1953–54 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball team

1953–54 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion Ohio Valley Conference Champion Kentucky Invitation Champion
NIT Tournament, Semifinals National 4th Place
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 8
Record	29–3 (9–1 OVC)
Head coach	Edgar Diddle (32nd season)
Assistant coach	Ted Hornback
Home arena	Health & Physical Education Building

The 1953–54 Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky State College (now known as Western Kentucky University) during the 1953-54 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edgar Diddle and consensus All-American, Tom Marshall.[1] The Hilltoppers won the Ohio Valley Conference championship, and were invited to the 1954 National Invitation Tournament, where they were seeded as the number 2 team[2] and advanced to the semifinals.[3] For the NIT consolation game against fourth seeded Niagara, Coach Diddle looked to build experience for the next year’s team, only allowing his freshman and sophomores to play.[1] During this period, the NIT was considered on par with the NCAA tournament.[4][5] This was one of the finest teams in Western Kentucky history, they led the NCAA in wins[6] and Marshall averaged more than 25 points and nearly 15 rebounds per game, setting school records for scoring and rebounding.[7] Art Spoelstra, Jack Turner and Lynn Cole joined Marshall on the All-Conference and OVC Tournament teams.[8]

Schedule

[9]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/25/1953*		at Belmont	W 108–75	1–0	Nashville, TN
11/28/1953*		at Kentucky Wesleyan	W 86–74	2–0	Owensboro Sportscenter  Owensboro, KY
12/4/1953*		Gustavus Adolphus	W 90–73	3–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/5/1953*		Southeastern Louisiana	W 84–60	4–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/8/1953	No. 11	at Middle Tennessee	W 88–80	5–0 (1-0)	Alumni Memorial Gym  Murfreesboro, TN
12/12/1953	No. 11	Morehead State	W 98–77	6–0 (2-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
12/15/1953*	No. 10	at Cincinnati	W 74–71	7–0	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
12/17/1953*	No. 10	vs. Saint Francis (NY)	W 97–67	8–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/19/1953*	No. 10	vs. St. Bonaventure	W 82–76	9–0	Butler Memorial Gym  Buffalo, NY
12/28/1953*	No. 6	vs. Houston Kentucky Invitation Tournament	W 91–61	10–0	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
12/29/1953	No. 7	vs. Eastern Kentucky Kentucky Invitation Tournament	W 81–78	11–0	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
12/30/1953*	No. 7	at Louisville Kentucky Invitation Tournament	W 89–71	12–0	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
1/5/1954	No. 5	Middle Tennessee	W 98–67	13–0 (3-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/9/1954	No. 5	at Murray State	W 57–43	14–0 (4-0)	Carr Health Building  Murray, KY
1/13/1954*	No. 5	at No. 17 Dayton	W 79–75 ^3OT	15–0	The Frericks Center  Dayton, OH
1/16/1954	No. 5	Eastern Kentucky	W 122–78	16–0 (5-0)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1/20/1954	No. 4	at Tennessee Tech	W 62–51	17–0 (6-0)	Memorial Gymnasium  Cookeville, TN
1/23/1954*	No. 4	at Memphis State	W 63–53	18–0	Memorial Fieldhouse  Memphis, TN
1/29/1954*	No. 4	Regis	W 87–72	19–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/1/1954*	No. 4	vs. Bowling Green State	W 94–82	20–0	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
2/4/1954*	No. 4	at Stetson	W 81–63	21–0	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/6/1954	No. 4	at Eastern Kentucky	L 54–63	21–1 (6-1)	Weaver Gymnasium  Richmond, KY
2/8/1954	No. 4	at Morehead State	W 88–75	22–1 (7-1)	Button Auditorium  Morehead, KY
2/13/1954	No. 5	Murray State	W 104–68	23–1 (8-1)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/15/1954*	No. 5	Kentucky Wesleyan	W 81–65	24–1	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/20/1954	No. 4	Tennessee Tech	W 108–63	25–1 (9-1)	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
2/22/1954*	No. 4	Cincinnati	W 92–77	26–1	Health & Phys Ed Building  Bowling Green, KY
1954 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
2/25/1954	No. 4	vs. Morehead State OVC Tournament Semifinal	W 97–79	27–1	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
2/26/1954	No. 4	vs. Eastern Kentucky OVC Tournament Final	W 85–69	28–1	Jefferson County Armory  Louisville, KY
1954 National Invitation Tournament
3/8/1954*	No. 3 (N2)	vs. Bowling Green State NIT Quarterfinal	W 95–81	29–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
3/11/1954*	No. 4 (N2)	vs. No. 6 (N3) Holy Cross NIT Semifinal	L 69–75	29–2	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
3/13/1954*	No. 4 (N2)	vs. No. 16 (N4) Niagara NIT Consolation	L 65–71	29–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

1. Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
2. "ST. FRANCIS BEATS LOUISVILLE, 60-55". New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
3. 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. "NCAA Tournament History". Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013. 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
5. Davies, Richard O. (2007). "Sports in American Life: A History." Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated. p. 155. ISBN 9781405106474.
6. E. A. Diddle CBB Records, Sports Reference, retrieved May 13, 2020
7. Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
8. 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
9. 1953-54 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 12 May 2020