# 1952–53 LSU Tigers basketball team

The 1952–53 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball season. The head coach was Harry Rabenhorst, and the team played their home games at Huey P. Long Field House in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Tigers swept through the SEC regular season and followed that success by reaching the first Final Four appearance in school history. The team finished with a record of 22–3 (13–0 SEC).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 5, 1952* | | Birmingham–Southern | W 98–38 | 1–0 | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Dec 8, 1952* | | Southwestern (TN) | W 124–33 | 2–0 | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Dec 11, 1952* | | Miami (FL) | W 86–58 | 3–0 | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Dec 17, 1952 | | at Alabama | W 58–45 | 4–0 (1–0) | Foster Auditorium Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Dec 22, 1952* | | at No. 14 Tulsa | L 58–84 | 4–1 | Expo Square Pavilion Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 29, 1952* | | vs. Villanova Sugar Bowl Classic | W 100–94 | 5–1 | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 30, 1952* | | vs. Saint Louis Sugar Bowl Classic | W 70–67 | 6–1 | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 5, 1953* | | Vanderbilt | W 74–61 | 7–1 (2–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Jan 10, 1953 | | at Mississippi State | W 75–55 | 8–1 (3–0) | McCarthy Gymnasium Starkville, Mississippi |
| Jan 12, 1953 | | at Ole Miss | W 67–66 | 9–1 (4–0) | Gymnasium Oxford, Mississippi |
| Jan 16, 1953* | | at Loyola (LA) | W 58–52 | 10–1 | The Field House New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 19, 1953 | | at Georgia | W 55–50 | 11–1 (5–0) | Woodruff Hall Athens, Georgia |
| Jan 26, 1953* | | No. 20 Tulsa | W 55–51 | 12–1 | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Jan 31, 1953 | | Tennessee | W 95–59 | 13–1 (6–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Feb 7, 1953 | | Tulane | W 48–31 | 14–1 (7–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Feb 10, 1953 | | at Florida | W 68–56 | 15–1 (8–0) | Florida Gymnasium Gainesville, Florida |
| Feb 14, 1953 | | at Auburn | W 65–57 | 16–1 (9–0) | Auburn Sports Arena Auburn, Alabama |
| Feb 21, 1953 | | Georgia Tech | W 76–52 | 17–1 (10–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Feb 23, 1953 | | Ole Miss | W 63–48 | 18–1 (11–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Feb 27, 1953 | | Mississippi State | W 82–47 | 19–1 (12–0) | Huey Long Field House Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Mar 6, 1953 | | at Tulane | W 53–52 | 20–1 (13–0) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1953* | No. 7 | vs. Lebanon Valley | W 89–76 | 21–1 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Mar 14, 1953* | No. 7 | vs. Holy Cross | W 81–73 | 22–1 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Mar 17, 1953* | No. 7 | vs. No. 1 Indiana National Semifinal – Final Four | L 67–80 | 22–2 | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Mar 18, 1953* | No. 7 | vs. No. 2 Washington Consolation | L 69–88 | 22–3 | Municipal Auditorium (10,500) Kansas City, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E1=East-1. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Bob Pettit – Consensus Second-Team All-American