# 1955–56 Temple Owls men's basketball team

The 1955–56 Temple Owls men's basketball team represented Temple University during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Harry Litwack and played their home games at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Playing out of the East region, the Owls made a run to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament – the first in program history. In the National semifinals, Temple lost to Iowa. The Owls bounced back to defeat SMU in the consolation game to finish with a record of 27–4. It would be the second time in three seasons Temple reached the Final Four and took third place.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1957* | | Albright | W 87–56 | 1–0 | South Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 7, 1957* | | Gettysburg | W 74–53 | 2–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 10, 1955* | | at No. 2 Kentucky | W 73–61 | 3–0 | Memorial Coliseum Lexington, Kentucky |
| Dec 14, 1957* | No. 11 | at Gettysburg | W 74–53 | 4–0 | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 17, 1955* | No. 11 | Princeton | W 83–80 | 5–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 20, 1955* | No. 12 | vs. Penn | W 93–72 | 6–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 4, 1956* | No. 16 | at Lehigh | W 81–48 | 7–0 | Taylor Gym Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 6, 1956* | No. 16 | at Scranton | W 90–60 | 8–0 | John Long Center Scranton, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 11, 1956* | No. 10 | vs. Villanova | W 80–73 | 9–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 14, 1956* | No. 10 | Manhattan | W 91–79 | 10–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 21, 1956* | No. 8 | Lehigh | W 72–44 | 11–0 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 26, 1956* | No. 6 | at Delaware | W 108–81 | 12–0 | Newark, Delaware |
| Jan 28, 1956* | No. 6 | at Navy | W 93–74 | 13–0 | Dahlgren Hall Annapolis, Maryland |
| Feb 1, 1956* | No. 7 | at Muhlenberg | L 66–67 | 13–1 | Memorial Hall Allentown, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 4, 1956* | No. 7 | at Saint Francis (PA) | W 103–68 | 14–1 | Loretto, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 6, 1956* | No. 9 | at Duquesne | W 63–48 | 15–1 | Duquesne Gymnasium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 8, 1956* | No. 9 | Bucknell | W 88–50 | 16–1 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 10, 1956* | No. 9 | Penn State | W 77–58 | 17–1 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 15, 1956* | No. 9 | vs. La Salle | W 60–57 | 18–1 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 18, 1956* | No. 9 | at Lafayette | W 66–65 | 19–1 | Alumni Gym Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 20, 1958* | No. 10 | Lebanon Valley | W 72–68 | 20–1 | South Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 22, 1956* | No. 10 | vs. Saint Joseph's | L 68–77 | 20–2 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 25, 1956* | No. 10 | Duquesne | L 64–66 | 20–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 29, 1958* | No. 14 | at Albright | W 86–75 | 21–3 | Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 7, 1956* | No. 13 | St. John's | W 71–66 | 22–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 10, 1956* | No. 13 | vs. Saint Joseph's | W 89–82 | 23–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 1956* | No. 15 | vs. No. 14 Holy Cross First round | W 74–72 | 24–3 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Mar 16, 1956* | No. 15 | vs. Connecticut Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 65–59 | 25–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 17, 1956* | No. 15 | vs. Canisius Regional final – Elite Eight | W 60–58 | 26–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 22, 1956* | No. 15 | vs. No. 4 Iowa National semifinal – Final Four | L 76–83 | 26–4 | McGaw Hall Evanston, Illinois |
| Mar 23, 1956* | No. 15 | vs. No. 7 Southern Methodist Consolation | W 90–81 | 27–4 | McGaw Hall Evanston, Illinois |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Standard Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | Not released | — | 11 | 12 | 17 т | 16 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 15 |
| Coaches | — | — | 11 | 16 т | — | 19 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 14 | Not released |

## Awards and honors

* Hal Lear – All-American

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 7 | Hal Lear | Philadelphia Warriors |