1966–67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1966–67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1966–67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Ohio Valley Conference Champion; OVC Tournament Champion; Hurricane Classic Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 6
Record	23–3 (13–1 OVC)
Head coach	John Oldham;
Assistant coach	Gene Rhodes
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
	Seasons ← 1965–66 1967–68 →

The 1966–67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1966-67 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by coach John Oldham and consensus All-American player Clem Haskins.^[1] WKU won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and season championship, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, where they lost to the eventual runner-up, Dayton, in overtime.^[2] The conference tournament was held in December and had no impact on the conference standing, the conference bid to the NCAA was awarded to the season champion.^[3] The Hilltoppers had the misfortune of having their star player, Haskins, break his wrist during the February 6th game against Murray State. He missed the next 5 games but returned to finish the season playing in a cast, which limited his effectiveness.^[4]

Haskins was OVC Player of the Year and was joined on the All-Conference team by Wayne Chapman, Dwight Smith, and Greg Smith; Haskins, Chapman, and Dwight Smith were also named to the OVC Tournament team.^[5] This team was one of the most talented in school history with several players being drafted by the NBA and ABA including Haskins, Dwight Smith, Greg Smith, Chapman, and Butch Kaufman.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Schedule

^[9]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
12/1/1966*	No. 8	Vanderbilt	L 70–76	0–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/3/1966*	No. 8	at Memphis State	W 52–44	1–1	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN
12/10/1966*		Tampa	W 123–57	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/15/1966*		Pan American	W 78–64	3–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/17/1966*		at Butler	W 81–68	4–1	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
12/19/1966		vs. Murray State OVC Tournament	W 94–83	5–1	Convention Center Louisville, KY
12/20/1966		vs. Morehead State OVC Tournament Semifinal	W 80–77 ^OT	6–1	Convention Center Louisville, KY
12/21/1966		vs. East Tennessee OVC Tournament Final	W 72–59	7–1	Convention Center Louisville, KY
12/27/1966*		vs. Holy Cross Hurricane Classic	W 90–84	8–1	Miami Beach Convention Center Miami Beach, FL
12/28/1966*		at Miami Hurricane Classic	W 94–89	9–1	Miami Beach Convention Center Miami Beach, FL
1/7/1967		at Tennessee Tech	W 91–80	10–1 (1-0)	Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN
1/9/1967		at East Tennessee	W 63–61	11–1 (2-0)	Brooks Gymnasium Johnson City, TN
1/14/1967		Eastern Kentucky	W 116–71	12–1 (3-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/16/1967		Morehead State	W 100–69	13–1 (4-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/21/1967*		at La Salle	W 95–86	14–1	Palestra Philadelphia, PA
1/30/1967	No. 8	at Austin Peay	W 101–59	15–1 (5-0)	Memorial Health Gymnasium Clarksville, TN
2/4/1967	No. 8	at Middle Tennessee	W 95–62	16–1 (6-0)	Alumni Memorial Gym Murfreesboro, TN
2/6/1967	No. 8	Murray State Haskins injured	W 88–79 ^OT	17–1 (7-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/11/1967	No. 6	East Tennessee	W 65–56	18–1 (8-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/13/1967	No. 6	Tennessee Tech	W 80–71	19–1 (9-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/18/1967	No. 5	at Morehead State	W 89–70	20–1 (10-0)	Wetherby Gymnasium Morehead, KY
2/20/1967	No. 5	at Eastern Kentucky	W 71–62	21–1 (11-0)	Alumni Coliseum Richmond, KY
2/25/1967	No. 3	at Murray State	L 69–75	21–2 (11-1)	Racer Arena Murray, KY
2/27/1967	No. 3	Austin Peay Haskins returns	W 116–76	22–2 (12-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/4/1967	No. 6	Middle Tennessee	W 55–46	23–2 (13-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1967 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
3/11/1967*	No. 6	vs. Dayton Mideast Region First Round	L 67–69 ^OT	23–3	Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

^ Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
^ Haskins, Chapman reflect on special WKU squads from 1965-66, '66-67, By ZACH GREENWEL, The Bowling Green Daily News.com, Feb 20, 2016 retrieved 10 May 2020
^ 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
^ Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
^ 1967 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 10 May 2020
^ 1968 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 10 May 2020
^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.
^ 1966-67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 10 May 2020

[Ruby-1] Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.

[2] Haskins, Chapman reflect on special WKU squads from 1965-66, '66-67, By ZACH GREENWEL, The Bowling Green Daily News.com, Feb 20, 2016 retrieved 10 May 2020

[3] 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020

[Harrison-4] Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.

[5] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[6] 1967 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 10 May 2020

[7] 1968 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 10 May 2020

[Bradley-8] Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.

[9] 1966-67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 10 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 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1966–67 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Ohio Valley Conference Champion OVC Tournament Champion Hurricane Classic Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 6
Record	23–3 (13–1 OVC)
Head coach	John Oldham
Assistant coach	Gene Rhodes
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 1965–66 1967–68 →