1978–79 Eastern Kentucky Colonels basketball team

The 1978–79 Eastern Kentucky Colonels basketball team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonels, led by second-year head coach Ed Byhre, played their home games at McBrayer Arena within Alumni Coliseum and were members of the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 21–8, 9–3 in OVC play to finish in first place. They were champions of the OVC tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the opening round to No. 8 seed Tennessee.^[1]

1978–79 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball
Ohio Valley tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Division	East Division
Record	21–8 (9–3 OVC)
Head coach	Ed Byhre
Home arena	Alumni Coliseum
Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Kentucky †	9	–	3		.750			21	–	8		.724
Western Kentucky	7	–	5		.583			17	–	11		.607
Morehead State	7	–	5		.583			14	–	13		.519
Middle Tennessee	7	–	5		.583			16	–	11		.593
Tennessee Tech	7	–	5		.583			11	–	15		.423
Austin Peay	3	–	9		.250			8	–	18		.308
Murray State	2	–	10		.167			4	–	22		.154
† 1979 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1978–79 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 5 James Tillman 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr Washington, D.C.	Head coach Ed Byhre Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1978*		Ball State	W 88–86	1–0	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Dec 1, 1978*		at Missouri	L 81–82	1–1	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 4, 1978*		Dayton	W 72–70	2–1	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Dec 9, 1978*		Butler	W 104–81	3–1	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Dec 16, 1978*		at Charlotte	W 86–80	4–1	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 20, 1978*		at Nevada	L 84–116	4–2	Centennial Coliseum  Reno, Nevada
Dec 21, 1978*		vs. Fresno State	W 84–78	5–2	Centennial Coliseum  Reno, Nevada
Jan 3, 1979*		at Toledo	L 57–82	5–3	John F. Savage Hall  Toledo, Ohio
Jan 8, 1979*		at Middle Tennessee	W 81–77	6–3	Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Jan 13, 1979*		Austin Peay	W 82–73	7–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Jan 15, 1979*		Murray State	W 73–69	8–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Jan 20, 1979*		Tennessee Tech	W 112–84	9–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Jan 27, 1979*		Morehead State	W 97–95	10–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Jan 29, 1979*		at Western Kentucky	L 65–70	10–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, Kentucky
Feb 3, 1979*		Middle Tennessee	W 84–83	11–4	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Feb 5, 1979*		Western Kentucky	L 77–78	11–5	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Feb 10, 1979*		at Austin Peay	W 69–57	12–5	Dunn Center  Clarksville, Tennessee
Feb 12, 1979*		at Murray State	W 87–76	13–5	Racer Arena  Murray, Kentucky
Feb 15, 1979*		vs. West Virginia	W 93–91	14–5	Charleston Civic Center  Charleston, West Virginia
Feb 19, 1979*		at Tennessee Tech	W 100–72	15–5	Eblen Center  Cookeville, Tennessee
Feb 24, 1979*		at Morehead State	L 91–98	15–6	Wetherby Gymnasium  Morehead, Kentucky
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
Mar 2, 1979*		Middle Tennessee Semifinals	W 90–81	20–7	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
Mar 3, 1979*		Western Kentucky Championship game	W 78–77	21–7	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, Kentucky
NCAA tournament
Mar 9, 1979*	(9 ME)	vs. (8 ME) No. 20 Tennessee First round	L 81–97	21–8	Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, Tennessee
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll, (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. "Hansbrough's double-double helps UNC put away Colonels". ESPN. March 16, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
2. "1978–79 Eastern Kentucky Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
3. "1978-79 Men's Basketball Schedule".