1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The 1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA National Basketball Championship, the fifth in six years under head coach John Wooden with a win over Purdue, coach Wooden's alma mater.^[2] The Bruins opened with 25 wins, on a 41-game winning streak, but lost the regular season finale to rival USC on March 8, which snapped a home winning streak of 85 games.^[3][4]

1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions Pac-8 champions
National Championship Game, W 92–72 vs. Purdue
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	29–1 (13–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	John Wooden (21st season)
Assistant coaches	Denny Crum Gary Cunningham
MVP	Lew Alcindor
Home arena	Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Seasons ← 1967–68 1969–70 →

1968–69 Pacific-8 Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 UCLA	13	–	1		.929			29	–	1		.967
Washington State	11	–	3		.786			18	–	8		.692
USC	8	–	6		.571			15	–	11		.577
Washington	6	–	8		.429			13	–	13		.500
Oregon	5	–	9		.357			13	–	13		.500
Oregon State	5	–	9		.357			12	–	14		.462
California	4	–	10		.286			12	–	13		.480
Stanford	4	–	10		.286			8	–	17		.320
As of April 15, 1969[1] Rankings from AP Poll

The West Regional was hosted by UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, and they defeated #12 New Mexico State 53–38 and third-ranked Santa Clara 90–52. Center Lew Alcindor had a total of 33 points in the two games.

In the Final Four at Louisville, Kentucky, UCLA had a two-point lead at halftime over #11 Drake and won 85–82 to advance to the championship game against sixth-ranked Purdue. Wooden graduated from Purdue in 1932, after earning All-American honors as a guard on the school's basketball team that he captained during his junior and senior years. The Boilermakers won two Big Ten titles and the 1932 national championship during his years there. Wooden also played baseball during his freshman year.

The "Money Man", John Vallely, scored 29 points and Alcindor had 25 points at the semi-final game. Alcindor scored 37 points with 20 rebounds in the championship game.^[5]

