1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Teams	23
Finals site	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Champions	California (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	West Virginia (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Cincinnati (1st Final Four) Louisville (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Pete Newell (1st title)
MOP	Jerry West West Virginia
Attendance	161,809
Top scorer	Jerry West West Virginia (160 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1958 1960»

The 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1959, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Louisville, Kentucky. A total of 27 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

California, coached by Pete Newell, won the national title with a 71-70 victory in the final game over West Virginia, coached by Fred Schaus. Jerry West of West Virginia was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Region	Site	Other Locations
East	Charlotte, North Carolina	New York City, New York
Mideast	Evanston, Illinois	Lexington, Kentucky
Midwest	Lawrence, Kansas	Portland, Oregon
West	San Francisco, California	Las Cruces, New Mexico
Finals	Louisville, Kentucky

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	n/a	Boston University	Matt Zunic	Regional Runner-up	West Virginia	L 86-82
East	n/a	Connecticut	Hugh Greer	First round	Boston	L 60-58
East	n/a	Dartmouth	Doggie Julian	First round	West Virginia	L 82-68
East	n/a	Navy	Ben Carnevale	Regional Third Place	Saint Joseph's	W 70-56
East	n/a	North Carolina	Frank McGuire	First round	Navy	L 76-63
East	n/a	Saint Joseph's	Jack Ramsay	Regional Fourth Place	Navy	L 70-56
East	n/a	West Virginia	Fred Schaus	Runner Up	California	L 71-70
Mideast
Mideast	n/a	Bowling Green	Harold Anderson	First round	Marquette	L 89-71
Mideast	n/a	Eastern Kentucky	Paul McBrayer	First round	Louisville	L 77-63
Mideast	n/a	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Regional Third Place	Marquette	W 98-69
Mideast	n/a	Louisville	Peck Hickman	Fourth Place	Cincinnati	L 98-85
Mideast	n/a	Marquette	Eddie Hickey	Regional Fourth Place	Kentucky	L 98-69
Mideast	n/a	Michigan State	Forddy Anderson	Regional Runner-up	Louisville	L 88-81
Midwest
Midwest	n/a	Cincinnati	George Smith	Third Place	Louisville	W 98-85
Midwest	n/a	DePaul	Ray Meyer	Regional Fourth Place	TCU	L 71-65
Midwest	n/a	Kansas State	Tex Winter	Regional Runner-up	Cincinnati	L 85-75
Midwest	n/a	Portland	Al Negratti	First round	DePaul	L 57-56
Midwest	n/a	TCU	Buster Brannon	Regional Third Place	DePaul	W 71-65
West
West	n/a	California	Pete Newell	Champion	West Virginia	W 71-70
West	n/a	Idaho State	John Grayson	Regional Third Place	Utah	W 71-65
West	n/a	New Mexico State	Presley Askew	First round	Idaho State	L 62-61
West	n/a	Saint Mary's	James Weaver	Regional Runner-up	California	L 66-46
West	n/a	Utah	Jack Gardner	Regional Fourth Place	Idaho State	L 71-65

Bracket

East region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							St. Joseph's	92
							West Virginia	95
		West Virginia	82
		Dartmouth	68
												West Virginia	86
												Boston U.	82
		Boston U.	60
		Connecticut	58
							Boston U.	62
							Navy	55
		Navy	76
		North Carolina	63

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Kentucky	61
							Louisville	76
		Louisville	77
		E Kentucky	63
												Louisville	88
												Michigan St.	81
							Michigan St.	74
							Marquette	69
		Marquette	89
		Bowling Green	71

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Kansas St.	102
							DePaul	70
		DePaul	57
		Portland	56
												Kansas St.	75
												Cincinnati	85
							Cincinnati	77
							TCU	73

West region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							St. Mary's	80
							Idaho St.	71
		Idaho St.	62
		New Mexico St.	61
												St Mary's	46
												California	66
							California	71
							Utah	53

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Finals
	E	West Virginia	94
	ME	Louisville	79
						E	West Virginia	70
						W	California	71
	MW	Cincinnati	58
	W	California	64

National Third Place Game

	National Third Place Game [1]
	MW	Cincinnati	98
	ME	Louisville	85

Regional Third Place Games

East Regional Third Place       Navy 70 St Joseph's 56

Mideast Regional Third Place       Kentucky 98 Marquette 69

Midwest Regional Third Place       TCU 71 DePaul 65

West Regional Third Place       Idaho St. 71 Utah 65

See also

• 1959 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

References

1. "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.