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

As of November 25, 2011^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Roster

1972–73 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	30	Vince Carson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr
G	22	Tommy Curtis	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Tampa, Florida
F	54	Larry Farmer (C)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr
F	50	Gary Franklin	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr
F	53	Larry Hollyfield	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr
G	43	Greg Lee	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Raseda, California
F	34	Dave Meyers	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	San Diego, CA
C	31	Swen Nater	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Den Helder, Netherlands
G	25	Pete Trgovich	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	So
C	32	Bill Walton	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	La Mesa, California
F	52	Keith Wilkes	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Berkeley, California

Head coach

John Wooden (Purdue)

Assistant coach(es)

Gary Cunningham (UCLA)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 25, 1972*	No. 1	Wisconsin	W 94–53	1–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 1, 1972*	No. 1	Bradley	W 73–38	2–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 2, 1972*	No. 1	Pacific	W 81–48	3–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 16, 1972*	No. 1	UCSB	W 98–67	4–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 22, 1972*	No. 1	Pittsburgh	W 89–73	5–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 23, 1972*	No. 1	Notre Dame	W 82–56	6–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 29, 1972*	No. 1	vs. Drake Sugar Bowl Classic	W 85–72	7–0	Municipal Auditorium New Orleans, LA
December 30, 1972*	No. 1	vs. Illinois Sugar Bowl Classic	W 71–64	8–0	Municipal Auditorium (7,123) New Orleans, LA
January 5, 1973	No. 1	Oregon	W 64–38	9–0 (1–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 6, 1973	No. 1	Oregon State	W 87–61	10–0 (2–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 12, 1973	No. 1	at Stanford	W 82–67	11–0 (3–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
January 13, 1973	No. 1	at California	W 69–50	12–0 (4–0)	Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA
January 19, 1973*	No. 1	No. 10 San Francisco	W 92–64	13–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 20, 1973*	No. 1	No. 9 Providence	W 101–77	14–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 25, 1973*	No. 1	at Loyola–Chicago	W 87–73	15–0	Chicago Stadium^[3] (15,817) Chicago, IL
January 27, 1973*	No. 1	at Notre Dame	W 82–63	16–0	Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, IN
February 3, 1973	No. 1	at No. 20 USC	W 79–56	17–0 (5–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
February 10, 1973	No. 1	at Washington State	W 88–50	18–0 (6–0)	Bohler Gymnasium Pullman, WA
February 12, 1973	No. 1	at Washington	W 76–67	19–0 (7–0)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
February 16, 1973	No. 1	Washington	W 93–62	20–0 (8–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 17, 1973	No. 1	Washington State	W 96–64	21–0 (9–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 22, 1973	No. 1	at Oregon	W 72–61	22–0 (10–0)	McArthur Court Eugene, OR
February 24, 1973	No. 1	Oregon State	W 73–67	23–0 (11–0)	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
March 2, 1973	No. 1	California	W 51–45	24–0 (12–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
March 3, 1973	No. 1	Stanford	W 51–45	25–0 (13–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
March 9, 1973	No. 1	USC	W 76–56	26–0 (14–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
NCAA Tournament
March 15, 1973*	No. 1	vs. No. 16 Arizona State Regional Semifinal	W 98–81	27–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
March 17, 1973*	No. 1	vs. No. 20 San Francisco Regional Final	W 54–39	28–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
March 24, 1973*	No. 1	vs. No. 6 Indiana National Semifinal	W 70–59	29–0	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, MO
March 26, 1973*	No. 1	vs. Memphis State National Final	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.^[4]
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,^[5] which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the United States
Bill Walton, USBWA College Player of the Year ^[6]
Bill Walton, Naismith College Player of the Year ^[7]
Bill Walton, Adolph Rupp Trophy ^[8]

References

^ "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
^ UCLA media guide
^ Rapoport, Ron (26 January 1973). "Bruins Tie All-Time Mark". Los Angeles Times.
^ NCAA Division 1 Record, NCAA, 2002
^ http://aausullivan.org/winners_1973.html
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-01-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-04-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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] Rapoport, Ron (26 January 1973). "Bruins Tie All-Time Mark". Los Angeles Times.

[4] NCAA Division 1 Record, NCAA, 2002

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

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-01-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[8] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-04-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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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