1961–62 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The 1961–62 UCLA basketball team was coached by John Wooden in his 14th year. The Bruins finished 1st in the AAWU (10–2), and accepted a bid to the 1962 NCAA Tournament. The Bruins won the NCAA Far West Regional and played in the Final Four, the first in the school's history and the first of 12 for coach John Wooden.^[2] UCLA lost 72–70 to Cincinnati and then in the third-place game on March 24, 1962, in Louisville, Ky. (Freedom Hall), Wake Forest defeated UCLA 82–80. The Bruins finished the season as the 4th best team in the nation.

1961–62 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
Los Angeles Classic champions AAWU regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
Record	18–11 (10–2 (1st) Big Six)
Head coach	John R. Wooden (14th season)
Assistant coach	Jerry Norman
Home arena	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Seasons ← 1960–61 1962–63 →

1961–62 AAWU Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UCLA	10	–	2		.833			18	–	11		.621
Stanford	8	–	4		.667			16	–	6		.727
Washington	5	–	7		.417			16	–	10		.615
USC	5	–	7		.417			14	–	11		.560
California	2	–	10		.167			8	–	17		.320
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

1961–62 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 52 Pete Blackman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr F 55 Gary Cunningham (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr G 22 Larry Gower 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — G 45 John Green (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Sr F 25 Rich Gugat 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — G 42 Walt Hazzard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Wilmington, Delaware G 24 Bill Hicks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — G 20 Mike Huggins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — G 44 Jim Milhorn 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — G 30 Jim Rosvall 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — C 35 Fred Slaughter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So C 34 Kim Stewart 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — F 32 Dave Waxman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) —	Head coach John Wooden (Purdue) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 18 October 2017

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 1, 1961*		at BYU	L 66–68	0–1	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, UT
December 2, 1961*		at BYU	L 83–86	0–2	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, UT
December 9, 1961*		Kansas	W 69–61	1–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
December 15, 1961*		DePauw	W 91–62	2–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
December 16, 1961*		Colorado State	L 68–69	2–3	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
December 20, 1961*		at Creighton	L 72–74	2–4	Omaha Civic Auditorium  Omaha, NE
December 22, 1961*		at Houston Houston Holiday Classic	L 65–91	2–5	Jeppesen Gymnasium  Houston, TX
December 23, 1961*		vs. Texas A&M Houston Holiday Classic	W 81–71	3–5	Jeppesen Gymnasium  Houston, TX
December 27, 1961*		Army Los Angeles Classic	W 86–72	4–5	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
December 28, 1961*		No. 1 Ohio State Los Angeles Classic	L 84–105	4–6	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
December 29, 1961*		Utah Los Angeles Classic	L 79–88	4–7	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
January 5, 1962		Washington	W 72–57	5–7 (1–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
January 6, 1962		Washington	W 75–63	6–7 (2–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
January 13, 1962		at California	W 71–60	7–7 (3–0)	Harmon Gym  Berkeley, CA
January 26, 1962*		Texas Tech	W 89–60	8–7	Santa Monica City College  Santa Monica, CA
January 27, 1962*		Texas Tech	W 87–58	9–7	Santa Monica City College  Santa Monica, CA
February 2, 1962		No. 5 USC	W 73–59	10–7 (4–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
February 10, 1962		Stanford	W 82–64	11–7 (5–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
February 16, 1962		USC	L 60–74	11–8 (5–1)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
February 17, 1962		USC	W 69–62	12–8 (6–1)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
February 23, 1962		California	W 68–62	13–8 (7–1)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
February 24, 1962		Stanford	W 75–65	14–8 (8–1)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
March 2, 1962		at Washington	W 69–66	15–8 (9–1)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion  Seattle, WA
March 9, 1962		at Stanford	L 67–82	15–9 (9–2)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
March 10, 1962		at California	W 66–54	16–9 (10–2)	Harmon Gym  Berkeley, CA
NCAA Tournament
March 16, 1962*		vs. Utah State Regional semifinal	W 73–62	17–9	Smith Fieldhouse[3] (10,186) Provo, UT
March 17, 1962*		vs. Oregon State Regional Final	W 88–69	18–9	Smith Fieldhouse[4] (9,826) Provo, UT
March 23, 1962*		vs. No. 2 Cincinnati National semifinal	L 70–72	18–10	Freedom Hall[5] (18,274) Louisville, KY
March 24, 1962*		vs. Wake Forest National third-place game	L 80–82	18–11	Freedom Hall[6]  Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source^[7]

Draft list