1953–54 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team

The 1953–54 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team represented the College of William & Mary in intercollegiate basketball during the 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season. Under the second year of head coach Boydson Baird, the team finished the season 9–14, 6–5 in the Southern Conference. This was the 49th season of the collegiate basketball program at William & Mary, whose nickname is now the Tribe. William & Mary played its home games at Blow Gymnasium.

1953–54 William & Mary Indians men's basketball
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	9–14 (6–5 SoCon)
Head coach	Boydson Baird (2nd season)
Home arena	Blow Gymnasium

1953–54 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 12 George Washington †	10	–	0		1.000			23	–	3		.885
Furman	6	–	1		.857			23	–	9		.719
Richmond	10	–	3		.769			23	–	8		.742
West Virginia	6	–	4		.600			12	–	11		.522
William & Mary	6	–	5		.545			9	–	14		.391
VMI	6	–	7		.462			11	–	12		.478
Davidson	3	–	5		.375			7	–	15		.318
Washington and Lee	3	–	9		.250			6	–	17		.261
Virginia Tech	3	–	13		.188			3	–	24		.111
The Citadel	1	–	7		.125			2	–	17		.105
† Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The Indians finished in 5th place in the conference and qualified for the 1954 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament, held at the WVU Field House in Morgantown, West Virginia. However, the Indians fell to West Virginia in the quarterfinals.

Program notes

• Following the previous season, seven of William & Mary's Southern Conference co-members departed for the new Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. As such, only 10 teams remained in the Southern Conference during the 1953–54 season.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
*		at Hampden–Sydney	W 78–58	1–0	Hampden Sydney, VA
12/8/1953*		at Maryland	L 54–69	1–1	Ritchie Coliseum  College Park, MD
*		at North Carolina	L 61–71	1–2	Woollen Gymnasium  Chapel Hill, NC
2/12/1953*		at Duke	L 44–109	1–3	Duke Indoor Stadium  Durham, NC
		George Washington	L 53–65	1–4 (0–1)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
1/1/1954*		at Seton Hall	W 57–55	2–4	Walsh Gymnasium  South Orange, NJ
*		Clemson	L 72–75	2–5	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
*		Hampden–Sydney	W 78–65	3–5	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
1/9/1954		at West Virginia	W 78–76	4–5 (1–1)	WVU Field House  Morgantown, WV
		VMI	W 71–67	5–5 (2–1)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
1/16/1954		at Richmond	L 73–85	5–6 (2–2)	Benedictine High School Gymnasium  Richmond, VA
		VPI	W 82–66	6–6 (3–2)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
2/2/1954*		at NC State	L 70–80	6–7	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
2/6/1954		at Washington and Lee	W 73–58	7–7 (4–2)	Doremus Gymnasium  Lexington, VA
2/8/1954		at VPI	W 66–52	8–7 (5–2)	War Memorial Gymnasium  Blacksburg, VA
		at VMI	L 62–81	8–8 (5–3)	Cormack Field House  Lexington, VA
2/13/1954*		at No. 19 NC State	L 48–65	8–9	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
		at No. 8 George Washington	L 58–69	8–10 (5–4)	Washington, DC
		Washington and Lee	W 68–54	9–10 (6–4)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
2/20/1954*		Wake Forest	L 56–57 OT	9–11	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
2/25/1954*		No. 11 Maryland	L 55–74	9–12	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, VA
2/27/1954		at Richmond	L 63–68	9–13 (6–5)	Benedictine High School Gymnasium  Richmond, VA
1954 Southern Conference Basketball Tournament
3/4/1954		vs. (4) West Virginia Quarterfinals	L 69–84	9–14	WVU Field House  Morgantown, WV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source