1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

The 1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1964, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 20, 1965, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The UCLA Bruins won their second NCAA national championship with a 91–80 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	Michigan Wolverines[1][2]
NCAA Tournament	1965
Tournament dates	March 8 – 20, 1965
National Championship	Memorial Coliseum Portland, Oregon
NCAA Champions	UCLA Bruins
Helms National Champions	UCLA Bruins
Other champions	St. John's Redmen (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Bill Bradley, Princeton Tigers Gail Goodrich, UCLA Bruins
← 1963–64 1965–66 →

Season headlines

• The Associated Press (AP) Poll introduced a preseason Top 20, but during the season continued to rank only the Top 10 teams, as it had done since the 1961–62 season.^[3]
• The NCAA tournament contracted from 25 to 23 teams.
• The National Invitation Tournament expanded from 12 to 14 teams.
• UCLA won its second consecutive national championship, as well as its second overall.
• Bill Bradley of Princeton became the first player to score 50 or more points in an NCAA tournament Final Four game, scoring 58 against Wichita State in the national third-place game on March 20, 1965.^[4]

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^[5][6]

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 Michigan 2 UCLA 3 Wichita State 4 Davidson 5 Duke 6 Vanderbilt 7 Syracuse 8 Kansas State 9 San Francisco 10 St. John's 11 (tie) Kentucky Minnesota 13 North Carolina 14 Bradley 15 Seattle 16 Villanova 17 Notre Dame 18 Kansas 19 BYU 20 DePaul

UPI Coaches Ranking Team 1 Michigan 2 UCLA 3 Davidson 4 Wichita State 5 Duke 6 Vanderbilt 7 San Francisco 8 North Carolina 9 Seattle 10 Minnesota 11 Kansas 12 Syracuse 13 Villanova 14 Kansas State 15 (tie) Kentucky St. John's 17 BYU 18 Saint Louis 19 Notre Dame 20 DePaul

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Southeastern Conference	NCAA University Division independent
Louisville Cardinals	NCAA University Division independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Oregon Ducks	NCAA University Division independent	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Oregon State Beavers	NCAA University Division independent	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Saint Peter's Peacocks	NCAA College Division independent	NCAA University Division independent

