Untitled-1 1 3/22/18 3:18 PM WKU NIT HISTORY 14 APPEARANCES (12-14 RECORD) NIT NOTES Year Location Date Opponent Result HILLTOPPERS IN THE NIT 1942 New York City 03/19 CCNY W, 49-46 WKU has a 12-14 all-time record in the NIT in 14 (runner-up) 03/23 Creighton W, 49-36 appearances. The Hilltoppers appeared in the 03/25 West Virginia L, 45-47 tournament nine times between 1942-54, fin- 1943 New York City 03/22 Fordham L, 58-60 ishing in the top four on three occasions. Since 1948 New York City 03/12 La Salle W, 68-61 1982, WKU is 4-5 in the NIT and has won three (third) 03/15 St. Louis L, 53-60 games in the event this season for the first time 03/17 DePaul W, 61-59 in program history. The Hilltoppers have not 1949 New York City 03/14 Bradley L, 86-95 played in New York in the NIT since 1965. 1950 New York City 03/11 Niagara W, 70-72 03/13 St. John’s L, 60-69 STANSBURY IN THE NIT 1952 New York City 03/08 Louisville W, 62-59 This is WKU head coach Rick Stansbury’s sixth 03/10 St. Bonaventure L, 69-70 appearance in the NIT following five appear- 1953 New York City 03/10 Duquesne L, 61-69 ances during his 14-year tenure as head coach 1954 New York City 03/08 Bowling Green State W, 95-81 at Mississippi State. Stansbury has a 7-3 all-time (fourth) 03/11 Holy Cross L, 69-75 record over the first two rounds of the NIT, in- 03/13 Niagara L, 65-71 cluding a 4-2 mark in the first round. His teams’ 1965 New York City 03/13 Fordham W, 57-53 best showing before this season came in 2007, 03/16 Army L, 54-58 when Mississippi State won three games be- 1982 West Lafayette, Ind. 03/10 Purdue L, 65-72 fore falling by one point to West Virginia in the 1992 Manhattan, Kan. 03/18 Kansas State L, 74-85 semifinals in New York. 2005 Bowling Green, Ky. 03/16 Kent State W, 88-80 (ot) Wichita, Kan. 03/19 Wichita State L, 81-84 KEEPING THE SEASON ALIVE 2006 Columbia, S.C. 03/15 South Carolina L, 55-74 With its semifinal game against Utah in the NIT 2018 Bowling Green, Ky. 03/13 Boston College W, 79-62 semifinals, WKU will tie the program record Los Angeles, Calif. 03/19 USC W, 79-75 for games in a season with 38. This is just the Stillwater, Okla. 03/21 Oklahoma State W, 92-84 second time in Hilltopper history that a team has won three or more games in a postseason tournament, joining the 1971 NCAA tourney. STANSBURY NIT HISTORY 6 APPEARANCES WITH MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-5 RECORD) A BIG 12 CHALLENGE Year Location Date Opponent Result WKU’s victory at Oklahoma State on March 1999 Fort Collins, Colo. 03/10 Colorado State L, 69-56 21 gave the Hilltoppers a 6-16 all-time record 2001 Starkville, Miss. 03/14 Southern Miss W, 75-68 against the current Big 12 membership. Stans- Pittsburgh, Pa. 03/19 Pittsburgh W, 66-61 bury is 3-5 all-time against current Big 12 mem- Starkville, Miss. 03/21 Tulsa L, 77-75 bers. The victory was WKU’s first win against a 2007 Starkville, Miss. 03/13 Mississippi Valley State W, 82-63 current Big 12 member since a 64-62 victory Starkville, Miss. 03/17 Bradley W, 101-72 over West Virginia in the 1987 NCAA Tourna- Starkville, Miss. 03/20 Florida State W, 86-71 ment. It was just the program’s second road New York City 03/27 West Virginia L, 63-62 win ever over a current Big 12 member, follow- (semifinals) ing a 94-84 win at Baylor on Dec. 2, 1971. 2010 Starkville, Miss. 03/16 Jackson State W, 81-67 Starkville, Miss. 03/20 North Carolina L, 76-74 HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT 2012 Starkville, Miss. 03/13 Massachusetts L, 101-96 (2OT) WKU’s victory at Oklahoma State in front of 2018 Bowling Green, Ky. 03/13 Boston College W, 79-62 11,308 fans was the largest crowd the Hilltop- Los Angeles, Calif. 03/19 USC W, 79-75 pers have won in front of since beating No. 24 Stillwater, Okla. 03/21 Oklahoma State W, 92-84 Vanderbilt in front of 14,516 in Nashville on Dec. 11, 2009. Coming into the game, Okla- homa State was 214-8 in nonconference home HOME SWEET HOME games since 1989 – a winning percentage of WKU’s NIT-opening win over Boston College on March 96.4 percent. 13 was just the second time that it’s hosted an NIT game, the first an 88-80 overtime victory over Kent State in the PUTTING YOURSELF IN POSITION 2005 first round. The Hilltoppers have also once hosted This is WKU’s first postseason berth since 2013, an NCAA Tournament game, an overtime loss to Virginia when the Hilltoppers advanced to their 22nd Tech in 1980. The win over Boston College was the first NCAA Tournament. The program has appeared time WKU has both hosted and beaten an ACC team other in either the NCAA tourney or the NIT on 35 to- than Louisville since defeating Virginia on Jan. 2, 2006. The tal occasions, and it has won at least one game Hilltoppers’ attendance of 6,176 was the second-highest in five of its last seven postseason trips. WKU of the NIT first round behind Louisville. has an RPI of 39, which would be its highest to finish a season since 2007. It would also be just ACC COMES TO TOWN the Hilltoppers’ third sub-40 RPI in 20 years. The Boston College win was the 12th time that WKU has hosted a current ACC member other than in-state foe HOLLYWOOD MAGIC Louisville. The Hilltoppers are now 7-5 in those contests. WKU’s 79-75 win at USC on March 19 in the Including Louisville, WKU has hosted current ACC mem- second round was the program’s first-ever bers 38 times with a 23-15 record. The program is 58-61 road win against a Pac-12 foe, and its first win all-time in games against current ACC members, while against a Pac-12 team overall since beating head coach Rick Stansbury has a 5-8 record against the USC at home in 1986. The Hilltoppers are 4-6 league. The win over Boston College was WKU’s first vic- all-time against the current Pac-12 member- tory over a current ACC member since knocking off ship, while Stansbury is 6-7 against current No. 3 Louisville on Nov. 30, 2008. Pac-12 schools. HILLTOPPERS IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Fans welcomed back E.A. Diddle and the 1941-42 Hilltoppers after their NIT runner-up showing at Madison Square Garden in New York City SUCCESS IN THE GARDEN The semifinals and the championship of the NIT are played at Madison Square HOME OF ONE OF THE WKU GREATS Garden in New York. The Hilltoppers have a long history in Madison Square Garden, starting with finishing as the postseason NIT runner-up in 1941-42. HILLTOPPER LEGEND COURTNEY LEE WKU is 19-21 all-time at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” most recently de- WKU has been represented for a decade in the NBA by Hilltopper legend Courtney feating Saint Joseph’s 62-59 in the Preseason NIT in 2014-15. That was WKU’s Lee. After helping lead WKU as far as the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, Lee has found first game in the venue since 1986-87. In addition to nine appearances at a long-term home in basketball’s finest league. Madison Square Garden in the postseason NIT from 1942-65, the Hilltoppers regularly traveled to the city in November or December to face Seton Hall, St. Lee is in his 10th year in the NBA, making him the longest-tenured Hilltopper in the Francis or Long Island, among others, during the 1940s and 1950s. NBA in program history. He was the 22nd overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. The journeyman has been with seven teams during his pro career, most recently signing a lucrative free- agent contract with the New York Knicks in July 2016. Lee is averaging 12.2 points per game for the Knicks this season while shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line and almost 92 percent from the free-throw stripe. Before heading to New York, Lee made a splash at the end of the 2015-16 season after a trade to the Charlotte Hornets. Lee started all 28 games he played for the Hornets, averaging 8.9 points per game while continuing his reputation as a trusty 3-point shooter and a lockdown defender. He was considered a key piece of a team that took the Miami Heat to seven games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The 6-foot-5 guard from Indianapolis has also played for the Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies. But before that, he became one of the best players to ever take the court for the Hilltoppers. Lee had his No. 32 jersey retired by WKU during the 2014-15 season. He’s the 10th player associated with the men’s basketball program with a jersey hanging in the rafters of E.A.