1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big Seven Conference during the 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season. The head coach was Jack Gardner, who was in his eighth season at the helm. The Wildcats reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, losing to Kentucky in the National championship game, and finished with a record of 25–4 (11–1 Big 7).

1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Big Seven Champions
NCAA tournament, Runner Up
Conference	Skyline Conference (1938–1962)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 4
Record	25–4 (11–1 Big Seven)
Head coach	Jack Gardner (8th season)
Assistant coach	Tex Winter (4th season)
Home arena	Ahearn Field House
Seasons ← 1949–50 1951–52 →

1950–51 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Kansas State	11	–	1		.917			25	–	4		.862
Kansas	8	–	4		.667			16	–	8		.667
Missouri	8	–	4		.667			16	–	8		.667
Oklahoma	6	–	6		.500			14	–	10		.583
Nebraska	4	–	8		.333			9	–	14		.391
Iowa State	3	–	9		.250			9	–	12		.429
Colorado	2	–	10		.167			4	–	20		.167
Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The team played its home games at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas.

Roster

1950–51 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G/F 22 Ernie Barrett 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Wellington HS Wellington, Kansas F/C 25 Lew Hitch 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr   Griggsville, Illinois G/F Jack Stone 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr University HS Los Angeles, California	Head coach Jack Gardner (USC) Assistant coach(es) Tex Winter (USC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1950*		at Long Island University	L 59–60	0–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 4, 1950*		at Ohio State	W 68–51	1–1	Ohio State Men's Gym  Columbus, Ohio
Dec 6, 1950*		at Purdue	W 60–44	2–1	Lambert Fieldhouse  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 9, 1950*		Utah State	W 66–56	3–1	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 12, 1950*		Wichita	W 73–42	4–1	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 16, 1950*		Indiana	L 52–58 ^OT	4–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 18, 1950*		Wisconsin	W 77–58	5–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 21, 1950*	No. 20	Springfield (MO)	W 82–59	6–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Dec 28, 1950*		Oklahoma Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 55–53	7–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 29, 1950*		vs. Nebraska Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 72–53	8–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 30, 1950*		vs. Minnesota Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 70–62	9–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 6, 1951	No. 9	at Missouri	W 60–43	10–2 (1–0)	Brewer Fieldhouse  Columbia, Missouri
Jan 13, 1951	No. 9	Iowa State	W 98–58	11–2 (2–0)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Jan 15, 1951	No. 10	at Kansas	W 47–43	12–2 (3–0)	Hoch Auditorium  Lawrence, Kansas
Jan 27, 1951	No. 9	Colorado	W 63–42	13–2 (4–0)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Jan 31, 1951*	No. 7	No. 4 Long Island University	W 85–65	14–2	Ahearn Field House (14,028) Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 3, 1951	No. 7	at Colorado	W 60–45	15–2 (5–0)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 5, 1951	No. 7	at Nebraska	W 79–50	16–2 (6–0)	Nebraska Coliseum  Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 10, 1951	No. 4	Missouri	W 75–64	17–2 (7–0)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 17, 1951	No. 3	at Oklahoma	L 46–49	17–3 (7–1)	McCasland Field House  Norman, Oklahoma
Feb 24, 1951	No. 5	Kansas	W 65–51	18–3 (8–1)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 26, 1951	No. 4	Nebraska	W 74–48	19–3 (9–1)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 3, 1951	No. 4	at Iowa State	W 81–47	20–3 (10–1)	Iowa State Armory  Ames, Iowa
Mar 5, 1951	No. 4	Oklahoma	W 87–48	21–3 (11–1)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 14, 1951*	No. 4	No. 5 Illinois	W 91–72	22–3	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
NCAA Tournament
Mar 21, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 12 Arizona NCAA First Round	W 61–59	23–3	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 23, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 11 Brigham Young NCAA Regional Semifinal	W 64–54	24–3	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 24, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 2 Oklahoma A&M NCAA Regional Final	W 68–44	25–3	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 27, 1951*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Kentucky NCAA National Championship	L 58–68	25–4	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[2]

Rankings

Main article: 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball rankings

^[3][4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1951 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	7	Ernie Barrett	Boston Celtics
2	10	Jack Stone	Baltimore Bullets
2	19	Lew Hitch	Minneapolis Lakers

^[5]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1950-51 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
2. "2018-19 Kansas State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Kansas State University Athletics. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 600–601. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
4. "1950-51 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
5. "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2021.