1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up; Big Seven Champions
National Championship Game, ; L 58-68 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Big Seven Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 4
Record	25–4 (11–1 Big Seven)
Head coach	Jack Gardner (8th season);
Assistant coach	Tex Winter (4th season)
Home arena	Ahearn Field House
	Seasons ← 1949–50 1951–52 →

1950–51 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Kansas State	11	–	1	.917	25	–	4	.862
Kansas	8	–	4	.667	16	–	8	.667
Missouri	8	–	4	.667	16	–	8	.667
Oklahoma	6	–	6	.500	14	–	10	.583
Nebraska	4	–	8	.333	9	–	14	.391
Iowa State	3	–	9	.250	9	–	12	.429
Colorado	2	–	10	.167	4	–	20	.167

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big Seven Conference during the 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season. The head coach was Jack Gardner, who was in his eighth season at the helm. The Wildcats reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, losing to Kentucky in the national championship game, and finished with a record of 25–4 (11–1 Big 7).

The team played its home games at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas.

Roster

1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G/F	22	Ernie Barrett	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Wellington HS	Wellington, Kansas
F/C	25	Lew Hitch	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr		Griggsville, Illinois
G/F		Jack Stone	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	University HS	Los Angeles, California

Head coach

Jack Gardner (USC)

Assistant coach(es)

Tex Winter (USC)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1950*		at Long Island University	L 59–60	0–1	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Dec 4, 1950*		at Ohio State	W 68–51	1–1	Ohio State Men's Gym Columbus, Ohio
Dec 6, 1950*		at Purdue	W 60–44	2–1	Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 9, 1950*		Utah State	W 66–56	3–1	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 12, 1950*		Wichita	W 73–42	4–1	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 16, 1950*		Indiana	L 52–58 ^OT	4–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 18, 1950*		Wisconsin	W 77–58	5–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 21, 1950*	No. 20	Springfield (MO)	W 82–59	6–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 28, 1950*		Oklahoma Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 55–53	7–2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 29, 1950*		vs. Nebraska Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 72–53	8–2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 30, 1950*		vs. Minnesota Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 70–62	9–2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 6, 1951	No. 9	at Missouri	W 60–43	10–2 (1–0)	Brewer Fieldhouse Columbia, Missouri
Jan 13, 1951	No. 9	Iowa State	W 98–58	11–2 (2–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Jan 15, 1951	No. 10	at Kansas	W 47–43	12–2 (3–0)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, Kansas
Jan 27, 1951	No. 9	Colorado	W 63–42	13–2 (4–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Jan 31, 1951*	No. 7	No. 4 Long Island University	W 85–65	14–2	Ahearn Field House (14,028) Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 3, 1951	No. 7	at Colorado	W 60–45	15–2 (5–0)	Balch Fieldhouse Boulder, Colorado
Feb 5, 1951	No. 7	at Nebraska	W 79–50	16–2 (6–0)	Nebraska Coliseum Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 10, 1951	No. 4	Missouri	W 75–64	17–2 (7–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 17, 1951	No. 3	at Oklahoma	L 46–49	17–3 (7–1)	McCasland Field House Norman, Oklahoma
Feb 24, 1951	No. 5	Kansas	W 65–51	18–3 (8–1)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 26, 1951	No. 4	Nebraska	W 74–48	19–3 (9–1)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 3, 1951	No. 4	at Iowa State	W 81–47	20–3 (10–1)	Iowa State Armory Ames, Iowa
Mar 5, 1951	No. 4	Oklahoma	W 87–48	21–3 (11–1)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 14, 1951*	No. 4	No. 5 Illinois	W 91–72	22–3	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
NCAA Tournament
Mar 21, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 12 Arizona NCAA First Round	W 61–59	23–3	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 23, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 11 Brigham Young NCAA Regional Semifinal	W 64–54	24–3	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 24, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 2 Oklahoma A&M NCAA Regional Final	W 68–44	25–3	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 27, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Kentucky NCAA National Championship	L 58–68	25–4	Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[2]

Rankings

^[3]^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	7	Ernie Barrett	Boston Celtics
2	10	Jack Stone	Baltimore Bullets
2	19	Lew Hitch	Minneapolis Lakers

^[5]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1950-51 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
^ "2018-19 Kansas State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Kansas State University Athletics. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 600–601. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1950-51 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
^ "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[1] sports-reference.com 1950-51 Big Seven Conference Season Summary

[2] "2018-19 Kansas State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Kansas State University Athletics. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[ESPN-3] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 600–601. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "1950-51 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[5] "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[1]

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[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Manhattan YMCA (1902–1911) Nichols Hall (1911–1950) Ahearn Field House (1950–1988) Bramlage Coliseum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Kansas
Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Kansas Wildcats" "Wabash Cannonball" Wildcat Victory The Pride of Wildcat Land
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics