2007–08 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2007–08 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Darrin Horn and by future NBA player Courtney Lee. They were members of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference and finished the season 29–7 with a 16–2 record in Sun Belt play to finish tied for first in the East Division.^[1] The team won the Sun Belt Basketball tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.^[2] Western Kentucky finished ranked 22nd in the postseason ESPN/USA Today Poll. Lee was SBC Player of the year and was joined by Tyrone Brazelton on the All SBC team. Jeremy Evans was SBC Tournament Most Valuable Player, Lee and Brazelton also made the All-Tournament team. Brazelton was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Region Team.^[3]

2007–08 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Sun Belt Conference tournament Champion Sun Belt Conference East Division Co-Champion
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
Record	29–7 (16–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Darrin Horn
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 2006–07 2008–09 →

2007–08 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
South Alabama	16	–	2		.889			26	–	7		.788
Western Kentucky †	16	–	2		.889			29	–	7		.806
Middle Tennessee	11	–	7		.611			17	–	15		.531
Florida Atlantic	8	–	10		.444			15	–	18		.455
Florida International	6	–	12		.333			9	–	20		.310
Troy	4	–	14		.222			12	–	19		.387
West
Arkansas-Little Rock	11	–	7		.611			20	–	11		.645
Louisiana–Lafayette	11	–	7		.611			15	–	15		.500
North Texas	10	–	8		.556			20	–	11		.645
New Orleans	8	–	10		.444			19	–	13		.594
Denver	7	–	11		.389			11	–	19		.367
Arkansas State	5	–	13		.278			10	–	20		.333
Louisiana–Monroe	4	–	14		.222			10	–	21		.323
† 2008 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/09/2007*		Kennesaw State	W 96–61	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,271) Bowling Green, KY
11/13/2007*		Kentucky Wesleyan	W 88–67	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,848) Bowling Green, KY
11/17/2007*		Murray State	W 87–63	3–0	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,566) Bowling Green, KY
11/22/2007*		vs. No. 14 Gonzaga Great Alaska Shootout	L 71–74	3–1	Sullivan Arena (8,383) Anchorage, AK
11/23/2007*		at Alaska Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout	W 71–67	4–1	Sullivan Arena (6,904) Anchorage, AK
11/23/2007*		vs. Michigan Great Alaska Shootout	W 73–69	5–1	Sullivan Arena (7,043) Anchorage, AK
12/01/2007*		at Northern Arizona	L 61–64	5–2	Walkup Skydome (1,269) Flagstaff, AZ
12/5/2007*		Nebraska	W 69–62 ^OT	6–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,809) Bowling Green, KY
12/8/2007*		at Eastern Kentucky	W 77–60	7–2	Alumni Coliseum (4,900) Richmond, VA
12/15/2007*		vs. No. 11 Tennessee Sun Belt Classic	L 82–88	7–3	Sommet Center (18,071) Nashville, TN
12/18/2007*		North Carolina Central	W 84–53	8–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,879) Bowling Green, KY
12/22/2007*		at Southern Illinois	L 78–88	8–4	Banterra Center (6,010) Carbondale, IL
12/29/2007		at Troy	W 94–90	9–4 (1–0)	Sartain Hall (1,932) Troy, AL
01/2/2008		Middle Tennessee	W 62–51	10–4 (2–0)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,186) Bowling Green, KY
1/5/2008		at South Alabama	L 61–65	10–5 (2–1)	Mitchell Center (6,783) Mobile, AL
01/10/2008		at ULM	W 71–44	11–5 (3–1)	Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,610) Monroe, LA
01/12/2008		FIU	W 76–60	12–5 (4–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,071) Bowling Green, KY
01/16/2008		Florida Atlantic	W 80–62	13–5 (5–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,291) Bowling Green, KY
01/19/2008		at Louisiana–Lafayette	W 69–66	14–5 (6–1)	Cajundome (6,190) Lafayette, LA
01/23/2008		at New Orleans	W 73–55	15–5 (7–1)	Lakefront Arena (1,099) New Orleans, LA
01/27/2008		Arkansas State	W 77–68	16–5 (8–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,109) Bowling Green, KY
1/31/2008		Arkansas–Little Rock	W 71–47	17–5 (9–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,022) Bowling Green, KY
02/2/2008		Denver	W 78–64	18–5 (10–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,567) Bowling Green, KY
02/7/2008 7:00 pm		at North Texas	W 94–84	19–5 (11–1)	The Super Pit (3,246) Denton, TX
2/13/2008		Troy	W 92–57	20–5 (12–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,803) Bowling Green, KY
02/16/2008		at Middle Tennessee	W 71–66	21–5 (13–1)	Murphy Center (5,307) Murfreesboro, TN
02/21/2008		South Alabama	L 64–69	21–6 (13–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (7,718) Bowling Green, KY
02/23/2008		ULM	W 86–75	22–6 (14–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,750) Bowling Green, KY
2/27/2008		at FIU	W 69–54	23–6 (15–2)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (709) University Park, FL
3/1/2008		at Florida Atlantic	W 88–78	24–6 (16–2)	FAU Arena (802) Boca Raton, FL
2008 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
03/09/2008 9:15 pm	(3)	vs. (6) North Texas Second Round	W 84–70	25–6	Mitchell Center (4,734) Mobile, AL
03/10/2008	(3)	vs. (2) Arkansas–Little Rock Semifinals	W 70–55	26–6	Mitchell Center (6,397) Mobile, AL
03/11/2008	(3)	vs. (4) Middle Tennessee Championship	W 67–57	27–6	Mitchell Center (5,234) Mobile, AL
2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
03/21/2008*	(12 W)	vs. (5 W) No. 14 Drake First Round	W 101–99 ^OT	28–6	St. Pete Times Forum (15,920) Tampa, FL
03/23/2008*	(12 W)	vs. (13 W) San Diego Second Round	W 72–63	29–6	St. Pete Times Forum (14,504) Tampa, FL
03/27/2008*	(12 W)	vs. (1 W) No. 3 UCLA Sweet Sixteen	L 78–88	29–7	US Airways Center (18,103) Phoenix, AZ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll (W) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[5]

References

1. SBC 2016-17 Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 28 April 2020
2. Western wins spot in NCAA Sweet Sixteen, By ROB HERBST, the Daily News Online, Mar 23, 2008, retrieved 29 April 2020
3. WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. 2007-08 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 29 April 2020
5. "2007-2008 WKU Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). WKU Sports.