krikya18.com | May 22, 2020

1956 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records

Watch Bill Russell dominate the 1956 title game for San Francisco

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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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