1979–80 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1979–80 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	21–8 (10–2 OVC)
Head coach	Gene Keady
Assistant coach	Clem Haskins
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena

1979–80 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Western Kentucky †	10	–	2		.833			21	–	8		.724
Murray State	10	–	2		.833			23	–	8		.742
Morehead State	7	–	5		.583			15	–	12		.556
Eastern Kentucky	7	–	5		.583			15	–	12		.556
Middle Tennessee	5	–	7		.417			13	–	13		.500
Austin Peay State	2	–	10		.167			8	–	18		.308
Tennessee Tech	1	–	11		.083			5	–	21		.192
† 1980 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1979–80 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were members of the Ohio Valley Conference and led by future National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach Gene Keady.[1] WKU won the OVC regular season and tournament championships and received the conference's automatic bid to the 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.[2] Craig McCormick and Bill Bryant made the All-OVC Team, and McCormick was selected as OVC Tournament MVP.[3]

Schedule

[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
12/1/1979*		Rollins	W 104–73	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/3/1979*		at Illinois State	L 55–66	1–1	Horton Field House  Normal, IL
12/6/1979*		at Duquesne	L 73–84	1–2	Mellon Arena  Pittsburgh, PA
12/8/1979*		Florida A&M	W 87–60	2–2	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/13/1979*		vs. Evansville Holiday Classic	W 75–61	3–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
12/14/1979*		at No. 12 Louisville Holiday Classic	L 74–96	3–3	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
12/29/1979*		Florida State	L 65–67	3–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/3/1980*		Butler	W 66–62	4–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/5/1980*		at Louisiana Tech	W 63–59	5–4	Memorial Gym  Ruston, LA
1/7/1980*		East Tennessee	W 71–59	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/10/1980*		Akron	W 92–58	7–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/12/1980		Tennessee Tech	W 97–72	8–4 (1-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/17/1980		Murray State	W 68–48	9–4 (2-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/19/1980		at Austin Peay	W 95–71	10–4 (3-0)	Dunn Center  Clarksville, TN
1/21/1980*		Dayton	W 71–65	11–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/24/1980		at Middle Tennessee	W 62–58	12–4 (4-0)	Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, TN
1/26/1980		at Eastern Kentucky	L 82–84	12–5 (4-1)	Alumni Coliseum  Richmond, KY
1/31/1980		Morehead State	W 86–79	13–5 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/2/1980		Eastern Kentucky	W 74–62	14–5 (6-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/7/1980*		at Akron	W 70–68	15–5	James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
2/9/1980		at Tennessee Tech	W 75–56	16–5 (7-1)	Eblen Center  Cookeville, TN
2/11/1980		at Morehead State	L 73–76	16–6 (7-2)	Wetherby Gymnasium  Morehead, KY
2/14/1980		Austin Peay	W 70–51	17–6 (8-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/16/1980		at Murray State	W 56–55	18–6 (9-2)	Racer Arena  Murray, KY
2/21/1980		Middle Tennessee	W 81–79 ^3OT	19–6 (10-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/23/1980*		at South Carolina	L 65–73 ^2OT	19–7	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
1980 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2/28/1980	(1)	(4) Eastern Kentucky Semifinals	W 84–83 ^OT	20–7	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
3/1/1980	(1)	(2) Murray State Championship	W 54–51	21–7	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament
3/7/1980*	(10 ME)	(7 ME) Virginia Tech First Round	L 85–89 ^OT	21–8	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

1. Lowell H. Harrison (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 276–. ISBN 978-0813116204.
2. 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
3. 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. 1979-80 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 6 May 2020