| 1952 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 |
| Finals Site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions | Southwest Missouri State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Fab Four) |
| Runner-Up | Murray State (2nd title game, 4th Fab Four) |
| Semifinalists | Southwest Texas State Portland |
| Chuck Taylor MVP | Bennie Purcell (Murray State) |
The 1952 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 15th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. [1] In 1952, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) changes its name to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) [2]
The championship game featured Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State University, who defeated Murray State, 73–64.
Finishing out the NAIA Final Four, and playing for the 3rd place game were Southwest Texas State, now Texas State University–San Marcos, and Portland. The Bears of Southwest Missouri State defeated the Pilots of Portland, 78–68.
A notorious game happened in the first round between Moringside and Pepperdine. There was a tournament record of forty personal fouls between the two teams in one game. Incidentally, Morningside would win the game 84 to 80.
Many of the records set by the 1952 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
| First Round | Second Round | Elite Eight | NAIA National Semifinals | NAIA National Championship | |||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| American International | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hamline | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hamline | 91 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tampa | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hamline | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOP TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Findlay | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis State | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis State | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Baltimore | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 88 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Liberty State | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 73* | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary (LA) | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOP TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Whitworth | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Whitworth | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Whitewater State | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Whitworth | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Millikin | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Millikin | 101 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elon | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 73 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 87 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chadron State | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fairleigh Dickinson | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 87 | ||||||||||||||||||
| BOTTOM TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Morningside | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Morningside | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Morningside | 98 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Illinois State | 93 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Illinois State | 113 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huron | 78 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State | 67** | ||||||||||||||||||
| Utah State | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Clarion State | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Utah State | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence Tech | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence Tech | 97 | NAIA Third Place Game | |||||||||||||||||
| Washburn | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence Tech | 57 | Portland | 68 | ||||||||||||||||
| BOTTOM TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State | 65 | Southwest Texas State | 78 | ||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico A&M | 86 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi Southern | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico A&M | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State | 97 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas Tech | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1981 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 44th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Bethany Nazarene College and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It was the first time the championship game that went into overtime. Bethany Nazarene edged out Alabama-Huntsville with the final score of 86-85 (OT). 1981 was also the first year the NAIA held a women's national basketball championship tournament. For the second time since 1963, the year the award was established, there was a tie for the leading scorer. Todd Thurman, and George Torres both scored 104 over course of the 1981 tournament. There have been no ties since. And for the first time since the Coach of the Year Award was established, Ken Anderson, won Coach of the Year for the second time. No other coach has won the award twice.
The 1947 NAIA National Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 10th annual men's basketball tournament of what is now the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1948 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 11th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1949 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 12th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1950 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 13th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1951 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 14th Annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1953 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 16th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1954 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1955 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 18th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1956 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 19th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. 1956 would be the last tournament with unseeded teams.
The 1957 NAIA Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 20th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1958 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 21st annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1959 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 22nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 1959 Tournament is the first tournament to use the 16-seed system, which was used until the 2015.
The 1960 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 23rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1961 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured the 13th seeded Grambling and the third seeded Georgetown. For the first time since seeding, in 1958, the third place game featured the first and second seeds, Northern Michigan, and Westminster.
The 1963 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 11–16 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 26th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This tournament did not feature any games going into overtime. This was the first tournament to feature a Leading Scorer, and Leading Rebounder awards. They were presented to Mel Gibson, Willis Reed and Lucious Jackson respectively. In the inaugural year of the Leading Scorer award, there was a tie. This would not happen again until 1981.
The 1964 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 27th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. It was the first time the leading rebounder was also the leading scorer, Lucious Jackson of runner-up Pan American (Texas). Lucious was also named tournament Most Valuable Player, which made him the third player to receive the award back to back.
The 1965 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 28th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This is the first tournament since 1947 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA Semifinals.. It was the longest gap up until it was eclipsed by the gap between 1969-2001 which featured 1 or more repeating semi-finalist each year. It was the second time the number one seed has won the tournament.
The 1966 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 29th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This tournament featured the game with the most points scored. Al Tucker received the MVP award for the second time this year.
The 1970 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 33rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.