Players

1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 33 Lew Alcindor 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr New York, New York F/C 52 John Ecker 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — So Los Angeles, California 34 George Farmer — — G 22 Kenny Heitz 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr Santa Monica, CA F 34 Jim Nielsen — — C 32 Steve Patterson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Riverside, California F 30 Curtis Rowe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Bessemer, Alabama G 25 Don Saffer 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — G 42 Terry Schofield 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So Los Angeles, California F 54 Bill Seibert — — F 53 Lynn Shackelford 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Burbank, CA G 45 Bill Sweek 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr Pasadena, CA G 40 John Vallely 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Newport, California 44 Lee Walczuk — — F 35 Sidney Wicks 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Los Angeles, California	Head coach John Wooden (Purdue) Assistant coach(es) Denny Crum (UCLA) Gary Cunningham (UCLA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 30, 1968	No. 1	No. 10 Purdue	W 94–82	1–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
December 6, 1968*	No. 1	at No. 13 Ohio State	W 84–73	2–0	St. John Arena  Columbus, OH
December 7, 1968*	No. 1	at No. 5 Notre Dame	W 88–75	3–0	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 20, 1968*	No. 1	Minnesota	W 90–51	4–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 1968*	No. 1	West Virginia	W 95–56	5–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
December 27, 1968*	No. 1	vs. Providence ECAC Holiday Festival	W 98–81	6–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 28, 1968*	No. 1	vs. Princeton ECAC Holiday Festival	W 83–67	7–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
December 30, 1968*	No. 1	at St. John's ECAC Holiday Festival	W 74–56	8–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
January 4, 1969*	No. 1	Tulane	W 96–64	9–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
January 10, 1969	No. 1	at Oregon	W 93–64	10–0 (1-0)	McArthur Court  Eugene, OR
January 11, 1969	No. 1	at Oregon State	W 83–64	11–0 (2-0)	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, OR
January 18, 1969*	No. 1	Houston	W 100–64	12–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
January 24, 1969*	No. 1	vs. Northwestern	W 81–67	13–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
January 25, 1969*	No. 1	at Loyola–Chicago	W 84–65	14–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
January 31, 1969	No. 1	California	W 109–74	15–0 (3–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 1, 1969	No. 1	Stanford	W 98–61	16–0 (4–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 7, 1969	No. 1	Washington	W 62–51	17–0 (5–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 8, 1969	No. 1	Washington State	W 108–80	18–0 (6–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 15, 1969	No. 1	at Washington State	W 83–59	19–0 (7–0)	Bohler Gymnasium  Pullman, WA
February 17, 1969	No. 1	at Washington	W 53–44	20–0 (8–0)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion  Seattle, WA
February 21, 1969	No. 1	Oregon State	W 91–66	21–0 (9–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 22, 1969	No. 1	Oregon	W 103–69	22–0 (10–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
February 28, 1969	No. 1	at Stanford	W 81–60	23–0 (11–0)	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
March 1, 1969	No. 1	at California	W 84–77	24–0 (12–0)	Harmon Gym  Berkeley, CA
March 7, 1969	No. 1	at USC	W 61–55 2OT	25–0 (13–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
March 8, 1969	No. 1	USC	L 44–46	25–1 (13–1)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
NCAA Tournament
March 13, 1969*	No. 1	No. 12 New Mexico State Regional semifinal	W 53–38	26–1	Pauley Pavilion (12,817[6]) Los Angeles, CA
March 15, 1969* 3:05 pm	No. 1	No. 3 Santa Clara Regional Final	W 90–53	27–1	Pauley Pavilion (12,812[7]) Los Angeles, CA
March 20, 1969* 7:30 pm, NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 11 Drake National semifinal	W 85–82	28–1	Freedom Hall (18,435[8]) Louisville, KY
March 22, 1969* 1:15 pm, NBC	No. 1	vs. No. 6 Purdue National Final	W 92–72	29–1	Freedom Hall (18,669[9]) Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific time.

Source:^[10]

Rankings

Main article: 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Not released
Coaches	Not released	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Notes

• Three consecutive national championships for the Bruins, five in six years.
• This was the first year in which the Athletic Association of Western Universities officially adopted the name Pacific-8 Conference, although that name had been used unofficially since the 1964–65 season after Oregon and Oregon State joined the conference.
• USC, after losing a 61–55 double-overtime game to UCLA at the Sports Arena the night before, defeated the Bruins, 46–44, at Pauley Pavilion with a slowdown game. The Trojans' win ended four extended winning streaks by the Bruins:^[11]
  • 51 games in Pauley Pavilion.
  • 41 overall.
  • 45 in AAWU/Pac-8 play.
  • 17 over USC.
• Last season for the 7-foot-1 and 1/2-inch center Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), who led the Bruins to an overall three-year record (1967–1969) of 88–2, and is the only player in history to be named three-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. In 1969, Alcindor earned the first ever Naismith Trophy, given to the nation's top player.
• On the 40th anniversary, the team was honored at halftime of UCLA's Senior Day game, March 7, 2009, at Pauley Pavilion.
• Lew Alcindor's father played trombone with the UCLA band during the championship game.^[12]
• This team was honored at the January 26, 2019 game against Arizona on its 50th anniversary.

Awards and honors

• Lew Alcindor, NCAA basketball tournament MOP (1969)
• Lew Alcindor, Naismith College Player of the Year^[13]
• Lew Alcindor, Helms Foundation Player of the Year award
• Lew Alcindor, First Team All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
1	1	Lew Alcindor	Milwaukee Bucks
1	3	Lucius Allen	Seattle SuperSonics
5	48	Kenny Heitz	Milwaukee Bucks
7	85	Bill Sweek	Phoenix Suns
7	90	Lynn Shackelford	San Diego Rockets

Source:^[14]