1953–54 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team

The 1953–54 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University in intercollegiate basketball during the 1953–54 season. The team finished the season with an 18–6 record[1] and made it to the 1950 NCAA Tournament's Final Four, their only Final Four appearance in school history. Penn State posted an upset of eighth-ranked Louisiana State University and ended Notre Dame's 18-game winning streak to advance to Kansas City where they eventually finished third after a loss to eventual champion La Salle.

1953–54 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball
NCAA Tournament Final Four
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 9
1953–54 record18–6
Head coachElmer Gross (5th season)
CaptainJack Sherry
Home arenaRec Hall
1953–54 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 3 Holy Cross   262  .929
No. 17 Seattle   262  .929
No. 5 Duquesne   263  .897
No. 6 Notre Dame   223  .880
No. 2 La Salle   264  .867
Dayton   257  .781
Louisville   227  .759
No. 9 Penn State   186  .750
Oklahoma City   187  .720
Navy   188  .692
Army   157  .682
Villanova   2011  .645
Lafayette   1710  .630
Saint Joseph's   149  .609
Xavier   1812  .600
No. 7 Bradley   1913  .594
John Carroll   1511  .577
Seton Hall   1310  .565
Temple   1512  .556
Muhlenberg   1210  .545
Washington University   1210  .545
Syracuse   109  .526
Cincinnati   1110  .524
DePaul   1110  .524
Iona   1110  .524
Butler   1312  .520
Boston College   1111  .500
Loyola Marymount   1416  .467
Rutgers   1113  .458
Creighton   1417  .452
Gonzaga   1215  .444
Valparaiso   1013  .435
Marquette   1115  .423
Lehigh   812  .400
Pittsburgh   914  .391
Georgetown   1118  .379
Siena   714  .333
Portland   919  .321
Loyola (IL)   715  .318
Drake   716  .304
Colgate   512  .294
Bucknell   416  .200
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
12/5/1953*
Washington & Jefferson W 66–41  1–0
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
12/12/1953*
at Penn W 72–67  2–0
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
12/18/1953*
at American W 65–52  3–0
 
Washington, D.C.
12/19/1953*
at NC State L 74–89  3–1
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
1/6/1954*
Syracuse W 77–63  4–1
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
1/9/1954*
Colgate W 78–58  5–1
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
1/13/1954*
at West Virginia W 74–66  6–1
WVU Fieldhouse 
Morgantown, WV
1/16/1954*
at Navy L 58–62  6–2
 
Annapolis, MD
1/27/1954*
at Bucknell W 49–43  7–2
 
Lewisburg, PA
1/28/1954*
Pittsburgh W 91–85 3OT 8–2
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
2/3/1954*
at Gettysburg W 64–51  9–2
 
Gettysburg, PA
2/6/1954*
West Virginia W 85–68  10–2
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
2/13/1954*
at Pittsburgh L 62–74  10–3
Fitzgerald Field House 
Pittsburgh, PA
2/19/1954*
at Colgate L 63–75  10–4
 
Hamilton, NY
2/20/1954*
at Syracuse L 69–71  10–5
Archbold Gymnasium 
Syracuse, NY
2/24/1954*
Gettysburg W 76–67  11–5
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
2/27/1954*
Rutgers W 76–59  12–5
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
3/4/1954*
Georgetown W 61–54  13–5
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
3/6/1954*
Temple W 67–52  14–5
Rec Hall 
University Park, PA
1954 NCAA Tournament
3/9/1954*
vs. Toledo
NCAA First Round
W 62–50  15–5
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 
Fort Wayne, IN
3/12/1954*
vs. No. 14 LSU
NCAA Quarterfinals
W 78–70  16–5
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
3/13/1954*
vs. No. 6 Notre Dame
NCAA Quarterfinals
W 71–63  17–5
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
3/19/1954*
vs. No. 2 La Salle
NCAA Final Four
L 54–69  17–6
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, MO
3/20/1954*
vs. No. 11 USC
NCAA Third Place Game
W 70–61  18–6
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source[2]

Rankings

References

  1. "Penn State season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  2. "2010–11 Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Basketball Media Guide". Yearly records. Pennsylvania State University. 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
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