The 1963–64 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won its first NCAA National Basketball Championship under head coach

John R. Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

in his 16th year at UCLA. Assistant coach Jerry Norman convinced a reluctant Wooden to use the zone press, which the team had never utilized before. The press quickened the pace of the game and was influential in the first two national titles won by the Bruins, who were undersized. In the national title game, the Bruins defeated

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

, coached by

Vic Bubas Victor Albert Bubas (January 28, 1927 – April 16, 2018) was an American college basketball coach for Duke University and the first commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference.

, by the score of 98–83.

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. It was the team's 30th consecutive win, played before 10,684 fans in Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri, March 21, 1964. High scorers were Gail Goodrich, 27 points; Kenny Washington, 26;

Jack Hirsch Jack Hirsch (born ) is an American former college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He was the starting forward on the Bruins' national championship team in 1964, when he served as co-captain along with Walt Hazzard. Hirsch also earned a ...

, 13; and Hazzard, 11. Hazzard,

Keith Erickson Keith Raymond Erickson (born April 19, 1944) is an American former basketball, and volleyball player. After graduating from El Segundo High School (California), attended El Camino College. Erickson then played basketball at UCLA, where he was a ...

and Duke's Jeff Mullins fouled out of the game. In the semi-final game, Erickson and Hazzard scored 28 and 19 points respectively to help UCLA to defeat

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

90–84 on March 20.

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style="background:#;", NCAA Tournament Source

Notes

* In the Los Angeles Basketball Classic, UCLA defeated then third-ranked

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, 98-80 in front of 14,241 in the

Sports Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances, or Sport, sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating f ...

. * The half time National Championship game score was UCLA 50, Duke 38. * Duke's height was no advantage. Duke had two 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) players — Hack Tison and Jay Buckley. * By winning the Championships, six Bruins automatically qualified for trials on the United States Olympic basketball team. * Hazzard received All-American honors for the second consecutive season, and was named the nation's Player of the Year by the Helms Athletic Foundation/

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

. * Hazzard finished the season with 1,401 points, the all-time leading scorer. * Goodrich and Hirsch were named All-AAWU first team.1964 and 1965 NCAA Championship Teams to be Honored
* Wooden was the UPI's Coach of the Year for the first time. * The team will be inducted into the

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...

as part of the Class of 2020 in 2021.

Draft list

was number 1 draft pick in the NBA draft of 1964 by the Los Angeles Lakers.

References

External links

1963–64 UCLA Bruins
at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1963-64 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

Ucla Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Ucla The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...