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[7]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Athletic Association of Western Universities	UCLA	None selected	No Tournament
Atlantic Coast Conference	Duke	Billy Cunningham, North Carolina[8]	1965 ACC men's basketball tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	NC State
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma State	None selected	No Tournament
Big Sky Conference	Weber State	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	None selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Princeton	None selected	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Ohio	None selected	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic Conference	Saint Joseph's		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Wichita State	None selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Eastern Kentucky State	Clem Haskins, Western Kentucky State	1965 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky State
Southeastern Conference	Vanderbilt	Clyde Lee, Vanderbilt[9]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Davidson	Fred Hetzel, Davidson[10]	1965 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina)	West Virginia[11]
Southwest Conference	SMU & Texas	John Beasley, Texas A&M	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Ollie Johnson, San Francisco	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	BYU	None selected	No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1964–65 AAWU Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 UCLA 14 – 0   1.000 28 – 2   .933 Stanford 9 – 5   .643 15 – 8   .652 USC 8 – 6   .571 14 – 12   .538 Oregon State 7 – 7   .500 16 – 10   .615 Washington State 6 – 8   .429 9 – 17   .346 Washington 5 – 9   .357 9 – 16   .360 California 4 – 10   .286 8 – 15   .348 Oregon 3 – 11   .214 9 – 17   .346 As of November 25, 2011[12] Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 ACC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 10 Duke 11 – 3   .786 20 – 5   .800 NC State † 10 – 4   .714 21 – 5   .808 Maryland 10 – 4   .714 18 – 8   .692 North Carolina 10 – 4   .714 15 – 9   .625 Wake Forest 6 – 8   .429 12 – 15   .444 Clemson 4 – 10   .286 8 – 15   .348 Virginia 3 – 11   .214 7 – 18   .280 South Carolina 2 – 12   .143 6 – 17   .261 † 1965 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[13]	1964–65 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oklahoma State 12 – 2   .857 20 – 7   .741 Kansas 9 – 5   .643 17 – 8   .680 Missouri 8 – 6   .571 13 – 11   .542 Colorado 8 – 6   .571 13 – 12   .520 Iowa State 6 – 8   .429 9 – 16   .360 Kansas State 5 – 9   .357 12 – 13   .480 Nebraska 5 – 9   .357 10 – 15   .400 Oklahoma 3 – 11   .214 8 – 17   .320 Rankings from AP Poll[14]
1964–65 Big Sky men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Weber State 8 – 2   .800 22 – 3   .880 Gonzaga 6 – 4   .600 18 – 8   .692 Montana State 6 – 4   .600 15 – 10   .600 Idaho 4 – 6   .400 6 – 19   .240 Idaho State 4 – 6   .400 7 – 19   .269 Montana 2 – 8   .200 11 – 15   .423	1964–65 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 1 Michigan 13 – 1   .929 24 – 4   .857 No. 7 Minnesota 11 – 3   .786 19 – 5   .792 Illinois 10 – 4   .714 18 – 6   .750 Indiana 9 – 5   .643 19 – 5   .792 Iowa 8 – 6   .571 14 – 10   .583 Ohio State 6 – 3   .667 12 – 12   .500 Purdue 5 – 9   .357 12 – 12   .500 Wisconsin 4 – 10   .286 9 – 13   .409 Northwestern 3 – 11   .214 7 – 17   .292 Michigan State 1 – 13   .071 5 – 18   .217 Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 Ivy League men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Princeton 13 – 1   .929 23 – 6   .793 Cornell 11 – 3   .786 19 – 5   .792 Penn 10 – 4   .714 15 – 10   .600 Yale 7 – 7   .500 10 – 12   .455 Harvard 6 – 8   .429 11 – 12   .478 Columbia 5 – 9   .357 7 – 15   .318 Brown 3 – 11   .214 7 – 17   .292 Dartmouth 1 – 13   .071 4 – 21   .160 Rankings from AP Poll[15]
