1971–72 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1971–72 UCLA Bruins 1972_UCLA_Bruins.jpg 270px UCLA Logo 1964-1995.jpeg Pacific-8 Conference Pac-8 1 1 30–0 14–0 John Wooden 24th Gary Cunningham NCAA tournament National championsNCAA regular season championsPac-8 championsBruin Classic champions National Championship Game W Won 81–76 vs. Florida State The 1971–72 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won the National Collegiate Championship on March 25, 1972, in the Los Angeles Sports Arena with an 81–76 victory over Florida State.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=de9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2427%2C6615782 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press It was the same old story -- Bruins take NCAA crown March 26, 1972 1D It was the sixth consecutive championship (and eighth in nine years) under John Wooden, in his 25th year as head coach at UCLA. This was the final year that the national championship game was played on Saturday.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dO9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6609%2C6384347 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Bruins bid for sixth straight March 25, 1972 5B The 1971–72 Bruins had an undefeated record of 30–0, winning by an average margin of over thirty points. They won all 26 games in the regular season (fourteen in Pac-8 play), then four in the NCAA tournament. This was the 45th consecutive victory in a winning streak that reached 88 games, an NCAA record. Season summary Sophomore Bill Walton lived up to his advance billing, leading the Bruins to a 30–0 record and the National Championship while averaging a double-double (21.1 PPG, 15.5 RPG). Greg Lee and Henry Bibby formed a solid back court, and forwards Keith Wilkes and Larry Farmer were double-digit scorers. Walton's backup, Swen Nater, could have been a star at other schools and went on to a lengthy pro career. Starting lineup {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" !Position !Player !Class |- |F |Larry Farmer |Jr. |- |F |Keith Wilkes |So. |- |C |Bill Walton |So. |- |G |Greg Lee |So. |- |G |Henry Bibby |Sr. |} Roster 1971 UCLA Bruins men's y Henry Bibby y 45 G 6 1 185 Sr Franklinton, North Carolina C Vince Carson 30 F 6 5 So Jon Chapman 34 F 6 5 Sr Tommy Curtis y 22 G 5 11 170 So Tampa, Florida Larry Farmer basketball y 54 F 6 5 Jr Andy Hill basketball y 25 G 6 0 Sr Los Angeles, CA Larry Hollyfield y 53 F 6 5 215 Jr Greg Lee basketball y 43 G 6 4 190 So Reseda, California Swen Nater y 31 C 6 11 240 Jr Den Helder, Netherlands Bill Walton y 32 C 6 11 210 So La Mesa, California Keith Wilkes y 52 F 6 6 190 So Berkeley, California http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB1/C/Men's%20Basketball_Men's_Division%20I_1972_110_University%20of%20California,%20Los%20Angeles.pdf John Wooden (Purdue) Gary Cunningham (UCLA) Schedule yes 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings 1971 yes |- !colspan=9 style=UCLA Bruins|Regular Season December 3, 1971 yes 1 The Citadel Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 105–49 1–0 December 4, 1971 yes 1 1971 men Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 106–72 2–0 December 10, 1971 yes 1 Iowa State Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA KTLA (delay) 110–81 3–0 December 11, 1971 yes 1 1971 men Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 117–53 4–0 December 22, 1971 yes 1 1971 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 114–56 5–0 December 23, 1971 yes 1 1971 men TCU Horned Frogs TCU Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 119–81 6–0 December 29, 1971 yes 1 1971 men Texas Longhorns Texas Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 115–65 7–0 December 30, 1971 yes 1 1971 men Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State 6 Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 79–53 8–0 January 7, 1972 y 1 1971 men Oregon State Beavers Oregon State Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR 78–72 9–0 1–0 January 1972 yes 1 1971 men Oregon Ducks Oregon McArthur Court Eugene, OR 93–68 10–0 2–0 January 14, 1972 1 1971 men Stanford Indians Stanford Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 118–79 11–0 