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 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
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 9
Record18–6
Head coach
CaptainJack Sherry
Home arenaRec Hall
Seasons
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

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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

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References

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  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.