1964–65 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Ohio 11 – 1   .917 19 – 7   .731 Miami (Ohio) 11 – 1   .917 20 – 5   .800 Toledo 6 – 6   .500 13 – 11   .542 Bowling Green State 6 – 6   .500 9 – 15   .375 Kent State 4 – 8   .333 9 – 11   .450 Western Michigan 3 – 9   .250 8 – 16   .333 Marshall 1 – 11   .083 4 – 20   .167 Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 MAC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 3 Saint Joseph's† 5 – 0   1.000 26 – 3   .897 La Salle 5 – 1   .833 15 – 8   .652 Lafayette 8 – 3   .727 12 – 8   .600 Temple 4 – 3   .571 14 – 10   .583 Bucknell 4 – 5   .444 11 – 13   .458 Gettysburg 4 – 6   .400 12 – 11   .522 Lehigh 4 – 6   .400 7 – 13   .350 Delaware 0 – 10   .000 3 – 17   .150 † Regular-season championship winner Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Wichita State 11 – 3   .786 21 – 9   .700 Bradley 9 – 5   .643 18 – 9   .667 Saint Louis 9 – 5   .643 18 – 9   .667 Louisville 8 – 6   .571 15 – 10   .600 Tulsa 7 – 7   .500 14 – 11   .560 Drake 6 – 8   .429 15 – 10   .600 Cincinnati 5 – 9   .357 14 – 12   .538 North Texas State 1 – 13   .071 7 – 19   .269 Rankings from AP Poll[16]
1964–65 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Kentucky State 13 – 1   .929 19 – 6   .760 Western Kentucky State 10 – 4   .714 18 – 9   .667 Murray State 9 – 5   .643 19 – 7   .731 Tennessee Tech 8 – 6   .571 14 – 11   .560 Morehead State 6 – 8   .429 13 – 10   .565 East Tennessee State 4 – 10   .286 6 – 17   .261 Middle Tennessee 4 – 10   .286 6 – 18   .250 Austin Peay State 2 – 12   .143 4 – 17   .190 Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Vanderbilt 15 – 1   .938 24 – 4   .857 Tennessee 12 – 4   .750 20 – 5   .800 Florida 11 – 5   .688 18 – 7   .720 Auburn 11 – 5   .688 16 – 9   .640 Kentucky 10 – 6   .625 15 – 10   .600 Alabama 9 – 7   .563 17 – 9   .654 LSU 7 – 9   .438 12 – 14   .462 Mississippi State 6 – 10   .375 10 – 16   .385 Georgia 4 – 12   .250 8 – 18   .308 Tulane 2 – 14   .125 3 – 22   .120 Ole Miss 1 – 15   .063 4 – 21   .160 Rankings from AP Poll[17]	1964–65 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Davidson 12 – 0   1.000 24 – 2   .923 Virginia Tech 9 – 5   .643 13 – 10   .565 The Citadel 8 – 4   .667 13 – 11   .542 West Virginia † 8 – 6   .571 14 – 15   .483 George Washington 6 – 7   .462 10 – 13   .435 William & Mary 6 – 8   .429 12 – 13   .480 Richmond 6 – 10   .375 10 – 16   .385 VMI 5 – 9   .357 8 – 13   .381 Furman 2 – 13   .133 6 – 19   .240 † Tournament winner As of April 30, 1965 Rankings from AP Poll
1964–65 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas† 10 – 4   .714 16 – 9   .640 SMU† 10 – 4   .714 17 – 10   .630 Baylor 8 – 6   .571 15 – 9   .625 Texas A&M 7 – 7   .500 14 – 10   .583 Arkansas 5 – 9   .357 9 – 14   .391 TCU 3 – 11   .214 6 – 18   .250 Rice 1 – 13   .071 2 – 22   .083 Texas Tech 12 – 2   .857 17 – 6   .739 † Regular-season co-championship winner Rankings from AP Poll	1964–65 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT San Francisco 13 – 1   .929 24 – 5   .828 Santa Clara 9 – 5   .643 14 – 12   .538 San Jose State –   – 14 – 10   .583 Pacific 8 – 6   .571 13 – 12   .520 UC Santa Barbara 7 – 7   .500 12 – 14   .462 Saint Mary's 5 – 9   .357 8 – 18   .308 Pepperdine 3 – 11   .214 6 – 19   .240 Loyola (Calif.) 2 – 12   .143 6 – 20   .231 Rankings from AP Poll[18]
1964–65 WAC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 9 BYU 8 – 2   .800 21 – 7   .750 New Mexico 5 – 5   .500 19 – 8   .704 Arizona 5 – 5   .500 17 – 9   .654 Wyoming 5 – 5   .500 16 – 10   .615 Arizona State 4 – 6   .400 13 – 14   .481 Utah 3 – 7   .300 17 – 9   .654 Rankings from AP Poll[19]	1964–65 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Connecticut 10 – 0   1.000 23 – 3   .885 Massachusetts 8 – 2   .800 13 – 11   .542 Rhode Island 6 – 4   .600 15 – 11   .577 Maine 4 – 6   .400 13 – 10   .565 Vermont 1 – 9   .100 7 – 13   .350 New Hampshire 1 – 9   .100 2 – 19   .095

