2001–02 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2001–02 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Dennis Felton and All-American Center Chris Marcus.^[1] The team won the East Division Championship and the Sun Belt Basketball tournament, earning an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[2] One of the highlights of the season was a victory over in-state rival, 4th ranked Kentucky. Marcus missed 17 games this season due to an ankle injury. David Boyden and Derek Robinson were named to the All SBC team. Marcus and Patrick Sparks made the SBC All-Tournament team and Robinson was the tournament MVP.^[3]

2001–02 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Conference tournament Champion Sun Belt Conference East Division Champion NABC Classic Champion
NCAA Tournament, first round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Ranking
AP	No. 19
Record	28–4 (13–1 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Dennis Felton
Assistant coach	Pete Herrmann
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2000–01 2002–03 →

2001–02 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 19 Western Kentucky †	13	–	1		.929			28	–	4		.875
Arkansas-Little Rock	8	–	6		.571			18	–	11		.621
Middle Tennessee	6	–	8		.429			14	–	15		.483
Arkansas State	5	–	9		.357			15	–	16		.484
Florida International	4	–	10		.286			10	–	20		.333
West
Louisiana–Lafayette	11	–	4		.733			20	–	11		.645
New Mexico State	11	–	4		.733			20	–	12		.625
New Orleans	9	–	6		.600			15	–	14		.517
North Texas	8	–	7		.533			15	–	14		.517
Denver	3	–	12		.200			8	–	20		.286
South Alabama	2	–	13		.133			7	–	21		.250
† 2002 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Schedule

^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/15/2001*		at No. 4 Kentucky NABC Classic	W 64–52	1–0	Rupp Arena (21,104) Lexington, KY
11/16/2001*		vs. George Washington NABC Classic	W 73–48	2–0	Rupp Arena (16,193) Lexington, KY
11/20/2001*	No. 21	Evansville	W 90–64	3–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,322) Bowling Green, KY
11/24/2001*	No. 21	Murray State	W 101–77	4–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (8,117) Bowling Green, KY
11/27/2001*	No. 17	at Creighton	L 91–94 2OT	4–1	Omaha Civic Auditorium (7,287) Omaha, NE
12/2/2001*	No. 17	at Vanderbilt Marcus out with injury	L 75–80	4–2	Memorial Gymnasium (12,271) Nashville, TN
12/3/2001*	No. 25	at Akron	W 78–68	5–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,524) Akron, OH
12/8/2001*	No. 25	at Austin Peay	W 77–75	6–2	Dunn Center (2,517) Clarksville, TN
12/15/2001*		West Alabama	W 103–40	7–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,658) Bowling Green, KY
12/19/2001*		Creighton	W 95–61	8–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,267) Bowling Green, KY
12/22/2001*		at Southern Mississippi	W 74–50	9–2	Reed Green Coliseum (2,855) Hattiesburg, MS
12/28/2001*		at New Orleans	W 90–76	10–2 (1–0)	Lakefront Arena (2,270) New Orleans, LA
12/30/2001		at South Alabama	L 58–61	10–3 (1–1)	Mitchell Center (1,479) Mobile, AL
1/2/2002		at FIU	W 65–54	11–3 (2–1)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (306) University Park, FL
1/5/2002*		Austin Peay	W 75–73	12–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,764) Bowling Green, KY
1/10/2002		Louisiana–Lafayette	W 63–62	13–3 (3–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,757) Bowling Green, KY
1/13/2002		New Mexico State	W 83–67	14–3 (4–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (8,178) Bowling Green, KY
1/16/2002		at Middle Tennessee	W 55–45	15–3 (5–1)	Murphy Center (4,116) Murfreesboro, TN
1/19/2002		at Denver	W 86–59	16–3 (6–1)	Magness Arena (1,741) Denver, CO
1/24/2002		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 95–85	17–3 (7–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,239) Bowling Green, KY
1/27/2002		Arkansas State	W 45–42	18–3 (8–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,465) Bowling Green, KY
1/31/2002		FIU	W 66–64	19–3 (9–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,410) Bowling Green, KY
2/3/2002*		Morris Brown Marcus returns	W 92–53	20–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,319) Bowling Green, KY
2/7/2002		at Arkansas–Little Rock	W 83–79 OT	21–3 (10–1)	Alltel Arena (6,012) North Little Rock, AR
2/9/2002		at Arkansas State	W 50–46	22–3 (11–1)	Convocation Center (6,437) Jonesboro, AR
2/16/2002		North Texas	W 100–76	23–3 (12–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (8,192) Bowling Green, KY
2/19/2002*	No. 24	Kentucky State	W 100–63	24–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,051) Bowling Green, KY
2/23/2002	No. 24	Middle Tennessee	W 65–61	25–3 (13–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (8,325) Bowling Green, KY
2002 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
3/2/2002	(1E) No. 20	vs. (4W) North Texas Second Round	W 82–68	26–3	Lakefront Arena (4,943) New Orleans, LA
3/4/2002	(1E) No. 18	vs. (2W) New Mexico State Semifinals	W 73–72	27–3	Lakefront Arena (4,052) New Orleans, LA
3/5/2002	(1E) No. 18	vs. (1W) Louisiana–Lafayette Championship	W 76–70	28–3	Lakefront Arena (4,203) New Orleans, LA
2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
3/14/2002*	(9 MW) No. 19	vs. (8 MW) No. 24 Stanford First Round	L 68–84	28–4	Edward Jones Dome (26,612) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll (M#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. Marcus honored by publication, WKU center lands on All-America team, By Justin Willis, Bowling Green Daily News, Aug 3, 2001 retrieved 27 April 2020
2. SBC 2016-17 Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 28 April 2020
3. 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. 2001-02 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 29 April 2020
5. "2001-2002 Men's Basketball Statistics" (PDF). WKU Sports.