2002–03 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2002–03 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Dennis Felton and All Sun Belt Conference forward, David Boyden.^[1] They finished 1st in the SBC East Division and won the conference tournament and automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[2] Joining Boyden on the All SBC team was Mike Wells and Patrick Sparks, as well as SBC Freshman of the Year, Anthony Winchester. Boyden and Wells also made the SBC All-Tournament team and Sparks was tournament MVP.^[3]

2002–03 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
SBC Tournament Champion SBC East Division Champion
NCAA Tournament, first round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Record	24–9 (12–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Dennis Felton
Assistant coach	Pete Herrmann
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Western Kentucky †	12	–	2		.857			24	–	9		.727
Middle Tennessee	9	–	5		.643			16	–	14		.533
Arkansas-Little Rock	8	–	6		.571			18	–	12		.600
Arkansas State	6	–	8		.429			13	–	15		.464
Florida International	1	–	13		.071			8	–	21		.276
West
Louisiana–Lafayette	12	–	3		.800			20	–	10		.667
New Mexico State	9	–	6		.600			20	–	9		.690
South Alabama	7	–	8		.467			14	–	14		.500
New Orleans	7	–	8		.467			15	–	14		.517
Denver	7	–	8		.467			17	–	15		.531
North Texas	2	–	13		.133			7	–	21		.250
† 2003 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Schedule

^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/23/2002*	No. 19	at No. 1 Arizona	L 68–107	0–1	McKale Center (14,584) Tucson, AZ
11/26/2002*		VCU	W 80–73 ^OT	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,131) Bowling Green, KY
12/1/2002*		vs. Auburn	W 89–70	2–1	Gaylord Entertainment Center (6,589) Nashville, TN
12/3/2002*		at Evansville	L 76–81 ^OT	2–2	Roberts Municipal Stadium (6,900) Evansville, IN
12/7/2002*		at Murray State	L 72–83	2–3	CFSB Center (7,288) Murray, KY
12/15/2002*		Illinois State	W 63–43	3–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,130) Bowling Green, KY
12/18/2002*		Southern Mississippi	W 64–54	4–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,270) Bowling Green, KY
12/20/2002*		Saint Francis (PA)	W 80–45	5–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,641) Bowling Green, KY
12/23/2002*		at Pacific	L 57–70	5–4	Alex G. Spanos Center (2,701) Stockton, CA
12/28/2002*		vs. Chicago State Rainbow Classic	W 63–56	6–4	Stan Sheriff Center (6,097) Honolulu, HI
12/29/2002*		vs. Butler Rainbow Classic	L 60–63	6–5	Stan Sheriff Center (7,184) Honolulu, HI
12/30/2002*		vs. Tennessee Tech Rainbow Classic	W 74–51	7–5	Stan Sheriff Center (7,925) Honolulu, HI
1/4/2003		at Middle Tennessee	L 65–69	7–6 (0-1)	Murphy Center (3,804) Murfreesboro, TN
1/9/2003		at Arkansas–Little Rock	W 74–66	8–6 (1-1)	Alltel Arena (4,358) North Little Rock, AR
1/11/2003		at Arkansas State	W 77–69	9–6 (2-1)	Convocation Center (5,262) Jonesboro, AR
1/16/2003		New Orleans	W 78–59	10–6 (3-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,752) Bowling Green, KY
1/18/2003		South Alabama	W 85–69	11–6 (4-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,418) Bowling Green, KY
1/25/2003		at New Mexico State	L 82–92	11–7 (4-2)	Pan American Center (9,113) Las Cruces, NM
1/30/2003		FIU	W 63–43	12–7 (5-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,112) Bowling Green, KY
2/1/2003*		at Detroit	L 65–86	12–8	Calihan Hall (3,362) Detroit, MI
2/3/2003*		Kentucky State	W 104–70	13–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,743) Bowling Green, KY
02/5/2003		Denver	W 81–77	14–8 (6-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,707) Bowling Green, KY
2/8/2003		at North Texas	W 85–70	15–8 (7-2)	UNT Coliseum (4,212) Denton, TX
2/13/2003		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 70–51	16–8 (8-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,108) Bowling Green, KY
2/15/2003		Arkansas State	W 69–63	17–8 (9-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,312) Bowling Green, KY
2/19/2003		at FIU	W 71–58	18–8 (10-2)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (689) University Park, FL
2/22/2003*		Ball State Bracket Buster	W 84–79	19–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,112) Bowling Green, KY
2/26/2003		at Louisiana–Lafayette	W 69–66	20–8 (11-2)	Cajundome (9,121) Lafayette, LA
3/1/2003		Middle Tennessee	W 85–83 ^OT	21–8 (12-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,412) Bowling Green, KY
2003 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
3/8/2003	(E1)	(E5) FIU Second Round	W 71–60	22–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,259) Bowling Green, KY
3/10/2003	(E1)	(W2) New Mexico State Semifinals	W 78–59	23–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,337) Bowling Green, KY
3/11/2003	(E1)	(E2) Middle Tennessee Finals	W 64–52	24–8	E. A. Diddle Arena (8,118) Bowling Green, KY
2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
03/20/2003*	(13 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 11 Illinois First Round	L 60–65	24–9	RCA Dome (21,250) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll (W#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[5]

References

1. SBC 2016-17 Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 28 April 2020
2. Hilltoppers three-peat!, By the Daily News Online, Mar 12, 2003, retrieved 29 April 2020
3. WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. 2002-03 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 29 April 2020
5. "2002-2003 Men's Basketball Statistics" (PDF). WKU Sports.