University Division independents

A total of 53 college teams played as University Division independents. Among them, Providence (24–2) had both the best winning percentage (.923) and the most wins.^[20]

1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Providence –   – 24 – 2   .923 Miami –   – 22 – 4   .846 Penn State –   – 20 – 4   .833 No. 8 Villanova –   – 23 – 5   .821 Dayton –   – 22 – 7   .759 Boston College –   – 21 – 7   .750 Seattle –   – 19 – 7   .731 Army –   – 21 – 8   .724 St. John's –   – 21 – 8   .724 Detroit –   – 20 – 8   .714 Hardin–Simmons –   – 17 – 8   .680 Oklahoma City –   – 21 – 10   .677 Colorado State –   – 16 – 8   .667 Fairfield –   – 14 – 7   .667 Houston –   – 19 – 10   .655 St. Bonaventure –   – 15 – 8   .652 Texas Western –   – 16 – 9   .640 West Texas State –   – 16 – 9   .640 DePaul –   – 17 – 10   .630 Florida State –   – 16 – 10   .615 NYU –   – 16 – 10   .615 Manhattan –   – 13 – 9   .591 Duquesne –   – 14 – 10   .583 Creighton –   – 13 – 10   .565 Georgetown –   – 13 – 10   .565 Holy Cross –   – 13 – 10   .565 Syracuse –   – 13 – 10   .565 Georgia Tech –   – 14 – 11   .560 Fordham –   – 15 – 12   .556 Notre Dame –   – 15 – 12   .556 St. Francis (NY) –   – 11 – 9   .550 Centenary –   – 13 – 11   .542 Iona –   – 12 – 11   .522 Utah State –   – 13 – 12   .520 Rutgers –   – 12 – 12   .500 Boston University –   – 10 – 10   .500 Navy –   – 10 – 10   .500 Portland –   – 12 – 13   .480 Seton Hall –   – 12 – 13   .480 Canisius –   – 10 – 12   .455 Denver –   – 11 – 14   .440 Loyola Chicago –   – 11 – 14   .440 Butler –   – 11 – 15   .423 Memphis State –   – 10 – 14   .417 Saint Francis (PA) –   – 10 – 15   .400 Xavier –   – 10 – 15   .400 Air Force –   – 9 – 14   .391 Loyola (LA) –   – 8 – 16   .333 Marquette –   – 8 – 18   .308 New Mexico State –   – 8 – 18   .308 Colgate –   – 7 – 16   .304 Pittsburgh –   – 7 – 16   .304 Niagara –   – 4 – 17   .190 Rankings from AP Poll

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Most Valuable Player
Philadelphia Big 5	Saint Joseph's	Jim Washington, Villanova

Saint Joseph's finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament and 1965 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

	National semifinals					National finals
	E	Princeton	76
	ME	Michigan	93
						ME	Michigan	80
						W	UCLA	91
	MW	Wichita State	89
	W	UCLA	108			Third place
						E	Princeton	118
						MW	Wichita State	82

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1965 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Villanova	91
	NYU	69
					Villanova	51
					St. John's	55
	St. John's	67
	Army	60			Third place
					NYU	74
					Army	75

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1965 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Rick Barry	F	Senior	Miami (FL)
Bill Bradley	F	Senior	Princeton
Gail Goodrich	G	Senior	UCLA
Fred Hetzel	F	Senior	Davidson
Cazzie Russell	F	Junior	Michigan

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Bill Buntin	F	Senior	Michigan
Wayne Estes	F	Senior	Utah State
Clyde Lee	F	Junior	Vanderbilt
Dave Schellhase	G/F	Junior	Purdue
Dave Stallworth	F	Senior	Wichita State

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Bill Bradley, Princeton, & Gail Goodrich, UCLA
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Bill Bradley, Princeton
• UPI Player of the Year: Bill Bradley, Princeton
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Bill Bradley, Princeton
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Bill Bradley, Princeton

Major coach of the year awards

• Henry Iba Award: Butch van Breda Kolff, Princeton
• NABC Coach of the Year: Butch van Breda Kolff, Princeton
• UPI Coach of the Year: Dave Strack, Michigan

Other major awards

• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Jim Washington, Villanova
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Warren Isaac, Iona

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Army	Tates Locke		Bob Knight	Locke left to become freshman coach at Miami (Ohio) and was replaced by his 24-year-old assistant, future Hall of Fame coach Knight.[21]
Bradley	Chuck Orsborn		Joe Stowell	Orsborn was promoted to Bradley Athletic Director and passed on head coaching duties to assistant Stowell.[22]
Cincinnati	Ed Jucker		Tay Baker
Georgia	Harbin Lawson		Ken Rosemond
Holy Cross	Frank Oftring		Jack Donohue	Oftring retired from coaching and was replaced with Donohue, who had been prized recruit Lew Alcindor's coach at Power Memorial Academy.[23]
Indiana	Branch McCracken		Lou Watson
LSU	Jay McCreary		Frank Truitt
Mississippi State	Babe McCarthy		Joe Dan Gold
St. John's	Joe Lapchick		Lou Carnesecca
Wake Forest	Bones McKinney		Jack Murdock