The 2011–12 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

during the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011 with the (2K Sports Classic) and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome ...

. The Hilltoppers were led by fourth year head coach Ken McDonald for the first 16 games of the season before he was fired and were then led by former assistant and new head coach Ray Harper for the remainder of the year. They played their home games at

E. A. Diddle Arena E. A. Diddle Arena is a 7,326-seat multi-purpose arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. The arena, built in 1963, is home to the Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball, Hilltoppers men's basketball team and W ...

and are members of the East Division of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. They finished the season 16–19, 7–9 in Sun Belt Play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. The Hilltoppers were champions of the Sun Belt Basketball tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA tournament. It was their 22nd tournament appearance and first since 2009. WKU was also the first sub-.500 team to make the NCAA Tournament since

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. They defeated Mississippi Valley State in the ''First Four'' round before falling in the second round to eventual national champion Kentucky.

Derrick Gordon Derrick Robert Gordon (born December 12, 1991) is an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, Gordon attended and played for three universities, originally the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, where in 2014, Gordon became the fir ...

made the All-Conference Team; Gordon and Kahil McDonald were selected to the SBC Tournament Team, and

George Fant George Fant (born Georg Fredrik Mikael Fant; 11 July 1916 – 21 February 1998) was a Swedish actor, director and theater manager. He appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1995. Fant was the son of Captain Tore Fant and Stina Fant (née Gu ...

was tournament MVP.

Roster

Schedule

2011-12 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 29 April 2020
/ref> , - !colspan=9, Exhibition , - !colspan=9, Regular Season , - !colspan=9, 2012 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament , - !colspan=9, 2012 NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball Team Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball seasons WKU WKU