The 1972 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at
Municipal Auditorium in
Kansas City, Missouri. 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, so each bracket is now seeded 1 thru 8.
Kentucky State becomes the second team to win three in a row, joining
Tennessee State (
1957
1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, 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, t ...
,
1958,
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.
See also
*
1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
*
1972 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
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 men's basketball tournament
College basketball tournaments in Missouri
Basketball competitions in Kansas City, Missouri