1971–72 Florida State Seminoles men's basketball team

The 1971–72 Florida State Seminoles men's basketball team represented Florida State University during the 1971–72 college basketball season. Led by head coach Hugh Durham, the Seminoles reached the championship game of the NCAA tournament before losing to unbeaten, 5-time defending national champion UCLA, 81–76. The team finished with an overall record of 28–5.

1971–72 Florida State Seminoles men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up
National Championship Game, L 76-81 vs. UCLA
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	27–6 (28–5 unadjusted)
Head coach	Hugh Durham (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Bolton Morris McHone Al Lawson
Home arena	Tully Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1970–71 1972–73 →

1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 16 Oral Roberts		–			–			26	–	2		.929
No. 7 Marquette		–			–			25	–	4		.862
Hawaii		–			–			23	–	4		.852
No. 12 Marshall		–			–			23	–	4		.852
No. 10 Florida State		–			–			28	–	5		.848
Northern Illinois		–			–			21	–	4		.840
No. 6 South Carolina		–			–			24	–	5		.828
Duquesne		–			–			20	–	5		.800
Syracuse		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Providence		–			–			21	–	6		.778
Detroit		–			–			18	–	6		.750
Houston		–			–			20	–	7		.741
Jacksonville		–			–			20	–	8		.714
No. 15 Villanova		–			–			20	–	8		.714
Pan American		–			–			17	–	7		.708
Niagara		–			–			21	–	9		.700
Penn State		–			–			17	–	8		.680
Fordham		–			–			18	–	9		.667
St. Bonaventure		–			–			16	–	8		.667
Cincinnati		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Georgia Southern		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Colgate		–			–			15	–	8		.652
St. John's		–			–			19	–	11		.633
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			15	–	9		.625
Illinois State		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Virginia Tech		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Canisius		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Creighton		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Holy Cross		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Oklahoma City		–			–			16	–	12		.571
Loyola (LA)		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Rutgers		–			–			14	–	11		.560
West Virginia		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Hardin–Simmons		–			–			14	–	12		.538
DePaul		–			–			12	–	11		.522
Centenary		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Long Island		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Boston College		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Dayton		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Pittsburgh		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Air Force		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Fairfield		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Saint Peter's		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Indiana State		–			–			12	–	14		.462
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Utah State		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Xavier		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Army		–			–			11	–	13		.458
Manhattan		–			–			11	–	13		.458
George Washington		–			–			11	–	14		.440
Navy		–			–			10	–	13		.435
Denver		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Portland		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Seton Hall		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Southern Illinois		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Ball State		–			–			9	–	15		.375
Loyola (IL)		–			–			8	–	14		.364
Tulane		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Boston University		–			–			7	–	16		.304
South Alabama		–			–			7	–	17		.292
Iona		–			–			6	–	17		.261
Butler		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Georgia Tech		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Notre Dame		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Stetson		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Georgetown		–			–			3	–	23		.115
Rankings from AP Poll

Hawaii game forfeited

Florida State traveled to Hawaii to play two games against The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team. On December 18, and 22nd, 1971. Florida State lost both games, the first game wasn't decided on the court.

Florida State lost its first game, a forfeiture-shortened 30–10 decision. Florida State coach Hugh Durham, spoke about how as result of his disagreement with the officials, the referee called a forfeit in the middle of the game.

Durham said, "I go out there to do what coaches try to do and get a technical. I'm telling the official, 'These are two good teams, let 'em play, we came a long way, blah, blah, blah ...' and he tells me, 'Go sit down coach or I'm going to call a technical.' Well, that was what I went out there for, to get a technical, so I told him, 'Go ahead, call the son-of-a-bleep' and he tells me, 'Coach, you're out of the game.'"

"I think he thought I swore at him," said Durham, who now laughs at the memories.

When Durham refused to leave the court after the free throws had been shot, referee David Mahukona called the game and it went into the books as a forfeit.

