1951–52 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1951–52 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
SEC regular season and tournament champions
ConferenceSoutheast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record29–3 (14–0 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coachHarry Lancaster
Home arenaMemorial Coliseum
Seasons
1951–52 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Kentucky † 14 – 0   1.000 29 – 3   .906
LSU 9 – 5   .643 17 – 7   .708
Vanderbilt 9 – 5   .643 18 – 9   .667
Alabama 9 – 5   .643 13 – 9   .591
Ole Miss 8 – 6   .571 15 – 11   .577
Florida 7 – 7   .500 15 – 9   .625
Tennessee 7 – 7   .500 13 – 9   .591
Tulane 7 – 7   .500 12 – 12   .500
Auburn 6 – 8   .429 14 – 12   .538
Mississippi State 4 – 10   .286 12 – 11   .522
Georgia Tech 2 – 12   .143 7 – 15   .318
Georgia 2 – 12   .143 3 – 22   .120
† 1952 SEC Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1951–52 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky. The head coach was Adolph Rupp. The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. The Wildcats finished the season with a 29–3 (14–0 SEC) record.

Roster

1951–52 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 6 Cliff Hagan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Owensboro Owensboro, Kentucky
F 11 Shelby Linville 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Middletown Middletown, Ohio
G 38 Bobby Watson (C) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Sr Owensboro Owensboro, Kentucky
G 32 Lucian Whitaker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Sarasota Sarasota, Florida
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[2]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Dec 8, 1951*
 Washington and Lee W 96–46  1–0
 Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 10, 1951*
 No. 1 at Xavier W 97–72  2–0
 Schmidt Fieldhouse 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 13, 1951*
 No. 1 at Minnesota L 57–61  2–1
 Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dec 17, 1951*
 No. 2 No. 1 St. John's W 81–40  3–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 20, 1951*
 No. 2 DePaul W 98–60  4–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 26, 1951*
 No. 1 No. 16 UCLA W 84–53  5–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 28, 1951*
 No. 1 vs. Brigham Young
Sugar Bowl Classic 		W 84–64  6–1
 Municipal Auditorium 
New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 29, 1951*
 No. 1 vs. No. 12 Saint Louis
Sugar Bowl Classic 		L 60–61  6–2
 Municipal Auditorium 
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 3, 1952
 No. 4 vs. Ole Miss W 116–58  7–2
(1–0) 		Owensboro Sportscenter 
Owensboro, Kentucky
Jan 5, 1952
 No. 4 LSU W 57–47  8–2
(2–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 7, 1952*
 No. 4 Xavier W 83–50  9–2
 Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 12, 1952
 No. 3 at Florida W 99–52  10–2
(3–0) 		Florida Gymnasium 
Gainesville, Florida
Jan 14, 1952
 No. 3 Georgia W 95–55  11–2
(4–0) 		Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 19, 1952
 No. 3 at Tennessee W 65–56  12–2
(5–0) 		Alumni Memorial Gym 
Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 21, 1952
 No. 3 at Georgia Tech W 96–51  13–2
(6–0) 		Heisman Gymnasium 
Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 26, 1952
 No. 3 at Alabama W 71–67  14–2
(7–0) 		Foster Auditorium 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 28, 1952
 No. 3 at Vanderbilt W 88–51  15–2
(8–0) 		Old Gym 
Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 30, 1952
 No. 1 at Auburn W 88–48  16–2
(8–0) 		Auburn Sports Arena 
Auburn, Alabama
Feb 2, 1952*
 No. 1 vs. Notre Dame W 71–66  17–2
 Chicago Stadium 
Chicago, Illinois
Feb 4, 1952
 No. 1 Tulane W 103–54  18–2
(9–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 6, 1952
 No. 1 Ole Miss W 81–61  19–2
(10–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 9, 1952
 No. 1 Georgia Tech W 93–42  20–2
(11–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 11, 1952
 No. 1 Mississippi State W 110–66  21–2
(12–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 16, 1952
 No. 1 Tennessee W 95–40  22–2
(13–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 21, 1952
 No. 1 Vanderbilt W 75–45  23–2
(14–0) 		Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 23, 1952*
 No. 1 at DePaul W 63–61  24–2
 Chicago Stadium 
Chicago, Illinois
SEC Tournament
Feb 28, 1952*
 (1) No. 1 vs. (12) Georgia Tech
First round 		W 80–59  25–2
 Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 29, 1952*
 (1) No. 1 vs. (8) Tulane
Second Round 		W 85–61  26–2
 Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 1, 1952*
 (1) No. 1 vs. (5) Tennessee
Semifinal 		W 81–66  27–2
 Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 1, 1952*
 (1) No. 1 vs. (3) LSU
Championship Game 		W 44–43  28–2
 Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, Kentucky
NCAA Tournament
Mar 21, 1952*
 No. 1 vs. Penn State
East Regional semifinal 		W 82–54  29–2
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, North Carolina
Mar 22, 1952*
 No. 1 vs. No. 10 St. John's
East Regional Final 		L 57–64  29–3
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.

[3]

NCAA basketball tournament

  • East
    • Kentucky 82, Penn State 54
    • St. John's, New York 64, Kentucky 57

[4]

Rankings

Main article: 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1952 NBA draft
Round Overall Player NBA Club
7 64 Skippy Whitaker Indianapolis Olympians

References

  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1951-52 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1951–52 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "2019-20 Kentucky Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Kentucky Athletics. p. 188. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".