1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati. Cincinnati won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and defended its national championship with a 71–59 defeat of top-ranked in-state foe Ohio State again before 18,469 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The head coach was Ed Jucker.

1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions MVC Co-champions
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	29–2 (10–2 MVC)
Head coach	Ed Jucker (2nd season)
Assistant coach	Tay Baker
Home arena	Armory Fieldhouse

1961–62 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Cincinnati	10	–	2		.833			29	–	2		.935
No. 5 Bradley	10	–	2		.833			21	–	7		.750
Wichita State	7	–	5		.583			18	–	9		.667
Drake	6	–	6		.500			16	–	8		.667
Saint Louis	5	–	7		.417			11	–	15		.423
Tulsa	4	–	8		.333			7	–	19		.269
North Texas	0	–	12		.000			3	–	23		.115
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1961–62 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 Larry Shingleton 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Jr Madison Madison, Indiana F 14 Bill Abernethy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Wyoming Cincinnati, Ohio F 15 Fred Dierking 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr Valley Stream Central Valley Stream, New York G 20 Tony Yates 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr Lockland Wayne Lawrenceburg, Indiana F 21 Ron Bonham 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 192 lb (87 kg) So Muncie Central Muncie, Indiana C 22 Paul Hogue 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Austin Knoxville, Tennessee F 24 Dale Heidotting 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Jr Greenhills Greenhills, Ohio G 25 Tom Thacker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr William Grant Covington, Kentucky G 31 Jim Calhoun 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Sr Carr Creek Carr Creek, Kentucky C 32 George Wilson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So John Marshall Chicago, Illinois G 33 Tom Sizer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Sr Middletown Middletown, Ohio G 34 Larry Elsasser 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So Central Cincinnati, Ohio C 35 Ron Reis 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) — Sr Woodward Cincinnati, Ohio	Head coach Ed Jucker (Cincinnati) Assistant coach(es) Tay Baker (Cincinnati) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: April 17, 2020

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 2, 1961*	No. 2	Indiana State	W 63–30	1–0	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
December 5, 1961*	No. 2	Miami (OH)	W 63–30	2–0	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
December 6, 1960*	No. 2	at Wisconsin	W 86–67	3–0	Wisconsin Field House  Madison, WI
December 11, 1961	No. 2	at Drake	W 60–59	4–0 (1–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, IA
December 16, 1961*	No. 2	Marshall	W 77–49	5–0	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
December 18, 1961	No. 2	at Wichita State	L 51–52	5–1 (1–1)	Levitt Arena  Wichita, KS
December 21, 1961*	No. 2	Colorado	W 84–67	6–1	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
December 26, 1961*	No. 2	vs. St. John's Holiday Festival	W 97–68	7–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 28, 1961*	No. 2	vs. La Salle Holiday Festival	W 64–56	8–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 30, 1961*	No. 2	vs. Wisconsin Holiday Festival	W 101–71	9–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
January 4, 1962	No. 2	Saint Louis	W 62–47	10–1 (2–1)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 1962	No. 2	Tulsa	W 72–43	11–1 (3–1)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
January 10, 1962	No. 2	at Bradley	L 68–70 OT	11–2 (3–2)	Robertson Memorial Field House  Peoria, IL
January 16, 1962*	No. 3	Dayton	W 80–61	12–2	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
January 18, 1962*	No. 3	at No. 5 Duquesne	W 62–54	13–2	Duquesne Gymnasium  Pittsburgh, PA
January 25, 1962	No. 3	North Texas	W 89–61	14–2 (4–2)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
January 30, 1962	No. 3	Drake	W 73–52	15–2 (5–2)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
February 1, 1962*	No. 3	at Houston	W 60–52	16–2	Jeppesen Field House  Houston, TX
February 3, 1962	No. 3	at North Texas	W 77–50	17–2 (6–2)	North Texas Men's Gym  Denton, TX
February 8, 1962	No. 3	at Saint Louis	W 54–48	18–2 (7–2)	Kiel Auditorium  Saint Louis, MO
February 10, 1962	No. 3	at Tulsa	W 70–52	19–2 (8–2)	Expo Square Pavilion  Tulsa, OK
February 12, 1962*	No. 3	George Washington	W 83–43	20–2	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
February 16, 1962*	No. 3	Houston	W 59–47	21–2	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
February 19, 1962	No. 3	No. 5 Bradley	W 72–57	22–2 (9–2)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
February 24, 1962	No. 2	Wichita State	W 84–63	23–2 (10–2)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, OH
March 1, 1962*	No. 2	Xavier Crosstown Shootout	W 61–58	24–2	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
March 12, 1962	No. 2	vs. No. 6 Bradley Missouri Valley Conference Playoff	W 61–46	25–2 (11–2)	Roberts Memorial Fieldhouse  Evansville, IN
NCAA Tournament
March 16*	No. 2	vs. Creighton Midwest Region Semifinals	W 66–46	26–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, KS
March 17*	No. 2	vs. No. 9 Colorado Midwest Region Finals	W 73–46	27–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, KS
March 23*	No. 2	vs. UCLA Final Four	W 72–70	28–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
March 24*	No. 2	vs. No. 1 Ohio State National Championship	W 71–59	29–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

All-American

• USBWA First Team: Paul Hogue
• NABC, NEA Second Team: Paul Hogue
• AP, NEA Third Team: Paul Hogue

National honors

Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year: Paul Hogue

Missouri Valley Conference honors

All-MVC

• Paul Hogue
• Tom Thacker
• Ron Bonham

Source

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Paul Hogue	New York Knicks

• In the spring of 1962, Cleveland Pipers owner George Steinbrenner signed Jerry Lucas to a player-management contract worth forty thousand dollars. With the Lucas signing, Steinbrenner had a secret deal with NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff. The Pipers would merge with the Kansas City Steers and join the NBA. A schedule was printed for the 1963–64 NBA season with the Pipers playing the New York Knicks in the first game. Steinbrenner and partner George McKean fell behind in payments to the NBA and the deal was cancelled.