2000–01 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

2000–01 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
2000–01 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Conference tournament Champion; Sun Belt Conference East Division Champion
NCAA Tournament, first round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	24–7 (14–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Dennis Felton;
Assistant coach	Pete Herrmann
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
	Seasons ← 1999–00 2001–02 →

2000–01 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Western Kentucky †	14	–	2	.875	24	–	7	.774
Arkansas State	10	–	6	.625	17	–	13	.567
Louisiana Tech	10	–	6	.625	17	–	12	.586
Arkansas-Little Rock	9	–	7	.563	18	–	11	.621
Florida International	5	–	11	.313	8	–	21	.276
Middle Tennessee	1	–	15	.063	5	–	22	.185
West
South Alabama	11	–	5	.688	22	–	11	.667
Louisiana–Lafayette	10	–	6	.625	16	–	13	.552
New Orleans	10	–	6	.625	17	–	12	.586
New Mexico State	10	–	6	.625	14	–	14	.500
Denver	5	–	11	.313	10	–	18	.357
North Texas	1	–	15	.063	4	–	24	.143

† 2001 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2000–01 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by coach Dennis Felton and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Chris Marcus.^[1] The team won the East Division Championship and the Sun Belt Basketball tournament, earning an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[2] Marcus was SBC tournament MVP and conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.^[3] Nashon McPherson joined Marcus on the SBC All-Tournament team.^[4]

Schedule

^[5]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/18/2000*		at Evansville	W 61–59	1–0	Roberts Municipal Stadium (7,904) Evansville, IN
11/21/2000*		Union (KY)	W 75–45	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,500) Bowling Green, KY
11/25/2000*		Tennessee State	W 90–66	3–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,500) Bowling Green, KY
11/28/2000*		Vanderbilt Area Bank Classic	L 66–70	3–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,500) Bowling Green, KY
12/2/2000*		at New Mexico	L 57–75	3–2	The Pit (arena) (16,518) Albuquerque, NM
12/5/2000*		at Murray State	L 81–83	3–3	CFSB Center (3,927) Murray, KY
12/9/2000*		at Louisville	W 68–65	4–3	Freedom Hall (18,427) Louisville, KY
12/16/2000*		Akron	W 73–58	5–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,000) Bowling Green, KY
12/18/2000*		Savannah State	W 103–60	6–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,100) Bowling Green, KY
12/21/2000*		Saint Joseph's (PA)	L 68–74	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,100) Bowling Green, KY
12/28/2000		at New Orleans	W 68–63	7–4 (1-0)	Lakefront Arena (697) New Orleans, LA
12/31/2000		at Denver	W 80–61	8–4 (2-0)	Magness Arena (433) Denver, CO
1/3/2001*		Asbury (KY)	W 81–29	9–4	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,400) Bowling Green, KY
1/6/2001		Louisiana–Lafayette	W 79–62	10–4 (3-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,800) Bowling Green, KY
1/10/2001		at South Alabama	L 66–74 ^OT	10–5 (3-1)	Mitchell Center (2,421) Mobile, AL
1/13/2001		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 59–49	11–5 (4-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,800) Bowling Green, KY
1/16/2001		New Mexico State	W 72–61	12–5 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,000) Bowling Green, KY
1/18/2001		Louisiana Tech	W 55–47	13–5 (6-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,300) Bowling Green, KY
1/25/2001		Arkansas State	W 79–61	14–5 (7-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,400) Bowling Green, KY
1/27/2001		at FIU	W 55–46	15–5 (8-1)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (685) University Park, FL
2/1/2001		at Middle Tennessee	W 71–63	16–5 (9-1)	Murphy Center (2,437) Murfreesboro, TN
2/3/2001		North Texas	W 107–63	17–5 (10-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,400) Bowling Green, KY
2/10/2001		at Louisiana Tech	L 72–73 ^OT	17–6 (10-2)	Thomas Assembly Center (2,879) Ruston, LA
2/15/2001		FIU	W 69–49	18–6 (11-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,500) Bowling Green, KY
2/17/2001		at Arkansas–Little Rock	W 86–73	19–6 (12-2)	Alltel Arena (5,912) North Little Rock, AR
2/22/2001		at Arkansas State	W 100–60	20–6 (13-2)	Convocation Center (6,539) Jonesboro, AR
2/24/2001		Middle Tennessee	W 92–51	21–6 (14-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,800) Bowling Green, KY
2001 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
3/3/2001	(E1)	(E5) FIU Second Round	W 68–51	22–6	Mitchell Center (4,975) Mobile, AL
3/5/2001	(E1)	(W2) Louisiana–Lafayette Semifinals	W 82–75	23–6	Mitchell Center (6,128) Mobile, AL
3/6/2001	(E1)	at (W1) South Alabama Championship	W 64–54	24–6	Mitchell Center (8,069) Mobile, AL
2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
3/16/2001*	(14 S)	vs. (3 S) No. 8 Florida First Round	L 56–69	24–7	Louisiana Superdome (10,948) New Orleans, LA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll (S#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[6]

References

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[1] What ever happened to Chris Marcus?, By ELLIOTT PRATT Daily News Apr 28, 2020, retrieved 30 April 2020

[2] Tops going dancing, By the Daily News Online, Mar 7, 2001, retrieved 28 April 2020

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

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

[5] 2000-01 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 28 April 2020

[6] "2000-2001 Men's Basketball Statistics" (PDF). WKU Sports.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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
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NCAA Final Four appearance in italics