| 1956–57North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 1 |
| Record | 32–0 (14–0 ACC) |
| Head coach | |
| Assistant coach | Buck Freeman |
| Home arena | Woollen Gymnasium |
Seasons ← 1955–56 1957–58 → | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1North Carolina† | 14 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 32 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 16 | – | 10 | .615 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18Wake Forest | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 19 | – | 9 | .679 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 15 | – | 11 | .577 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 17 | – | 12 | .586 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 6 | – | 19 | .240 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 7 | – | 17 | .292 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †1957 ACC tournament winner Rankings fromAP Poll[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team was the varsitycollege basketball team that represented theUniversity of North Carolina.[N 1] The head coach wasFrank McGuire. The team played its home games atWoollen Gymnasium inChapel Hill, North Carolina, and was a member of theAtlantic Coast Conference. The team was the second undefeated national champion inNCAA basketball history and was the first ACC team to win a title. The team notably won its last two games in triple overtime. The Tar Heels leading scorer was player of the year, small forwardLennie Rosenbluth.
In the semifinal against JumpingJohnny Green andMichigan State, to tie the game in regulation,Pete Brennan, usually the power forward, after gathering the rebound, ran the floor like a guard and put in a jump shot with a soft touch. Three overtimes later, UNC won 74–70.
This placed undefeated North Carolina for the championship againstWilt Chamberlain and Kansas. Again the game went to triple overtime. CenterJoe Quigg made the winningfree throws.
| No. | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Lennie Rosenbluth | F | 6–5 | 180 | Senior | Bronx, New York |
| 11 | Ken Rosemond | G | 5–10 | 155 | Junior | Hillsborough, North Carolina |
| 20 | Bob Young | C | 6–6 | 220 | Senior | Queens, New York |
| 22 | Roy Searcy | F | 6–4 | 185 | Junior | Draper, North Carolina |
| 31 | Gehrmann Holland | F | 6–3 | 200 | Sophomore | Beaufort, North Carolina |
| 32 | Bob Cunningham | G | 6–4 | 190 | Junior | New York City, New York |
| 33 | Danny Lotz | F | 6–7 | 198 | Sophomore | Northport, New York |
| 35 | Pete Brennan | F | 6–6 | 190 | Junior | Brooklyn, New York |
| 40 | Tommy Kearns | G | 5–11 | 191 | Junior | Bergenfield, New Jersey |
| 41 | Joe Quigg | C | 6–9 | 210 | Junior | Brooklyn, New York |
| Reference:[3][4] | ||||||
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| 1956/12/04* | Furman | W 94–66 | 1–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1956/12/08 | vs. Clemson | W 94–75 | 2–0 | Charlotte, NC | |||||||
| 1956/12/12* | vs. George Washington | W 82–55 | 3–0 | Norfolk, VA | |||||||
| 1956/12/15 | at South Carolina | W 90–86OT | 4–0 | Carolina Fieldhouse Columbia, SC | |||||||
| 1956/12/17 | Maryland | W 70–61 | 5–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1956/12/20* | vs. NYU | W 64–59 | 6–0 | Madison Square Garden New York City | |||||||
| 1956/12/21* | vs. Dartmouth | W 89–61 | 7–0 | Boston Garden Boston | |||||||
| 1956/12/22* | vs. Holy Cross | W 83–70 | 8–0 | Boston Garden Boston | |||||||
| 1956/12/27* | vs. Utah Dixie Classic | W 97–76 | 9–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1956/12/28* | vs. Duke Dixie Classic | W 87–71 | 10–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1956/12/29* | vs. Wake Forest Dixie Classic | W 63–55 | 11–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1957/01/08* | at William & Mary | W 71–61 | 12–0 | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA | |||||||
| 1957/01/11 | Clemson | W 86–54 | 13–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/01/12 | Virginia | W 102–90 | 14–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/01/15 | at NC State | W 83–57 | 15–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1957/01/30* | at Western Carolina | W 77–59 | 16–0 | Breese Gymnasium Cullowhee, NC | |||||||
| 1957/02/05 | at Maryland | W 65–612OT | 17–0 | Cole Field House College Park, MD | |||||||
| 1957/02/09 | Duke | W 75–73 | 18–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/02/11 | at Virginia | W 68–59 | 19–0 | Memorial Gymnasium Charlottesville, VA | |||||||
| 1957/02/13 | Wake Forest | W 72–69 | 20–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/02/19 | NC State | W 86–57 | 21–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/02/22 | South Carolina | W 75–62 | 22–0 | Woollen Gymnasium Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||
| 1957/02/26 | at Wake Forest | W 69–64 | 23–0 | Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC | |||||||
| 1957/03/01 | at Duke | W 86–72 | 24–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC | |||||||
| ACC tournament | |||||||||||
| 1957/03/07 | vs. Clemson ACC tournament | W 81–61 | 25–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1957/03/08 | vs. Wake Forest ACC tournament | W 61–59 | 26–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| 1957/03/09 | vs. South Carolina ACC tournament | W 95–75 | 27–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||
| NCAA tournament | |||||||||||
| 1957/03/12 | vs. Yale NCAA east regional quarterfinal | W 90–74 | 28–0 | Madison Square Garden New York City | |||||||
| 1957/03/15 | vs. Canisius NCAA east regional semifinal | W 87–75 | 29–0 | Palestra Philadelphia, PA | |||||||
| 1957/03/16 | vs. Syracuse NCAA east regional final | W 67–58 | 30–0 | Palestra Philadelphia, PA | |||||||
| 1957/03/22 | vs. Michigan State NCAA national semifinal | W 74–703OT | 31–0 | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO | |||||||
| 1957/03/23 | vs. Kansas NCAA championship | W 54–533OT | 32–0 | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO | |||||||
*Non-conference game.#Rankings fromAP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are inEastern Standard Time. | |||||||||||
Hired away from St. John's in 1952 to make North Carolina basketball competitive with rival NC State, legendary coachFrank McGuire mined his native New York for talent and put together a team that won the national championship by slowing down dominating Kansas centerWilt Chamberlain. A veteran lineup led by star forwardLennie Rosenbluth, who averaged 28 points, finished the season a perfect 32–0.