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 and made it to the 1954 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
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 9
Record	18–6
Head coach	Elmer Gross (5th season)
Captain	Jack Sherry
Home arena	Rec Hall

1953–54 NCAA men's basketball independents standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Holy Cross		–			–			26	–	2		.929
No. 17 Seattle		–			–			26	–	2		.929
No. 5 Duquesne		–			–			26	–	3		.897
No. 6 Notre Dame		–			–			22	–	3		.880
No. 2 La Salle		–			–			26	–	4		.867
Dayton		–			–			25	–	7		.781
Louisville		–			–			22	–	7		.759
No. 9 Penn State		–			–			18	–	6		.750
Oklahoma City		–			–			18	–	7		.720
Navy		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Army		–			–			15	–	7		.682
Villanova		–			–			20	–	11		.645
Lafayette		–			–			17	–	10		.630
Saint Joseph's		–			–			14	–	9		.609
Xavier		–			–			18	–	12		.600
No. 7 Bradley		–			–			19	–	13		.594
John Carroll		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Seton Hall		–			–			13	–	10		.565
Temple		–			–			15	–	12		.556
Muhlenberg		–			–			12	–	10		.545
Washington University		–			–			12	–	10		.545
Syracuse		–			–			10	–	9		.526
Cincinnati		–			–			11	–	10		.524
DePaul		–			–			11	–	10		.524
Iona		–			–			11	–	10		.524
Butler		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Boston College		–			–			11	–	11		.500
Loyola (Calif.)		–			–			14	–	16		.467
Rutgers		–			–			11	–	13		.458
Creighton		–			–			14	–	17		.452
Gonzaga		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Valparaiso		–			–			10	–	13		.435
Marquette		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Lehigh		–			–			8	–	12		.400
Pittsburgh		–			–			9	–	14		.391
Georgetown		–			–			11	–	18		.379
Siena		–			–			7	–	14		.333
Portland		–			–			9	–	19		.321
Loyola (IL)		–			–			7	–	15		.318
Drake		–			–			7	–	16		.304
Colgate		–			–			5	–	12		.294
Bucknell		–			–			4	–	16		.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

Rankings

Main article: 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball rankings