsKAIC Champions NIT Tournament FinalsNational Runner-up The 1941–42 Western Kentucky State Teachers Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1941-42 NCAA basketball season. The team was led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle. Ruby Earl Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University American National Bank and Trust Co. 1979 The Hilltoppers won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships, led NCAA in wins,E. A. Diddle CBB Records, Sports Reference, retrieved October 6, 2018 and received an invitation to the 1942 National Invitation Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game.2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020 During this period, the NIT was considered to be the premiere college basketball tournament, with the winner being recognized as the national champion.http://www.tourneytravel.com/history/index.htm NCAA Tournament History 2013-02-12 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 2013-05-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20130514220356/http://www.tourneytravel.com/history/index.htm usurped Davies, Richard O. (2007). "Sports in American Life: A History." Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated. p. 155. 9781405106474 This was the first Kentucky team to participate in the NIT.Tournament Results (1940s) at nit.org, URL accessed December 9, 2009. 11/7/09 Oran McKinney, Earl Shelton, and Wallace “Buck” Sydnor were selected to the All-SIAA team, while the All-KIAC Team included Howard “Tip” Downing, Shelton, and Sydnor. Harrison Lowell Western Kentucky University University Press of Kentucky 1987 978-0813116204 Schedule Western Kentucky Men's Basketball Archive, retrieved 14 May 2020 no no no no no |- !colspan=6| Regular Season 12/6/1941 yes no Camp Shelby Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 52–18 1–0 |- 12/8/1941 yes yes no Austin Peay Clarksville, TN 42–34 2–0 12/13/1941 yes no Wichita Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 36–9 3–0 12/15/1941 yes no Georgetown (KY) Madisonville, KY 48–38 4–0 12/18/1941 yes yes no Southeast Missouri Houck Field House Cape Girardeau, MO 47–36 5–0 12/19/1941 yes yes no Southern Illinois Davies Gym Carbondale, IL 48–37 6–0 12/29/1941 yes no Washington and Lee Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 52–24 7–0 1/3/1942 yes yes no Illinois Wesleyan Owensboro, KY 60–41 8–0 1/5/1942 yes yes no Great Lakes Training Jeffersonville, KY 37–64 8–1 1/7/1942 yes no Austin Peay Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 46–34 9–1 1/10/1942 yes no Evansville Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 69–48 10–1 1/17/1942 no Murray State Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 29–27 11–1 1/21/1942 yes no Tennessee Tech Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 32–31 12–1 1/23/1942 yes no Morehead State Button Auditorium Morehead, KY 49–56 12–2 1/31/1942 no Eastern Kentucky Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 45–31 13–2 2/3/1942 yes yes no Indiana State Indiana State Gym Terre Haute, IN 41–35 14–2 2/5/1942 yes yes no Tennessee Tech Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN 34–45 14–3 2/7/1942 yes no Murray State Lovett Auditorium Murray, KY 37–43 14–4 2/9/1942 no Morehead State Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 64–31 15–4 2/11/1942 yes no Louisville Belknap Gymnasium Louisville, KY 62–39 16–4 2/14/1942 yes no Eastern Kentucky Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY 43–40 17–4 2/16/1942 yes no Indiana State Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 53–48 18–4 2/19/1942 yes yes no Evansville Evansville, IN 41–40 19–4 2/21/1942 no Union (KY) Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY 59–50 20–4 |- !colspan=6| 1942 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament 2/26/1942 yes no Murray State Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY KIAC Tournament 46–44 21–4 2/27/1942 yes no Kentucky Wesleyan Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY KIAC Tournament Quarterfinal 49–41 22–4 2/28/1942 yes no Berea Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY KIAC Tournament Semifinal 53–34 23–4 3/1/1942 yes no Union (KY) Weaver Gymnasium Richmond, KY KIAC Tournament Final 43–41 24–4 |- !colspan=6| 1942 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament 3/6/1942 no Tennessee Tech Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY SIAA Tournament 61–35 25–4 3/7/1942 no Southwestern Louisiana Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY SIAA Tournament Semifinal 49–43 26–4 3/8/1942 no Delta State Health & Phys Ed Building Bowling Green, KY SIAA Tournament Final 49–37 27–4 |- !colspan=6| 1942 National Invitation Tournament 3/19/1942 yes yes no CCNY Madison Square Garden New York, NY NIT Quarterfinal 49–46 28–4 3/23/1942 yes yes no Creighton Madison Square Garden New York, NY NIT Semifinal 49–38 29–4 3/25/1942 yes yes no West Virginia Madison Square Garden New York, NY NIT Final 45–47 29–5 References Category:Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball seasons Western Kentucky State Teachers Western Kentucky State Teachers Category:Long stubs with short prose