1975–76 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

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 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
Seasons ← 1974–75 1976–77 →

1975–76 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Western Kentucky †	11	–	3		.786			20	–	9		.690
Austin Peay State	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

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