# 1957 Dixie Classic

The 1957 Dixie Classic was a mid-season college basketball tournament held December 26–28, 1957 at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the ninth iteration of the Dixie Classic, and it was part of the 1957–58 NCAA University Division men's basketball season.
Coming into the tournament, the clear favorite to win the tournament was North Carolina, the reigning champions with a 5–1 record so far in the season. For the third consecutive year, the Big Four teams swept their first round opponents. In a slow-paced final, North Carolina defeated NC State 39–30. In the third-place matchup, Duke's Bobby Vernon scored all 14 of his team's points in overtime to pull out a 79–75 victory over Wake Forest.
Pete Brennan of North Carolina was voted most valuable player, having tallied 53 points and 28 rebounds in the Tar Heels' three wins. Across the three days of six double-headers, the total attendance was 69,200.

## Teams

Each year, the Dixie Classic included the "Big Four" teams (Duke, NC State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest), as well as four other invited teams. The 1957 teams were:
* Wake Forest Demon Deacons
* Duquesne Dukes
* NC State Wolfpack
* Northwestern Wildcats
* North Carolina Tar Heels
* St. Louis Billikens
* Duke Blue Devils
* Seton Hall Pirates

## Bracket

| Consolation final | Consolation final | Consolation final | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | | Dec. 26, 2:00pm | Dec. 26, 2:00pm | Dec. 26, 2:00pm | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 64 | | | | |
| | | | Dec. 27, 2:00pm | Dec. 27, 2:00pm | Dec. 27, 2:00pm | Duquesne | Duquesne | 54 | Dec. 27, 4:00pm | Dec. 27, 4:00pm | Dec. 27, 4:00pm | | | |
| | | | Duquesne | Duquesne | 70 | | | | Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 61 | |
| | | | Northwestern | Northwestern | 80 | Dec. 26, 4:00pm | Dec. 26, 4:00pm | Dec. 26, 4:00pm | NC State | NC State | 63 | |
| | | | | | | NC State | 71 | | | | | | | |
| Dec. 28, 4:00pm | Dec. 28, 4:00pm | Dec. 28, 4:00pm | | | | Northwestern | Northwestern | | 68 | | | Dec. 28, 9:30pm | Dec. 28, 9:30pm | Dec. 28, 9:30pm |
| Northwestern | Northwestern | 66 | | | | | | | NC State | NC State | | 30 |
| St. Louis | St. Louis | 53 | | | | Dec. 26, 7:30pm | Dec. 26, 7:30pm | Dec. 26, 7:30pm | NC State | | | North Carolina | 39 |
| | | | | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 63 | | | | | | |
| | | | Dec. 27, 7:30pm | Dec. 27, 7:30pm | Dec. 27, 7:30pm | St. Louis | St. Louis | 48 | Dec. 27, 9:30pm | Dec. 27, 9:30pm | Dec. 27, 9:30pm | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | St. Louis | St. Louis | 77 | | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 76 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| Dec. 28, 2:00pm | Dec. 28, 2:00pm | Dec. 28, 2:00pm | Seton Hall | Seton Hall | 44 | Dec. 26, 9:30pm | Dec. 26, 9:30pm | Dec. 26, 9:30pm | Duke | Duke | 62 | Dec. 28, 7:30pm | Dec. 28, 7:30pm | Dec. 28, 7:30pm |
| Duquesne | Duquesne | 68 | | | | Duke | Duke | 69 | | | | Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 75 |
| Seton Hall | Seton Hall | 65 | | | | Seton Hall | Seton Hall | 62 | | | | Duke | Duke | 79 |

## Game log

* December 26 2:00pm
Wake Forest 64, Duquesne 54 :
| Scoring by half: 25–23, 39–31 |||
| Pts: Budd (25) | Pts: Binder, Matthews, Depalma (12) |
* No. 1 Attendance: 12,200
* December 26 4:00pm
NC State 71, Northwestern 68 :
| Scoring by half: 35–32, 36–36 |||
| Pts: Bell (23) | Pts: Warren (20) |
* No. 2 Attendance: 12,200
* December 26 7:30pm
North Carolina 63, St. Louis 48 :
| Scoring by half: 31–25, 32–23 |||
| Pts: Kearns (23) | Pts: Mimlitz (20) |
* No. 3 Attendance: 12,400
* December 26 9:30pm
Duke 69, Seton Hall 62 :
| Scoring by half: 26–32, 43–29 |||
| Pts: Allen (23) | Pts: Cross, Roberts (13) |
* No. 4 Attendance: 12,400
* December 27 2:00pm
Duquesne 70, Northwestern 80 :
| Scoring by half: 33–37, 37–43 |||
| Pts: Brown (15) | Pts: Ruklick (19) |
* No. 5 Attendance: 12,400
* December 27 4:00pm
Wake Forest 61, NC State 63 :
| Scoring by half: 33–40, 28–23 |||
| Pts: Ritchie (20) | Pts: Pucillo (16) |
* No. 6 Attendance: 12,400
* December 27 7:30pm
St. Louis 77, Seton Hall 44 :
| Scoring by half: 34–14, 43–33 |||
| Pts: Ferry (17) | Pts: Roberts (13) |
* No. 7 Attendance: 12,400
* December 27 9:30pm
North Carolina 76, Duke 62 :
| Scoring by half: 36–38, 40–24 |||
| Pts: Brennan (27) | Pts: Allen (15) |
* No. 8 Attendance: 12,400
* December 28 2:00pm
Duquesne 68, Seton Hall 65 :
| Scoring by half: 28–33, 40–32 |||
| Pts: Matthews (19) | Pts: Roberts (24) |
* No. 9 Attendance: 7,400
* December 28 4:00pm
Northwestern 66, St. Louis 53 :
| Scoring by half: 25–25, 41–28 |||
| Pts: Ruklick (16) | Pts: Mimlitz (12) |
* No. 10 Attendance: 7,400
* December 28 7:30pm
Wake Forest 75, Duke 79 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 35–32, 30–33 Overtime: 10–14 |||
| Pts: Ritchie (23) | Pts: Vernon (28) |
* No. 11 Attendance: 12,400
* December 28 9:30pm
NC State 30, North Carolina 39 :
| Scoring by half: 12–16, 18–23 |||
| Pts: Pucillo (12) | Pts: Kearns (14) |
* No. 12 Attendance: 12,400