# 2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 2012–13 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by head coach Ray Harper which was his first full year after coaching the final 19 games in 2011–12. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena and were members of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–16, 10–10 in Sun Belt play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They were champions of the Sun Belt tournament, winning the championship game over FIU, to earn an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA tournament where they lost in the second round to Kansas. T. J. Price and George Fant made the All-Conference Team; Fant and Brandon Harris were selected to the SBC Tournament Team, and Price was tournament MVP.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2012* 7:00 pm | | Campbellsville | W 84–46 | | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,671) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/03/2012* 7:00 pm | | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 83–71 | | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,576) Bowling Green, KY |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/10/2012* 7:30 pm | | at Southern Miss | L 64–67 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (7,097) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 11/13/2012* 7:00 pm | | Austin Peay Cancún Challenge | W 74–54 | 1–1 | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,160) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/17/2012* 7:30 pm | | Western Carolina Cancún Challenge | W 92–81 | 2–1 | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,124) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/20/2012* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Iowa Cancún Challenge Semifinals | L 55–63 | 2–2 | Moon Palace Resort (902) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/21/2012* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. DePaul Cancún Challenge 3rd Place Game | W 70–61 | 3–2 | Moon Palace Resort (902) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/24/2012* 7:30 pm | | Brescia | W 74–46 | 4–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,062) Bowling Green, KY |
| 11/29/2012 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 65–54 | 5–2 (1–0) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,517) Monroe, LA |
| 12/01/2012 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Troy | W 75–71 | 6–2 (2–0) | Trojan Arena (1,121) Troy, AL |
| 12/05/2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 58–57 | 7–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,833) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/08/2012* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | IUPUI | W 77–57 | 8–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,255) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/16/2012* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Murray State | L 70–75 | 8–3 | CFSB Center (7,080) Murray, KY |
| 12/18/2012* 6:00 pm, NBCSN | | at VCU | L 44–76 | 8–4 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| 12/22/2012* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 5 Louisville | L 55–78 $^{Vacated}$ | 8–5 | Bridgestone Arena (10,728) Nashville, TN |
| 12/27/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | FIU | W 76–63 | 9–5 (3–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,461) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/29/2012 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Texas | W 70–64 | 10–5 (4–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,776) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/03/2013 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Arkansas–Little Rock | L 67–75 | 10–6 (4–1) | Jack Stephens Center (3,871) Little Rock, AR |
| 01/05/2013 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | | at Arkansas State | L 61–75 | 10–7 (4–2) | Convocation Center (2,922) Jonesboro, AR |
| 01/12/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida Atlantic | L 62–65 | 10–8 (4–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,823) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/17/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana–Lafayette | W 72–49 | 11–8 (5–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,914) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/19/2013 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Arkansas–Little Rock | L 54–59 | 11–9 (5–4) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,221) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/24/2013 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Alabama | L 57–65 | 11–10 (5–5) | Mitchell Center (2,335) Mobile, AL |
| 01/26/2013 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Middle Tennessee | L 53–72 | 11–11 (5–6) | Murphy Center (10,105) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/31/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Troy | W 65–61 | 12–11 (6–6) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,244) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/07/2013 7:00 pm | | at North Texas | W 70–59 | 13–11 (7–6) | The Super Pit (3,528) Denton, TX |
| 02/09/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Arkansas State | L 49–67 | 13–12 (7–7) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,862) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/14/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Florida Atlantic | L 78–84 | 13–13 (7–8) | FAU Arena (1,331) Boca Raton, FL |
| 02/16/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at FIU | L 82–87 | 13–14 (7–9) | U.S. Century Bank Arena (1,422) Miami, FL |
| 02/21/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 75–57 | 14–14 (8–9) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,623) Bowling Green, KY |
| 02/23/2013 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Louisiana–Lafayette | W 88–77 | 15–14 (9–9) | Cajundome (2,947) Lafayette, LA |
| 02/28/2013 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | South Alabama | W 79–73 | 16–14 (10–9) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,024) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/02/2013 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Middle Tennessee | L 62–70 | 16–15 (10–10) | E. A. Diddle Arena (7,326) Bowling Green, KY |
| 2013 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2013 6:00 pm | (6) | vs. (11) Louisiana–Monroe First Round | W 74–60 | 17–15 | Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR |
| 03/09/2013 8:30 pm | (6) | vs. (3) South Alabama Quarterfinals | W 62–59 | 18–15 | Convention Center Court (N/A) Hot Springs, AR |
| 03/10/2013 9:18 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (2) Arkansas State Semifinals | W 58–56 | 19–15 | Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR |
| 03/11/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN | (6) | vs. (4) FIU Championship game | W 65–63 | 20–15 | Summit Arena (N/A) Hot Springs, AR |
| 2013 NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/22/2013* 9:07 pm, TNT | (16 S) | vs. (1 S) No. 3 Kansas Second Round | L 57–64 | 20–16 | Sprint Center (18,488) Kansas City, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South Louisville’s win was later vacated by the NCAA due to recruiting violations by the Louisville basketball program.. ||||||