2008–09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

2008–09 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
	East
	West
	† 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

2008–09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
2008–09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champion; Sun Belt Conference East Division Champion
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
2008–09 record	25–9 (15–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Ken McDonald;
Assistant coach	Ray Harper
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
	Seasons ← 2007–08 →

The 2008–09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by first year head coach Ken McDonald and team captain Orlando Mendez-Valdez. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were members of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 25–9 and 15–3 in Sun Belt Play to finish first in the East Division.^[1] One of the highlights of the season was a victory over in-state rival, 3rd ranked Louisville. The Hilltoppers won the Sun Belt Basketball Tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.^[2] They defeated Illinois in the first round before falling tenth ranked Gonzaga. Mendez-Valdez was SBC Player of the year and was joined by A.J. Slaughter on the All SBC team. Slaughter was SBC Tournament Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Mendaz-Valdez and Sergio Kerusch.^[3]

Schedule[]

^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/15/2008*		at Houston	L 64–73	0–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
11/18/2008*		Campbellsville	W 62–48	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
11/22/2008*		at Murray State	L 61–89	1–2	CFSB Center Murray, KY
11/26/2008*		Southern Illinois	W 79–70	2–2	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
11/30/2008*		vs. No. 3 Louisville	W 68–54	3–2	Sommet Center Nashville, TN
12/2/2008*		Georgia	W 67–63	4–2	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/6/2008*		at Tulane	W 82–67	5–2	Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA
12/13/2008*		at Evansville	L 40–72	5–3	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
12/18/2008		at South Alabama	W 69–66	6–3 (1–0)	Mitchell Center Mobile, AL
12/21/2008*		Alabama A&M	W 83–60	7–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/28/2008*		vs. Florida State MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic	L 69–82	7–4	BankAtlantic Center Sunrise, FL
1/1/2009		Troy	W 99–76	8–4 (2–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/3/2009		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 79–47	9–4 (3–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/5/2009*		at Mississippi State	L 67–95	9–5	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
1/8/2009		at FIU	L 79–81	9–6 (3–1)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center University Park, FL
1/10/2009		at Florida Atlantic	W 78–57	10–6 (4–1)	FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL
01/15/2009		Middle Tennessee	W 63–61	11–6 (5–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
01/17/2009		New Orleans	W 70–60	12–6 (6–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
01/22/2009		Louisiana–Lafayette	W 73–68	13–6 (7–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
01/24/2009		at Denver	L 74–78	13–7 (7–2)	Magness Arena Denver, CO
01/31/2009		North Texas	W 71–67	14–7 (8–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
02/2/2009		at Arkansas State	W 68–63	15–7 (9–2)	Convocation Center Jonesboro, AR
02/5/2009		at ULM	W 64–55	16–7 (10–2)	Fant–Ewing Coliseum Monroe, LA
02/07/2009		South Alabama	W 67–59	17–7 (11–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
02/14/2009		at Troy	L 82–87	17–8 (11–3)	Trojan Arena Troy, AL
2/19/2009		at Arkansas–Little Rock	W 78–69	18–8 (12–3)	Jack Stephens Center Little Rock, AR
02/21/2009		FIU	W 79–66	19–8 (13–3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
02/26/2009		Florida Atlantic	W 87–67	20–8 (14–3)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
02/28/2009		at Middle Tennessee	W 68–49	21–8 (15–3)	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
2009 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
03/08/2009	No. (1)	vs. No. (9) FIU Second Round	W 66–48	22–8	Summit Arena Hot Springs, AR
03/09/2009	No. (1)	vs. No. (4) North Texas Semifinals	W 77–70	23–8	Summit Arena Hot Springs, AR
03/10/2009	No. (1)	vs. No. (6) South Alabama Championship Game	W 64–56	24–8	Summit Arena Hot Springs, AR
2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
03/19/2009*	No. (S 12)	vs. No. (S 5) Illinois First Round	W 76–72	25–8	Rose Garden Arena Portland, OR
03/21/2009*	No. (S 12)	vs. No. 10 (S 4) Gonzaga Second Round	L 81–83	25–9	Rose Garden Arena Portland, OR
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll (S) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References[]

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

[2] Hilltoppers win Sun Belt Championship, Toppers book repeat engagement in NCAA Tournament By ROB HERBST, the Daily News Online, Mar 11, 2009, retrieved 29 April 2020

[3] WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[4] 2008-09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 29 April 2020

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Venues	(1920–1931) (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1914–15 1916–21 1922–23 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1975–76 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1985–86 1986–87 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2007–08 2008–09 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

2008–09 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champion Sun Belt Conference East Division Champion
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
2008–09 record	25–9 (15–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Ken McDonald
Assistant coach	Ray Harper
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2007–08 →

2008–09 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Western Kentucky †	15	–	3	.833	25	–	9	.735
Troy	14	–	4	.778	19	–	13	.594
Middle Tennessee	10	–	8	.556	18	–	14	.563
South Alabama	10	–	8	.556	20	–	13	.606
Florida International	7	–	11	.389	13	–	20	.394
Florida Atlantic	2	–	16	.111	6	–	26	.188
West
Arkansas-Little Rock	15	–	3	.833	23	–	8	.742
North Texas	11	–	7	.611	20	–	12	.625
Denver	9	–	9	.500	15	–	16	.484
Louisiana–Lafayette	7	–	11	.389	10	–	20	.333
Louisiana–Monroe	6	–	12	.333	10	–	20	.333
New Orleans	6	–	12	.333	11	–	19	.367
Arkansas State	5	–	13	.278	13	–	17	.433

† 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll