1952 NCAA basketball tournament

1952 NCAA basketball tournament

Season	1951–52
Teams	16
Finals site	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington
Champions	Kansas Jayhawks (1st title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	St. John's Redmen (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Illinois Fighting Illini (3rd Final Four) Santa Clara Broncos (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Phog Allen (1st title)
MOP	Clyde Lovellette (Kansas)
Attendance	115,712
Top scorer	Clyde Lovellette (Kansas) (141 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1951 1953»

The 1952 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 14th annual edition of the tournament began on March 21, 1952, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle. A total of 20 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Kansas, coached by Phog Allen, won the national title with an 80–63 victory in the final game over St. John's, coached by Frank McGuire. Clyde Lovellette of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This tournament was the first to have a true "Final Four" format, with the winners at four regional sites advancing to the final site—although the four regionals did not receive distinct names until the 1956 tournament. It was also the first to have regional television coverage.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1952 tournament:

Regionals

March 21 and 22

East-1 Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)

East-2 Regional, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois (Hosts: Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University)

West-1 Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

West-2 Regional, Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

Final Four

March 25 and 26

Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Dayton	Tom Blackburn	Independent	Regional third place	Princeton	W 77–61
East	Duquesne	Dudey Moore	Independent	Elite Eight	Illinois	L 74–68
East	Illinois	Harry Combes	Big Ten	Third Place	Santa Clara	W 67–64
East	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Elite Eight	St. John's	L 64–57
East	NC State	Everett Case	Southern	Regional third place	Penn State	W 69–60
East	Penn State	Elmer Gross	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	NC State	L 69–60
East	Princeton	Franklin Cappon	Ivy League	Regional Fourth Place	Dayton	L 77–61
East	St. John's	Frank McGuire	Metro NY	Runner-up	Kansas	L 80–63
West
West	Kansas	Phog Allen	Big 7	Champion	St. John's	W 80–63
West	New Mexico A&M	George McCarty	Border	Regional Fourth Place	TCU	L 61–44
West	Oklahoma City	Doyle Parrack	Independent	Regional third place	UCLA	W 55–53
West	Santa Clara	Bob Feerick	Independent	Fourth Place	Illinois	L 67–64
West	Saint Louis	Eddie Hickey	Missouri Valley	Elite Eight	Kansas	L 74–55
West	TCU	Buster Brannon	Southwest	Regional third place	New Mexico A&M	W 61–44
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pacific Coast	Regional Fourth Place	Oklahoma City	L 55–53
West	Wyoming	Everett Shelton	Mountain States	Elite Eight	Santa Clara	L 56–53

Bracket

East-1 regional – Raleigh, North Carolina

	Regional Semifinals March 21				Regional Finals March 22
	Kentucky	82
	Penn State	54
					Kentucky	57
					St John's	64
	St. John's	60
	NC State	49			Third place
					NC State	69
					Penn State	60

East-2 regional – Chicago, Illinois

	Regional Semifinals March 21				Regional Finals March 22
	Illinois	80
	Dayton	61
					Illinois	74
					Duquesne	68
	Duquesne	60
	Princeton	49			Third place
					Dayton	77
					Princeton	61

West-1 regional – Kansas City, Missouri

	Regional Semifinals March 21				Regional Finals March 22
	Kansas	68
	TCU	64
					Kansas	74
					Saint Louis	55
	Saint Louis	62
	New Mexico A&M	53			Third place
					TCU	61
					New Mexico A&M	44

West-2 regional – Corvallis, Oregon

	Regional Semifinals March 21				Regional Finals March 22
	Santa Clara	68
	UCLA	59
					Santa Clara	56
					Wyoming	53
	Wyoming	54
	Oklahoma City	48			Third place
					Oklahoma City	55
					UCLA	53

Final Four – Seattle, Oregon

	National Semifinals March 25					National Finals March 26
	St John's		61
	Illinois		59
						St. John's		63
						Kansas		80
	Kansas		74
	Santa Clara		55			Third place
						Illinois		67
						Santa Clara		64

Source:

See also

• 1952 National Invitation Tournament
• 1952 NAIA Basketball Tournament