San Francisco completed back-to-back championships by winning the 1956 NCAA tournament title. The Dons defeated Iowa 83-71 in the final to become the first undefeated tournament champion at 29-0.
Temple's Hal Lear earned Most Outstanding Player honors, as the Owls and SMU also made the Final Four. San Francisco was led by Bill Russell.
1956 NCAA tournament: Bracket
Click or tap here for a closer look at the 1956 March Madness bracket.
1956 NCAA tournament: Scores
- First Round
- East Region
- UConn 84, Manhattan 75
- Temple 74, Holy Cross 72
- Dartmouth 61, West Virginia 59 (OT)
- Canisius 79, NC State 78 (4OT)
- Midwest Region
- Morehead State 107, Marshall 92
- Wayne State 72, DePaul 68
- West Region
- SMU 68, Texas Tech 67
- Oklahoma City 97, Memphis State 81
- Far West Region
- Seattle 68, Idaho State 66
- East Region
- Regional Semifinals
- East Region
- Temple 65, UConn 59
- Canisius 66, Dartmouth 58
- Midwest Region
- Iowa 97, Morehead State 83
- Kentucky 84, Wayne State 64
- West Region
- SMU 89, Houston 74
- Oklahoma City 97, Kansas State 93
- Far West Region
- Utah 81, Seattle 72
- San Francisco 72, UCLA 61
- East Region
- Regional Third Place Games
- East Region
- Dartmouth 85, UConn 64
- Midwest Region
- Morehead State 95, Wayne State 84
- West Region
- Kansas State 89, Houston 70
- Far West Region
- UCLA 94, Seattle 70
- East Region
- Regional Finals
- East Region
- Temple 60, Canisius 58
- Midwest Region
- Iowa 89, Kentucky 77
- West Region
- SMU 84, Oklahoma City 63
- Far West Region
- San Francisco 92, Utah 77
- East Region
- Final Four (Evanston, Illinois)
- Iowa 83, Temple 76
- San Francisco 86, SMU 68
- National Third Place Game
- Temple 90, SMU 81
- National championship
- San Francisco 83, Iowa 71
1956 NCAA tournament: Stats, records
Here are the tournament leaders, with games in parentheses (minimum three games):
Individual scoring
- Hal Lear, Temple (5) — 32.0 points per game
- Temple's Hal Lear scored 48 points against SMU to set a then-record for points in an NCAA tournament game
Individual rebounding
- Temple's Fred Cohen's 34 rebounds against UConn set the NCAA tournament record
Team stats/records
- The 105 combined free throws attempted in the Iowa-Morehead State broke a tournament record
- The 4OT Canisius-NC State game set a tournament record for most overtime periods
- San Francisco became the first undefeated NCAA tournament champ at 29-0