1986–87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1986–87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1986–87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Conference Champion; Wendy's Classic Champion; Chaminade Classic Champion
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	29–9 (12–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Murray Arnold;
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
	Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Western Kentucky	12	–	2	.857	29	–	9	.763
Jacksonville	11	–	3	.786	19	–	11	.633
UAB †	10	–	4	.714	21	–	11	.656
Virginia Commonwealth	7	–	7	.500	17	–	14	.548
UNC Charlotte	6	–	8	.429	18	–	14	.563
South Alabama	6	–	8	.429	14	–	14	.500
South Florida	3	–	11	.214	8	–	20	.286
Old Dominion	1	–	13	.071	6	–	22	.214

† 1987 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986–87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Murray Arnold and SBC Player of the Year Tellis Frank.^[1] The Hilltoppers started the season by advancing to the finals of the Preseason NIT and then being ranked in the top 10 of both major polls.^[2]^[3] WKU won the SBC championship and received a bid to the 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[4] This team was one of the most talented in school history with three players being drafted in the early rounds of the NBA draft: Frank in the 1st round, Kannard Johnson in the 2nd, and Clarence Martin in the 3rd.^[5] Frank and Johnson were selected to the All-Conference Team; Frank and Brett McNeal made the SBC All-Tournament Team.^[6]

Schedule[edit]

^[7]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/21/1986*		at Notre Dame Preseason NIT	W 80–63	1–0	Edmund P. Joyce Center South Bend, IN
11/24/1986*		Texas Christian Preseason NIT	W 96–90	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
11/28/1986*		vs. Memphis State Preseason NIT Semifinals	W 68–67	3–0	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
11/29/1986*		vs. No. 5 UNLV Preseason NIT Finals	L 95–96 ^2OT	3–1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/2/1986*	No. 14	Kentucky State	W 90–58	4–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/5/1986*	No. 14	Mercer Wendy’s Classic	W 98–67	5–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/6/1986*	No. 14	USC Wendy’s Classic	W 82–52	6–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/10/1986*	No. 8	Louisville	L 58–60	6–2	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/11/1986*	No. 8	Central Michigan	L 65–73	6–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/13/1986*	No. 8	at Samford	W 94–57	7–3	Seibert Hall Homewood, AL
12/19/1986*		Armstrong State	W 68–48	8–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/25/1986*		vs. Hawaii Pacific Chaminade Classic	W 89–74	9–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
12/26/1986*		at Chaminade Chaminade Classic	W 71–70	10–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
12/30/1986*		Tennessee Tech	W 102–46	11–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/3/1987*		at Butler	W 74–73 ^OT	12–3	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
1/7/1987*		at Eastern Kentucky	L 66–68	12–4	Alumni Coliseum Richmond, KY
1/10/1987		UAB	W 85–67	13–4 (1-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/12/1987		at VCU	W 79–70	14–4 (2-0)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA
1/14/1987		at Jacksonville	L 71–80	14–5 (2-1)	Swisher Gymnasium Jacksonville, FL
1/17/1987		VCU	W 90–71	15–5 (3-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/19/1987		at South Florida	W 61–46	16–5 (4-1)	USF Sun Dome Tampa, FL
1/24/1987*		at LSU	L 62–67	16–6	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
1/26/1987		at South Alabama	W 68–60	17–6 (5-1)	Mitchell Center Mobile, AL
1/29/1987		South Florida	W 76–59	18–6 (6-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/31/1987		UNCC	W 88–69	19–6 (7-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/3/1987		ODU	W 94–53	20–6 (8-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/8/1987		at UNCC	W 74–71 ^OT	21–6 (9-1)	Belk Gymnasium Charlotte, NC
2/12/1987		at ODU	W 75–59	22–6 (10-1)	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA
2/14/1987		South Alabama	W 85–70	23–6 (11-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/16/1987		Jacksonville	W 87–74	24–6 (12-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/18/1987*		at Southern Illinois	W 78–58	25–6	Banterra Center Carbondale, IL
2/21/1987		at UAB	L 73–86	25–7 (12-2)	Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, AL
1987 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
2/26/1987	(1)	(8) ODU Quarterfinals	W 60–58	26–7	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/27/1987	(1)	(5) UNCC Semifinals	W 99–95 ^2OT	27–7	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/28/1987	(1)	vs. (3) UAB Finals	L 70–72	27–8	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
Regular Season
3/3/1987*		at Dayton	W 78–72	28–8	UD Arena Dayton, OH
1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
3/13/1987*	(10 E)	vs. (7 E) West Virginia First Round	W 64–62	29–8	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
3/15/1987*	(10 E)	at (2 E) No. 10 Syracuse Second Round	L 86–104	29–9	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll (E#) during NCAA Tournament is seed. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References[edit]

^ "1986-87 Men's Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^ "UNLV Overcomes 21-Point Deficit, Wins NIT Classic". The Washington Post. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
^ "Tops to welcome back 1985-86, '86-87 squads Saturday". The Daily News. February 6, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
^ 1987 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 2 May 2020
^ 2016-17 SBC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 28 April 2020
^ 1986-87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 2 May 2020

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[1] "1986-87 Men's Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2024.

[2] "UNLV Overcomes 21-Point Deficit, Wins NIT Classic". The Washington Post. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 17, 2018.

[3] "Tops to welcome back 1985-86, '86-87 squads Saturday". The Daily News. February 6, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2020.

[4] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[5] 1987 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 2 May 2020

[6] 2016-17 SBC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 28 April 2020

[7] 1986-87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 2 May 2020

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v t e Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Venues	Red Barn (1920–1931) Health & Physical Education Building (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1914–15 1915–16 1916–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1986–87 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Sun Belt Conference Champion Wendy's Classic Champion Chaminade Classic Champion
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	29–9 (12–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Murray Arnold
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →