1958–59 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

1958–59 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
MVC champion
NCAA tournament, Third place
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	26–4 (13–1 MVC)
Head coach	George Smith
Home arena	Armory Fieldhouse

1958–59 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Cincinnati	13	–	1		.929			26	–	4		.867
No. 4 Bradley	12	–	2		.857			25	–	4		.862
No. 12 Saint Louis	10	–	4		.714			20	–	6		.769
Wichita Municipal	7	–	7		.500			14	–	12		.538
Houston	6	–	8		.429			12	–	14		.462
Drake	4	–	10		.286			9	–	15		.375
Tulsa	2	–	12		.143			10	–	15		.400
North Texas State	2	–	12		.143			6	–	18		.250
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1958–59 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati. The head coach was George Smith. This was the first Cincinnati team to reach the Final Four.

Regular season

• In the Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati beat Xavier by a score of 92–66. The match was held at the Cincinnati Gardens. Junior point guard Oscar Robertson helped the team reach their second straight Missouri Valley Conference title.

NCAA basketball tournament

• Midwest
  • Cincinnati 77, Texas Christian 73
  • Cincinnati 85, Kansas State 75
• Final Four
  • California 64, Cincinnati 58
• Third-place game
  • Cincinnati 98, Louisville 85

^[2]

Awards and honors

• Oscar Robertson, USBWA College Player of the Year,^[3] NCAA scoring leader (2x)

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
3	17	Mike Mendenhall	Cincinnati Royals

^[4]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1958-59 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
2. "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
3. "The Oscar Robertson Trophy - Past Oscar Robertson Trophy Winners". Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
4. "1959 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on March 18, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2009.