3–0 January 15, 1972 1 1971 men California Golden Bears California Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 82–43 12–0 4–0 January 21, 1972 yes 1 1971 men Santa Clara Broncos Santa Clara Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 92–57 13–0 January 22, 1972 yes 1 1971 men Denver Pioneers Denver Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 108–61 14–0 January 28, 1972 yes 1 1971 men Loyola Ramblers Loyola–Chicago Chicago StadiumPrugh Jeff Bruin Cagers Romp but Walton Loses 'Duel' With Martin Los Angeles Times 29 January 1972 156908204 Chicago, IL 11,255 92–64 15–0 January 29, 1972 yes yes 1 Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, IN 11,343 57–32 16–0 February 5, 1972 1 1971 men USC Trojans USC Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 81–56 17–0 5–0 February 11, 1972 1 Washington State Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 89–58 18–0 6–0 February 12, 1972 1 Washington Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 109–70 19–0 7–0 February 19, 1972 yes 1 Washington Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA 100–83 20–0 8–0 February 21, 1972 yes 1 Washington State Bohler Gymnasium Pullman, WA 85–55 21–0 9–0 February 25, 1972 1 Oregon Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 92–70 22–0 10–0 February 26, 1972 1 Oregon State Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA 91–72 23–0 11–0 March 3, 1972 yes 1 California Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA 85–71 24–0 12–0 March 4, 1972 yes 1 Stanford Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA 102–73 25–0 13–0 March 10, 1972 yes 1 USC Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA 79–66 26–0 14–0 |- !colspan=12 style="background:#UCLA Bruins 1;"| NCAA Tournament March 16, 1972 6:00 pm yes yes 1 Weber State Marriott Center Provo, UT Regional semifinal 90–58 27–0 March 18, 1972 3:00 pm yes yes 1 1971 men Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State 5 Marriott Center Provo, UT Regional Final 73–57 28–0 March 23, 1972 8:00 pm yes yes 1 Louisville 4 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA National semifinal 96–77 29–0 March 25, 1972 2:00 pm yes yes 1 Florida State 10 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA National Final 81–76 30–0 Pacific Time Source:Season by Season Records http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/uclabruins.com/documents/2016/10/17/MBKB_17MG_148_164.pdf#page=9 UCLA Athletics October 2, 2017 December 29, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201229080204/http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/uclabruins.com/documents/2016/10/17/MBKB_17MG_148_164.pdf#page=9 dead Notes The team opened the season as the No. 1 team in both the AP and UPI polls Prior to joining the varsity team, Lee (17.9 ppg), Wilkes (20.0 ppg), and Walton (18.1, 68.6 per cent) were members of the 20–0 Frosh team1972 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide, College Athletics Publishing Service, 1971 Bruins won the Bruin Classic in Pauley Pavilion Bill Walton and Henry Bibby were named to the 1972 Consensus All-America first team Awards and honors Bill Walton, USBWA College Player of the Yearhttp://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/robertson/index.html USBWA > Awards > Oscar Robertson Trophy 2007-01-25 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070213004535/http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/robertson/index.html 2007-02-13 Bill Walton, Naismith College Player of the Yearhttp://www.naismithawards.com/History/NaismithTrophy/tabid/58/Default.aspx Naismith Awards - Naismith Trophy 2009-03-13 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090302160347/http://www.naismithawards.com/History/NaismithTrophy/tabid/58/Default.aspx 2009-03-02 Bill Walton, Adolph Rupp Trophyhttp://www.ruppawards.com/index_files/Page356.htm About Us 2009-04-17 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090107024610/http://www.ruppawards.com/index_files/Page356.htm 2009-01-07 Team players drafted into the NBA Henry Bibby, New York Bill Walton, San Antonio (ABA) References External links 1971–72 UCLA Bruins at Sports-Reference.com Ucla Bruins Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Ucla UCLA UCLA