1955–56 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The 1955–56 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. The Bruins were led by eight year head coach John Wooden. They finished the regular season with a record of 22–6 and won the PCC regular season championship with a record of 16–0. UCLA lost to the San Francisco Dons in the NCAA regional semifinals and defeated the Seattle Chieftains in the regional consolation game. The victory over Seattle was UCLA's first victory in the NCAA tournament.^[3]

1955–56 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
PCC Champions
NCAA tournament, W Regional consolation Game
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 8
Record	22–6 (16–0 PCC)
Head coach	John R. Wooden (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Putnam[1] Deane Richardson
Home arena	Men's Gym
Seasons ← 1954–55 1956–57 →

1955–56 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 UCLA	16	–	0		1.000			22	–	6		.786
Washington	11	–	5		.688			15	–	11		.577
Stanford	10	–	6		.625			18	–	6		.750
California	10	–	6		.625			17	–	8		.680
USC	9	–	7		.563			14	–	12		.538
Oregon	5	–	11		.313			11	–	15		.423
Oregon State	5	–	11		.313			8	–	18		.308
Idaho	4	–	12		.250			6	–	19		.240
Washington State	2	–	14		.125			4	–	22		.154
Rankings from AP Poll[2]

Previous season

Main article: 1954–55 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The Bruins finished the regular season with a record of 21–5 and won the PCC Southern Division with a record of 11–1. UCLA lost to Oregon State in the PCC conference play-offs.

Roster

1955–56 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 55 Carroll Adams 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Sr F 43 Jack Arnold 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — F Allen Bailey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — G 42 Dick Banton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr F 35 Conrad Burke 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So F 54 Bill Eblen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — F 44 Jim Halsten 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So F 44 Jim Harrison 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — So F 53 Allen Herring 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr G Art Hutchins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — C 33 Nolan Johnson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — C 33 Willie Naulls (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr Dallas, Texas F 32 Ben Rogers 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — So G 22 Morris Taft 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr G 22 Walt Torrence 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr G Ron Winterburn 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) —	Head coach John Wooden (Purdue) Assistant coach(es) Bill Putnam (UCLA) Deane Richardson Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 30 January 2018

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 2, 1955*		at BYU	L 58–75	0–1	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, UT
December 3, 1955*		at BYU	L 65–67	0–2	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, UT
December 9, 1955*	No. 16	vs. Denver	W 68–40	1–2	Long Beach City College[4]  Long Beach Arena
December 10, 1955*	No. 16	vs. Purdue	W 76–60	2–2	Long Beach City College  Long Beach, CA
December 16, 1955*		at Nebraska	L 65–71	2–3	Nebraska Coliseum  Lincoln, NE
December 17, 1955*		at Wichita State	L 68–76	2–4	University of Wichita Field House  Wichita, KS
December 26, 1955*		at St. John's ECAC Holiday Festival	W 93–86	3–4	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 28, 1955*		vs. Duquesne ECAC Holiday Festival	W 72–57	4–4	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 30, 1955*		vs. No. 1 San Francisco ECAC Holiday Festival	L 53–70	4–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
January 6, 1956		Idaho	W 92–73	5–5 (1–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium[5]  Los Angeles, CA
January 7, 1956		Idaho	W 78–61	6–5 (2–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium[5]  Los Angeles, CA
January 13, 1956		at Washington State	W 86–72	7–5 (3–0)	Beasley Coliseum  Pullman, WA
January 14, 1956		at Washington State	W 95–70	8–5 (4–0)	Beasley Coliseum  Pullman, WA
January 28, 1956*		at Arizona State	W 99–79	9–5	Sun Devil Gym  Tempe, AZ
February 3, 1956	No. 20	Washington	W 61–60	10–5 (5–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium[6]  Los Angeles, CA
February 4, 1956	No. 20	Washington	W 82–75	11–5 (6–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium[6]  Los Angeles, CA
February 10, 1956	No. 18	at Stanford	W 50–48	12–5 (7–0)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
February 11, 1956	No. 18	at Stanford	W 81–72	13–5 (8–0)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
February 17, 1956	No. 20	at Oregon State	W 77–56	14–5 (9–0)	Oregon State Coliseum  Corvallis, OR
February 18, 1956	No. 20	at Oregon State	W 72–59	15–5 (10–0)	Oregon State Coliseum  Corvallis, OR
February 24, 1956	No. 15	Oregon	W 95–71	16–5 (11–0)	Venice High School Gym[7]  Los Angeles, CA
February 25, 1956	No. 15	Oregon	W 108–89	17–5 (12–0)	Venice High School Gym[7]  Los Angeles, CA
March 2, 1956	No. 13	California	W 85–80	18–5 (13–0)	Venice High School Gym[8]  Los Angeles, CA
March 3, 1956	No. 13	California	W 84–62	19–5 (14–0)	Venice High School Gym [8]  Los Angeles, CA
March 9, 1956	No. 10	at USC	W 85–70	20–5 (15–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
March 10, 1956	No. 10	at USC	W 97–84	21–5 (16–0)	Pan-Pacific Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
NCAA tournament
March 16, 1956*	No. 10	vs. No. 1 San Francisco Regional semifinals	L 61–72	21–6	Oregon State Coliseum[9]  Corvallis, OR
March 17, 1956*	No. 10	vs. Seattle Regional consolation game	W 94–70	22–6	Oregon State Coliseum[3]  Corvallis, OR
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source^[10]

Rankings

Main article: 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball rankings

References

1. "Basketball". Southern Campus. No. 1956. University of California (1868–1952). Southern Branch; University of California (1868–1952). Southern Branch. Associated Students; Associated Students of UCLA.
2. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
3. Geyer, Jack (March 18, 1956). "Naulls Sets Mark; Bruins Triumph". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166909983.
4. Geyer, Jack (December 11, 1955). "Bruins, SC Score Twin Cage Wins". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166910898.
5. Geyer, Jack. "UCLA, Idaho Launch Cage Race Tonight". Los Angeles Times. No. 6 January 1956. ProQuest 166885361.
6. Geyer, Jack (February 4, 1956). "Bruins Defeat Huskies, 61-60: Naulls Bats In Rebound for Last-Second Victory". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166905570.
7. Geyer, Jack (February 24, 1956). "UCLA, Oregon Launch Hoop Series Tonight". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166916064.
8. Geyer, Jack (March 3, 1956). "Naulls Hits 39 as Bruins Beat Bears: UCLA Clinches Tie for PCC Cage Title With 85-80 Victory". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166928480.
9. Geyer, Jack. "Twogood Picks UCLA Over USF". Los Angeles Times. No. 13 March 1956. ProQuest 166921779.
10. "Season by Season Records" (PDF). UCLA Athletics.