1952–53 LSU Tigers basketball team

The 1952–53 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season. The head coach was Harry Rabenhorst, and the team played their home games at Huey P. Long Field House in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1952–53 LSU Tigers basketball
SEC Regular Season Champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 5
Record	22–3 (13–0 SEC)
Head coach	Harry Rabenhorst
Home arena	Huey P. Long Field House
Seasons ← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The Tigers swept through the SEC regular season and followed that success by reaching the first Final Four appearance in school history. The team finished with a record of 22–3 (13–0 SEC).

Roster

1952–53 LSU Tigers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F/C 50 Bob Pettit 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Head coach Harry Rabenhorst Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Dec 5, 1952*		Birmingham–Southern	W 98–38	1–0	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 8, 1952*		Southwestern (TN)	W 124–33	2–0	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 11, 1952*		Miami (FL)	W 86–58	3–0	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 17, 1952		at Alabama	W 58–45	4–0 (1–0)	Foster Auditorium  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 22, 1952*		at No. 14 Tulsa	L 58–84	4–1	Expo Square Pavilion  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 29, 1952*		vs. Villanova Sugar Bowl Classic	W 100–94	5–1	New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 30, 1952*		vs. Saint Louis Sugar Bowl Classic	W 70–67	6–1	New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 5, 1953*		Vanderbilt	W 74–61	7–1 (2–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 10, 1953		at Mississippi State	W 75–55	8–1 (3–0)	McCarthy Gymnasium  Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 12, 1953		at Ole Miss	W 67–66	9–1 (4–0)	Gymnasium  Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 16, 1953*		at Loyola (LA)	W 58–52	10–1	The Field House  New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 19, 1953		at Georgia	W 55–50	11–1 (5–0)	Woodruff Hall  Athens, Georgia
Jan 26, 1953*		No. 20 Tulsa	W 55–51	12–1	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 31, 1953		Tennessee	W 95–59	13–1 (6–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 7, 1953		Tulane	W 48–31	14–1 (7–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 10, 1953		at Florida	W 68–56	15–1 (8–0)	Florida Gymnasium  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 14, 1953		at Auburn	W 65–57	16–1 (9–0)	Auburn Sports Arena  Auburn, Alabama
Feb 21, 1953		Georgia Tech	W 76–52	17–1 (10–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 23, 1953		Ole Miss	W 63–48	18–1 (11–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 27, 1953		Mississippi State	W 82–47	19–1 (12–0)	Huey Long Field House  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Mar 6, 1953		at Tulane	W 53–52	20–1 (13–0)	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1953*	No. 7	vs. Lebanon Valley	W 89–76	21–1	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, North Carolina
Mar 14, 1953*	No. 7	vs. Holy Cross	W 81–73	22–1	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, North Carolina
Mar 17, 1953*	No. 7	vs. No. 1 Indiana National Semifinal – Final Four	L 67–80	22–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 18, 1953*	No. 7	vs. No. 2 Washington Consolation	L 69–88	22–3	Municipal Auditorium (10,500) Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E1=East-1.

^[2][3]

Rankings

Main article: 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

• Bob Pettit – Consensus Second-Team All-American