1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Season	1951–52
Teams	16
Finals site	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington
Champions	Kansas (1st title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	St. John's (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Illinois (3rd Final Four) Santa Clara (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Phog Allen (1st title)
MOP	Clyde Lovellette Kansas
Attendance	115,712
Top scorer	Clyde Lovellette Kansas (141 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1951 1953»

The 1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 21, 1952, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle, Washington. 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

East-2 Regional, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois

West-1 Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

West-2 Regional, Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

Final Four

March 25 and 26

Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	n/a	Dayton	Tom Blackburn	Regional Third Place	Princeton	W 77-61
East	n/a	Duquesne	Dudey Moore	Elite Eight	Illinois	L 74-68
East	n/a	Illinois	Harry Combes	Third Place	Santa Clara	W 67-64
East	n/a	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Elite Eight	St. John's	L 64-57
East	n/a	NC State	Everett Case	Regional Third Place	Penn State	W 69-60
East	n/a	Penn State	Elmer Gross	Regional Fourth Place	NC State	L 69-60
East	n/a	Princeton	Franklin Cappon	Regional Fourth Place	Dayton	L 77-61
East	n/a	St. John's	Frank McGuire	Runner-up	Kansas	L 80-63
West
West	n/a	Kansas	Phog Allen	Champion	St. John's	W 80-63
West	n/a	New Mexico State	George McCarty	Regional Fourth Place	TCU	L 61-44
West	n/a	Oklahoma City	Doyle Parrack	Regional Third Place	UCLA	W 55-53
West	n/a	Santa Clara	Bob Feerick	Fourth Place	Illinois	L 67-64
West	n/a	Saint Louis	Eddie Hickey	Elite Eight	Kansas	L 74-55
West	n/a	TCU	Buster Brannon	Regional Third Place	New Mexico State	W 61-44
West	n/a	UCLA	John Wooden	Regional Fourth Place	Oklahoma City	L 55-53
West	n/a	Wyoming	Everett Shelton	Elite Eight	Santa Clara	L 56-53

Bracket

	First round					Second round					National Semifinals					National Final
		Kentucky	82
		Penn St.	54
							Kentucky	57
							St John's	64
		St John's	60
		N.C. State	49
												St John's	61
	EAST REGION
												Illinois	59
		Illinois	80
		Dayton	61
							Illinois	74
							Duquesne	68
		Duquesne	60
		Princeton	49
																	St John's	63
																	Kansas	80
		Kansas	68
		TCU	64
							Kansas	74
							St. Louis	55
		St. Louis	62
		New Mexico St	53
												Kansas	74
	WEST REGION
												Santa Clara	55
		Santa Clara	68
		UCLA	59
							Santa Clara	56
							Wyoming	53
		Wyoming	54
		Oklahoma City	48

National Third Place Game

	National Third Place
	Illinois		67
	Santa Clara		64

Regional Third Place Games

East-1 Regional Third Place       N.C. State 69 Penn State 60

East-2 Regional Third Place       Dayton 77 Princeton 61

West-1 Regional Third Place       TCU 61 New Mexico State 44

West-2 Regional Third Place       Oklahoma City 55 UCLA 53

See also

• 1952 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament