# 1970–71 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team

The 1970–71 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team represented Marquette University in NCAA Division I men's competition in the 1970–71 academic year. The Warriors were ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 from January 1971 through the end of the regular season and finished the regular season undefeated with a record of 28–0. The team advanced to the 1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament where it defeated Miami and SEC champion Kentucky, but lost to Ohio State. The team finished with a 28–1 record.
The team was coached by Al McGuire who was selected by the Associated Press as the college coach of the year for the 1970-71 season. McGuire was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Guard Dean Meminger was the team's captain and leading scorer, averaging 21.2 points per game. Center Jim Chones was the leading rebounder with an average of 11.5 rebounds per game. After the season, Meminger was selected as a first-team player on the 1971 All-America team, and Chones received first-team honors on the 1972 All-America team. Meminger and Chones both went on to have successful careers in professional basketball.
The team's sole loss was by a 60-59 score against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. Pacific Eight Conference referee Mel Ross called a controversial fifth and final foul on Meminger, depriving Marquette of its most valuable player for the game's final five minutes. After the season, Marquette named referee Ross to its "all-opponent team".
Prior to losing to Ohio State, Marquette had compiled a 39-game winning streak dating back to the previous season.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| December 2 | | St. John's (MN) | W 87–58 | 1–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| December 5 | | St. Louis | W 95–72 | 2–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| December 8* | | at Minnesota | W 70–61 | 3–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 12 | | Nevada | W 102–74 | 4–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| December 19 | | Long Beach State | W 83–66 | 5–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| December 23 | | at North Texas | W 67–57 | 6–0 | Ken Bahnsen Gym Denton, Texas |
| December 29 | | Dartmouth | W 98–55 | 7–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| December 30 | No. 3 | Wisconsin Milwaukee Classic | W 72–69 | 8–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 2 | | at Detroit | W 70–61 | 9–0 | Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan |
| January 5 | | Loyola | W 78–63 | 10–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 9 | | Xavier | W 91–60 | 11–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 12 | No. 2 | No. 9 Notre Dame | W 71–66 | 12–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 16 | | New Mexico State | W 65–53 | 13–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 23 | | DePaul | W 73–51 | 14–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 26 | | Northern Michigan | W 106–57 | 15–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 29 | | at Loyola (IL) | W 87–52 | 16–0 | Alumni Gym |
| February 2 | | at Wisconsin | W 89–75 | 17–0 | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| February 6 | | at DePaul | W 84–55 | 18–0 | Alumni Hall |
| February 9 | | UW Milwaukee | W 98–56 | 19–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| February 13 | | Detroit | W 81–67 | 20–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| February 20 | | vs. Air Force | W 77–62 | 21–0 | Clune Arena |
| February 22 | | at Creighton | W 66–61 | 22–0 | Omaha Civic Auditorium |
| February 25 | No. 2 | at No. 11 Fordham | W 85–80 | 23–0 | Madison Square Garden |
| February 27 | | Tulane | W 90–76 | 24–0 | Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| March 3 | | at Bowling Green State | W 90–74 | 25–0 | Anderson Arena |
| March 6 | | at Xavier | W 76–58 | 26–0 | Cincinnati Gardens |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 13 | | vs. No. 20 Miami (OH) First Round | W 62–47 | 27–0 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| March 18 | | vs. No. 10 Ohio State Semifinal | L 59–60 | 27–1 | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA |
| March 20 | | vs. No. 8 Kentucky Third Place | W 91–74 | 28–1 | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||