When FSU beat the Hawaii Marines a night later, Durham remembers, "the headline in the paper was, 'Florida State finishes game.' "

Hawaii's 1971–72 team finished 24–3 and captured the program's first NCAA tournament bid behind scoring leader Bob Nash.^[1]

Roster

1971–72 Florida State Seminoles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 3 Greg Samuel 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Sr Key West Hollywood, Florida F 10 Ron Harris 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Broward CC Key West, Florida G 11 Otto Petty 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Jr Central Louisville, Kentucky F 15 John Amick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida F 21 Larry Gay 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr George Rogers Clark Winchester, Kentucky G 22 Otis Cole 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Kings Mountain Kings Mountain, North Carolina C 23 Rowland Garrett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Sr Rogers Canton, Mississippi C 25 Reggie Royals 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Whiteville Whiteville, North Carolina SG 33 Ron King 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Central Louisville, Kentucky C 44 Lawrence McCray 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Washington Pensacola, Florida	Head coach Hugh Durham (Florida State) Assistant coach(es) Bill Bolton Morris McHone Al Lawson Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

^{[2] [3]}

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1971*		Oglethorpe	W 112–69	1–0	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Dec 4, 1971*		Eastern Kentucky	W 96–83	2–0	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Dec 6, 1971*	No. 18	vs. Stetson Civitan Classic	W 90–54	3–0	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum  Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 7, 1971*	No. 18	at No. 8 Jacksonville Civitan Classic	W 90–83	4–0	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum  Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 11, 1971*	No. 18	Valdosta State	W 134–65	5–0	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Dec 18, 1971*	No. 9	at Hawaii	L 10–30	5–1	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 22, 1971*	No. 14	at Hawaii	L 76–81	5–2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 27, 1971*	No. 14	vs. Washington Far West Classic	W 85–77	6–2	Portland, Oregon
Dec 29, 1971*		vs. Oregon State Far West Classic	W 73–72	7–2
Dec 30, 1971*		vs. Washington State Far West Classic	W 85–61	8–2
Jan 3, 1972*		vs. Denver Senior Bowl	W 89–72	7–2	Mobile, Alabama
Jan 4, 1972*	No. 20	at Saint Louis Senior Bowl	W 63–62	10–2	Mobile, Alabama
Jan 8, 1972*	No. 20	East Tennessee State	W 106–63	11–2	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 15, 1972*	No. 12	Mercer	W 96–78	12–2	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 16, 1972*	No. 12	Houston	W 86–79	13–2	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 19, 1972*	No. 11	South Alabama	W 105–72	14–2	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 22, 1972*	No. 11	at Georgia Tech	W 71–69	15–2	Alexander Memorial Coliseum  Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 26, 1972*	No. 10	Jacksonville	L 82–84	15–3	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 26, 1972*	No. 10	Florida Southern	W 84–63	16–3	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 31, 1972*	No. 10	Pan American	W 109–83	17–3	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Feb 4, 1972*	No. 12	at Houston	L 86–94	17–4	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Feb 7, 1972*	No. 12	at South Alabama	W 104–81	18–4	Jaguar Gym  Mobile, Alabama
Feb 12, 1972*	No. 14	Tulane	W 94–84	19–4	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Feb 19, 1972*	No. 14	Georgia Tech	W 108–50	20–4	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, Florida
Feb 23, 1972*	No. 11	at Jacksonville	W 70–61	21–4	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum  Jacksonville, Florida
Feb 26, 1972*	No. 11	vs. Stetson	W 49–47	22–4	Winter Park, Florida
Feb 28, 1972*	No. 11	at Biscayne	W 94–66	23–4	Miami Gardens, Florida
Mar 4, 1972*	No. 10	at Cincinnati	L 64–88	23–5	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, Ohio
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1972*	No. 14	vs. Eastern Kentucky Mideast Regional Quarterfinal	W 83–81	24–5	Stokely Athletic Center (4,500) Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 16, 1972*	No. 10	vs. No. 11 Minnesota Mideast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 70–56	25–5	University of Dayton Arena (13,458) Dayton, Ohio
Mar 18, 1972*	No. 10	vs. No. 18 Kentucky Mideast Regional final – Elite Eight	W 73–54	26–5	University of Dayton Arena (13,458) Dayton, Ohio
Mar 23, 1972*	No. 10	vs. No. 2 North Carolina National semifinal – Final Four	W 79–75	27–5	L.A. Sports Arena (13,756) Los Angeles, California
Mar 25, 1972*	No. 10	vs. No. 1 UCLA National Championship	L 76–81[4]	27–6	L.A. Sports Arena (15,063) Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern.

^[5][6]

Rankings

Main article: 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

NBA draft

Main article: 1972 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
5	78	Rowland Garrett	Chicago Bulls

^[7]