1951 NCAA basketball tournament

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1951 NCAA basketball tournament
Season 1950–51
Teams16
Finals site Williams Arena,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champions Kentucky Wildcats (3rd title, 3rd title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-up Kansas State Wildcats (1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Adolph Rupp (3rd title)
MOP No winner selected [a]
Attendance110,645
Top scorer Don Sunderlage (Illinois)
(83 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
« 1950 1952 »

The 1951 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 13th annual edition of the tournament began on March 20, 1951, and ended with the championship game on March 27, at Williams Arena, located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. A total of 18 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Contents

Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp, won the national title with a 68–58 victory over Kansas State, coached by Jack Gardner.

This NCAA tournament was the first with a 16-team field. Only the championship and third place games were held in Minneapolis, while the semifinals were held in the respective regional sites; similar to previous years. A true "Final 4" (semifinals and final at same location) debuted the following year.

The twelve-team National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was held the previous week in New York City at Madison Square Garden, with its championship on Saturday, Mach 17. Four teams competed in both tournaments, including NIT champion BYU; [1] [2] [3] they lost in the quarterfinal round, by ten points to Kansas State. [4] [5]

The three other teams were Arizona, North Carolina State, and St. John's.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1951 tournament:

First round

March 20
Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)
Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
March 21 and 22
Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Regionals

March 22 and 24
East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)
March 23 and 24
West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Championship Game

March 27
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hosts: University of Minnesota, Big Ten Conference)

Teams

RegionTeamCoachConferenceFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East
East Columbia Lou Rossini Ivy League Sweet Sixteen Illinois L 79–71
East Connecticut Hugh Greer Yankee Sweet Sixteen St. John's L 63–52
East Illinois Harry Combes Big Ten Third Place Oklahoma A&M W 61–46
East Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern Champion Kansas State W 68–58
East Louisville Peck Hickman IndependentSweet Sixteen Kentucky L 79–68
East NC State Everett Case Southern Regional Fourth Place St. John's L 71–59
East St. John's Frank McGuire Metro NY Regional third place NC State W 71–59
East Villanova Alex Severance IndependentSweet Sixteen NC State L 67–62
West
West Arizona Fred Enke Border Sweet Sixteen Kansas State L 61–59
West BYU Stan Watts Mountain States Regional Fourth Place Washington L 80–67
West Kansas State Jack Gardner Big 7 Runner-up Kentucky L 68–58
West Montana State Brick Breeden IndependentSweet Sixteen Oklahoma A&M L 50–46
West Oklahoma A&M Henry Iba Missouri Valley Fourth Place Illinois L 61–46
West San Jose State Walt McPherson IndependentSweet Sixteen BYU L 68–61
West Texas A&M John Floyd Southwest Sweet Sixteen Washington L 62–40
West Washington Tippy Dye Pacific Coast Regional third place BYU W 80–67

Bracket

East Region – New York City

First round
March 20		Regional Semifinal
March 22		Regional Final
March 24
New York City
Illinois79
Columbia71
Illinois84
Raleigh, North Carolina
NC State70
NC State67
Villanova62
Illinois74
Raleigh, North Carolina
Kentucky76
Kentucky79
Louisville68
Kentucky59Third Place
New York City
St John's43
St John's63
St John's71
Connecticut52
NC State59

West Region – Kansas City, Missouri

First round
March 21		Regional Semifinal
March 22		Regional Final
March 24
Kansas State61
Arizona59
Kansas State64
BYU54
BYU68
San Jose State61
Kansas State68
Oklahoma A&M44
Oklahoma A&M50
Montana State46
Oklahoma A&M61Third Place
Washington57
Washington62
Washington80
Texas A&M40
BYU67


National Finals – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Source: [6]

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Hack (March 18, 1951). "BYU smashes Dayton in finale, 62-43". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. C1.
  2. ↑ Grimsley, Will (March 18, 1951). "Brigham Young cops invitational hoop title, 62-43". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. p. 1B.
  3. ↑ Miller, Hack (March 18, 1951). "BYU gets nod in NCAA cage opener". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. A11.
  4. ↑ Miller, Hack (March 24, 1951). "Kansas State dumps cold Cougars, 64-54". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. A5.
  5. ↑ "Kansas State whips BYU, 64-54". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. March 24, 1951. p. 10.
  6. ↑ "1951 NCAA basketball tournament". College Basketball Reference. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Tournament MVPs". Stevens Point Journal . Stevens Point, Wisconsin. April 8, 2003. p. 12. Retrieved August 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com. 1951 – None selected
  8. ↑ "NCAA Men's Tournament Final Four MVPs". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 8, 2003. p. E03. Retrieved August 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com. 1951: None selected
  9. 1 2 Ashford, Ed (April 7, 1951). "What Happened To NCAA's MVP Award?". Lexington Herald-Leader . Lexington, Kentucky. p. 6. Retrieved August 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
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