1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2

The 1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati. For the second time in a row, Cincinnati defeated Ohio State for the National Title 71–59 before 18,469 at Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY.^[1] The head coach was Ed Jucker.

Season Summary

Cincinnati played its way out from under the shadow of in-state rival Ohio State by winning two straight National Championships in 1961 and 1962, each time beating the Buckeyes in the title game. In 1962, the Bearcats were a deep, balanced team led by leading scorer and rebounded Paul Hogue, a 6-foot-9 center. Five other player averaged between 8.2 and 14.3 points per game, and the Bearcats played stifling defense.

Regular season

In the Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati beat Xavier by a score of 61–58. The match was held at the Cincinnati Gardens.

NCAA basketball tournament

Mideast
- Cincinnati 66, Creighton 46
- Cincinnati 73, Colorado 46
Final Four
- Cincinnati 72, UCLA 70
- Cincinnati 71, Ohio State 59

^[2]

Cincinnati led 37–29 at half-time.
Twice in the final period, the Bearcats were ahead by 18 points.

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Paul Hogue	New York Knicks

^[3]

In the spring of 1962, Cleveland Pipers owner George Steinbrenner signed Jerry Lucas to a player-management contract worth forty thousand dollars.^[4] With the Lucas signing, Steinbrenner had a secret deal with NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff. The Pipers would merge with the Kansas City Steers and join the NBA. A schedule was printed for the 1963–64 NBA season with the Pipers playing the New York Knicks in the first game.^[5] Steinbrenner and partner George McKean fell behind in payments to the NBA and the deal was cancelled.

References

^ Joseph M. Sheehan, Ohio State Bows, Bearcats Win, 71-59, for 2d N.C.A.A. Title -- Hogue Is Star, New York Times, March 24, 1962
^ http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1962
^ http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1962
^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0
^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

[1] Joseph M. Sheehan, Ohio State Bows, Bearcats Win, 71-59, for 2d N.C.A.A. Title -- Hogue Is Star, New York Times, March 24, 1962

[2] ttp://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1962

[3] ttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1962

[4] Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

[5] Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

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v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics