# 1951–52 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team

The 1951–52 Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team represented Santa Clara University as an Independent during the 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball season. They finished the season with a 17–12 record and made the NCAA tournament Final Four for the first time school history. They were led by second-year head coach Bob Feerick.
Coming into the 1951–52 season off of a 9–15 record the year before, the Broncos remained under the radar. Even during the 1952 Final Four season they were inconsistent: through the first 14 games the Broncos went 7–7, including a three-game losing streak. They found their rhythm on February 1 against San Francisco State. The Broncos' 67–51 victory began a streak in which Santa Clara won eight of their final 11 games, capped by an improbable deep NCAA Tournament run. In the NCAA West Regional they won their opening match against UCLA, 68–59. The next day, the Broncos topped Wyoming, 56–53, to advance to the national semifinals.
Santa Clara would go on to lose to Kansas in the Final Four by a score of 55–74. They then lost again in the third-place game, falling 64–67 to Illinois, ending the NCAA tournament in fourth place – Santa Clara's best ever finish.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| December 1, 1951* | vs. Sacramento State | W 62–50 | 1–0 | Santa Clara High School Santa Clara, California |
| December 4* | Fresno State | W 63–50 | 2–0 | Seifert Gymnasium Santa Clara, California |
| December 7* | at California | L 51–69 | 2–1 | Berkeley, California |
| December 14* | vs. San Francisco YMI | W 76–59 | 3–1 | Santa Clara High School Santa Clara, California |
| December 21* | at BYU | L 59–64 | 3–2 | Smith Fieldhouse Provo, Utah |
| December 22* | at BYU | L 61–66 | 3–3 | Smith Fieldhouse Provo, Utah |
| December 27* | at Denver | L 59–65 | 3–4 | Denver, Colorado |
| December 29* | at Utah State | W 63–62 | 4–4 | George Nelson Fieldhouse Logan, Utah |
| January 2, 1952* | at Saint Mary's | L 53–54 | 4–5 | Richmond Auditorium Richmond, California |
| January 4* | at Fresno State | W 69–63 | 5–5 | College Gym Fresno, California |
| January 5* | at Pacific | W 75–51 | 6–5 | Pacific Pavilion Stockton, California |
| January 11* | vs. Loyola Marymount | L 54–61 | 6–6 | Archbishop Riordan High School San Francisco, California |
| January 15* | Saint Mary's | W 65–51 | 7–6 | San Jose Civic Auditorium Santa Clara, California |
| January 26* | San Francisco | L 38–44 | 7–7 | Winterland San Francisco, California |
| February 1* | vs. San Francisco State | W 67–51 | 8–7 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| February 2* | vs. UCLA | W 66–59 | 9–7 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| February 8* | vs. USC | L 57–59 | 9–8 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| February 9* | Stanford | L 64–70 | 9–9 | San Jose Civic Auditorium Santa Clara, California |
| February 12* | Pacific | W 61–49 | 10–9 | San Jose Civic Auditorium Santa Clara, California |
| February 18* | San Francisco | W 59–58 | 11–9 | San Jose Civic Auditorium Santa Clara, California |
| February 21* | vs. San Jose State | W 66–55 | 12–9 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| February 22* | vs. San Francisco | W 51–50 | 13–9 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| February 27* | at Hawaii | W 71–52 | 14–9 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| February 29* | vs. Universal Motors | W 72–59 | 15–9 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| March 1* | vs. Hickam Field | L 56–57 | 15–10 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 21* | vs. No. 19 UCLA West Regional first round | W 68–59 | 16–10 | Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| March 22* | vs. No. 16 Wyoming West regional final | W 56–53 | 17–10 | Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| March 25* | vs. No. 8 Kansas National semifinal – Final Four | L 55–74 | 17–11 | Bank of America Arena Seattle, Washington |
| March 26* | vs. No. 2 Illinois Third-place game | L 64–67 | 17–12 | Bank of America Arena Seattle, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||