1972–73 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1

1972–73 Pacific-8 Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 UCLA	14	–	0	1.000	30	–	0	1.000
USC	9	–	5	.643	18	–	10	.643
Oregon	8	–	6	.571	16	–	10	.615
Stanford	7	–	7	.500	14	–	11	.560
Washington	6	–	8	.429	16	–	11	.593
Oregon State	6	–	8	.429	15	–	11	.577
California	4	–	10	.286	11	–	15	.423
Washington State	2	–	12	.143	6	–	20	.231

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1972–73 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won another National Championship for UCLA by beating the Memphis State Tigers, 87–66 in the Final Four and winning their seventh consecutive title.^[2] In the NCAA Championship Game, Bill Walton made 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scored 44 points. Some regard this as the greatest ever offensive performance in American college basketball. The Bruins set a new NCAA record of winning 89 games and losing 1 during a three-year span.

Starting lineup

Position	Player	Class
F	Larry Farmer	Sr.
F	Keith Wilkes	Jr.
C	Bill Walton	Jr.
G	Larry Hollyfield	Sr.
G	Greg Lee	Jr.

Players

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov. 25*	No. 1	Wisconsin	W 94-53	1–0	(-)
Dec. 1*	No. 1	Bradley	W 73-38	2–0	(-)
Dec. 2*	No. 1	Pacific	W 81-48	3–0	(-)
Dec. 16*	No. 1	UCSB	W 98-67	4-0	(-)
Dec. 22*	No. 1	Pittsburgh	W 89-73	5-0	(-)
Dec. 23*	No. 1	Notre Dame	W 82-56	6-0	(-)
Dec. 29*	No. 1	Drake	W 85-72	7–0	(-)
Nov. 30*	No. 1	Illinois Sugar Bowl Classic	W 71-64	8–0	Municipal Auditorium (7,123) New Orleans, LA
Jan. 5	No. 1	Oregon	W 64-38	9-0	(-)
Jan. 6	No. 1	Oregon State	W 87-61	10-0	(-)
Jan. 12	No. 1	Stanford	W 82-67	11-0	(-)
Jan. 13	No. 1	California	W 69-50	12-0	(-)
Jan. 19*	No. 1	San Francisco	W 92-64	13-0	(-)
Jan. 20*	No. 1	Providence	W 101-77	14-0	(-)
Jan. 25*	No. 1	Loyola (IL)	W 87-73	15-0	(-)
Jan. 27*	No. 1	Notre Dame	W 82-63	16-0	(-)
Feb. 3	No. 1	USC	W 79-56	17-0	(-)
Feb. 10	No. 1	Washington State	W 88-50	18-0	(-)
Feb. 12	No. 1	Washington	W 76-67	19-0	(-)
Feb. 16	No. 1	Washington	W 93-62	20-0	(-)
Feb. 17	No. 1	Washington State	W 96-64	21-0	(-)
Feb. 22	No. 1	Oregon	W 72-61	22-0	(-)
Feb. 24	No. 1	Oregon State	W 73-67	23-0	(-)
Mar. 2	No. 1	California	W 51-45	24-0	(-)
Mar. 3	No. 1	Stanford	W 51-45	25-0	(-)
Mar. 9	No. 1	USC	W 76-56	26-0	(-)
NCAA Tournament
Mar. 15*	No. 1	vs. Arizona State NCAA Regional Semifinals	W 98-81	27-0	(-) Los Angeles, CA
Mar. 17*	No. 1	vs. San Francisco NCAA Regional Finals	W 54-39	28-0	(-) Los Angeles, CA
Mar. 24*	No. 1	vs. Indiana NCAA National Semifinals	W 70-59	29-0	St. Louis Arena (-) St. Louis, MO
Mar. 26*	No. 1	vs. Memphis NCAA National Finals	W 87-66	30-0	St. Louis Arena (-) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Notes

The 1972 team was ranked No. 1 by both AP and UPI pre-season polls
Walton set a school record with 506 rebounds
Larry Farmer and Larry Hollyfield became the only players to have the best winning record over a three-year period, 89–1.^[3]
In the semifinals game, Indiana Hoosiers rallied in the second half to give the Bruins a scare. Curtis scored 22 points off the bench to help UCLA with the 70–59 victory.
Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes were named to the 1973 Consensus All-America first team.

Awards and honors

Bill Walton, James E. Sullivan Award,^[4] which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the United States
Bill Walton, USBWA College Player of the Year ^[5]
Bill Walton, Naismith College Player of the Year ^[6]
Bill Walton, Adolph Rupp Trophy ^[7]

References

^ "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
^ UCLA media guide
^ NCAA Division 1 Record, NCAA, 2002
^ http://aausullivan.org/winners_1973.html
^ http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/robertson/index.html
^ http://www.naismithawards.com/History/NaismithTrophy/tabid/58/Default.aspx
^ http://www.ruppawards.com/index_files/Page356.htm

External links

Media related to 1972–73 UCLA Bruins men's basketball season at Wikimedia Commons
1972–73 UCLA Bruins at Sports-Reference.com

[1] "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved November 23, 2011.

[2] UCLA media guide

[3] NCAA Division 1 Record, NCAA, 2002

[4] ttp://aausullivan.org/winners_1973.html

[5] ttp://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/robertson/index.html

[6] ttp://www.naismithawards.com/History/NaismithTrophy/tabid/58/Default.aspx

[7] ttp://www.ruppawards.com/index_files/Page356.htm

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v t e UCLA Bruins men's basketball
Venues	Men's Gym (1932–1965) Pan-Pacific Auditorium (alternate; 1949–1959) Venice High School (1955–1956) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (1959–1965; 2011–2012) Honda Center (2011–2012) Pauley Pavilion (1965–present)
Rivalries	Arizona Notre Dame USC (Crosstown Cup)
Culture & lore	Blue blood status Game of the Century UCLA High Post Offense Joe Bruin
People	Head coaches Retired numbers NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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