The 1972 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. The 35th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This year was the first and only tournament since seeding began in 1957 that all 4 top seeded teams made it to the national semi-finals. Seeding was changed in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, so each bracket is now seeded 1 thru 8.

Kentucky State Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second ...

becomes the second team to win three in a row, joining

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennesse ...

(

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Awards and honors

*Leading scorer: ''Travis Grant'', Kentucky State *Leading rebounder: ''Mike Ratliff'', Wisconsin-Eau Claire 81 rebounds in 5 games. *Player of the Year: est. 1994 *Most Points Single Game: ''60'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State vs. Minot State (N.D.) *Most Points Single Tournament: ''213'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State *Most Points, Career: ''518'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State, 1970-71-72 *Most Field Goals Made, Game: ''27'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State vs. Minot State (N.D.) *Most Field Goals Made, Tournament: ''89'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State *Most Field Goals Made, Career: ''223'', Travis Grant, Kentucky State, 1970-71-72

1972 NAIA bracket

* * denotes overtime.

Third-place game

The third-place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

References

{{NAIA men's basketball tournament NAIA Men's Basketball Championship

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

NAIA men's basketball tournament Naia or NAIA may refer to: Sports * National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics * NAIA Softball Championship * NAIA Volleyball Championship * NAIA World Series * NAIA Wrestling Championship * NAIA lacrosse Other * Naia (skeleton), a Paleoam ...

College basketball tournaments in Missouri Basketball competitions in Kansas City, Missouri

Awards and honors

1972 NAIA bracket

Third-place game

See also

References