1952 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1952 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 15th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] In 1952, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) changes its name to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)[2] The championship game featured Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University, who defeated Murray State University by a score of 73 to 64. Finishing out the NAIA Final Four, and playing for the 3rd place game were Southwest Texas State, now Texas State University–San Marcos, and the University of Portland. The Bears of Southwest Missouri State defeated the Pilots of Portland by a score of 78 to 68. A notorious game happened in the first round between Moringside College (Iowa) and Pepperdine University (Calif.). There was a tournament record of 40 personal fouls between the two teams in one game. Incidentally, Morningside would win the game 84 to 80.

1952 (1952) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams32
ChampionsSouthwest Missouri State
(1st title, 1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
Runner-UpMurray State (Ky.)
(2nd title game,
4th Fab Four)
SemifinalistsSouthwest Texas State
Portland (Ore.)
Chuck Taylor MVPBennie Purcell
(Murray State (Ky.))

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1952 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

  • Leading scorer est. 1963
  • Leading rebounder est. 1963
  • Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
  • Coach of the Year est. 1954
  • Player of the Year est. 1994
  • Most personal fouls in one game: 40, Pepperdine (Calif.) vs. Morningside (Iowa)
  • All-time scoring leader; first appearance: E.C. O'Neal, 9th, Arkansas Tech (1952,53,54,55), 13 games, 122 field goals, 43 free throws, totaling 287 points, 22.1 average per game.
  • All-time scoring leaders; third appearance: Lloyd Thorgaard, 10th, Hamline (Minn.) (1950,51,52,53), 15 games, 111 field goals, 61 free throws, 283 total points, 18.9 average per game; James Fritsche, 14th, Hamline (Minn.) (1950,51,52,53), 15 games, 113 field goals, 46 free throws, 272 total points, 18.1 average per game.[3]

1952 NAIA bracket
First Round Second Round Elite Eight NAIA National Semifinals NAIA National Championship
               
- Montana State 82
- American International (Mass.) 66
- Montana State 72
- Hamline 85
- Hamline (Minn.) 91
- Tampa (Fla.) 65
- Hamline 65
TOP TIER
- Portland 75
- Portland (Ore.) 84
- Findlay (Ohio) 82
- Portland 72
- Memphis State 48
- Memphis State (Tenn.) 60
- Baltimore (Md.) 39
- Portland 57
- Murray State 58
- West Texas State 88
- West Liberty State (W.Va.) 69
- West Texas State 73*
- Murray State 75
- Murray State (Ky.) 72
- Centenary (La.) 46
- Murray State 81
TOP TIER
- Whitworth 69
- Whitworth (Wash.) 71
- Whitewater State (Wis.) 60
- Whitworth 72
- Millikin 71
- Millikin (Ill.) 101
- Elon (N.C.) 69
- Murray State 64
- Southwest Missouri State 73
- Southwest Missouri State 87
- Chadron State (Neb.) 66
- Southwest Missouri State 82
- Indiana State 64
- Indiana State 79
- Farleigh Dickinson (N.J.) 72
- Southwest Missouri State 87
BOTTOM TIER
- Morningside 74
- Morningside (Iowa) 84
- Pepperdine (Calif.) 80
- Morningside 98
- Eastern Illinois State 93
- Eastern Illinois State 113
- Huron (S.D.) 78
- Southwest Missouri State 70
- Southwest Texas State 67**
- Utah State 85
- Clarion State (Pa.) 68
- Utah State 63
- Lawrence Tech 72
- Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 97
- Washburn (Kan.) 80
- Lawrence Tech 57
BOTTOM TIER
- Southwest Texas State 65
- New Mexico A&M 86
- Mississippi Southern 70
- New Mexico A&M 52
- Southwest Texas State 69
- Southwest Texas State 97
- Arkansas Tech 53
  •  *  denotes each overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

NAIA Third Place Game
March
   
- Portland 68
- Southwest Texas State 78

References
  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  2. NAIA History Archived November 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
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