1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions; AAWU regular season champions
National Championship Game, ; W 79-64 vs. Dayton
Conference	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	30–0 (14–0 AAWU (Pac-8))
Head coach	John Wooden (19th season);
Assistant coach	Jerry Norman
Home arena	Pauley Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1965–66 1967–68 →

1966–67 AAWU Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 UCLA	14	–	0	1.000	30	–	0	1.000
Washington State	8	–	6	.571	15	–	11	.577
Oregon State	8	–	6	.571	14	–	14	.500
Stanford	7	–	7	.500	15	–	11	.577
California	6	–	8	.429	17	–	10	.630
Washington	6	–	8	.429	13	–	12	.520
USC	6	–	8	.429	13	–	12	.520
Oregon	1	–	13	.071	9	–	17	.346

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won UCLA's third NCAA national championship under head coach John Wooden with a win over Dayton. The Bruins went undefeated, winning all 30 games.

In the NCAA West Regional at Corvallis, Oregon, the Bruins beat Wyoming (109–60) and Pacific (80–64).^[2]^[3] The Final Four was played in Louisville, Kentucky, where UCLA defeated Houston (73–58) and Dayton (79–64).^[4]

The Bruins were led by starters Lynn Shackelford, Kenny Heitz, Lew Alcindor, Mike Warren, and Henry Pate.

The Bruins entered the season ranked number 1, beginning what was then the most consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll. The streak ended at 221 weeks in January 1980 and has since been surpassed by the Kansas Jayhawks.^[5]

Season summary

This was the season Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, debuted on to the college basketball scene. After playing on the freshman team under then NCAA rules, Alcindor dominated at the varsity level as a sophomore, leading UCLA to an undefeated 30–0 record while averaging 29.0 points and 15.5 rebounds. Three other players averaged in double figures, including sophomore guard Lucius Allen and junior Mike Warren.

Roster

1966–67 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	33	Lew Alcindor	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	New York, New York
G	42	Lucius Allen	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Kansas City, KS
F	55	Joe Chrisman	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—
G	22	Kenny Heitz	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Santa Monica, CA
F	52	Dick Lynn	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	So
F	34	Jim Nielsen	—	—
G	25	Don Saffer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—
C	30	Neville Saner	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—
F	53	Lynn Shackelford	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Burbank, CA
G	24	Gene Sutherland	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—
G	45	Bill Sweek	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Pasadena, CA
G	23	Michael Warren	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Jr	South Bend, IN

Head coach

John Wooden (Purdue)

Assistant coach(es)

Jerry Norman

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 3, 1966*	No. 1	USC	W 105–90	1–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 9, 1966*	No. 1	No. 7 Duke	W 88–54	2–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 1966*	No. 1	No. 7 Duke	W 107–87	3–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 22, 1966*	No. 1	Colorado State	W 84–74	4–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 23, 1966*	No. 1	Notre Dame	W 96–67	5–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 28, 1966*	No. 1	Wisconsin L.A. Classic	W 100–56	6–0	Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
December 29, 1966*	No. 1	Georgia Tech L.A. Classic	W 91–72	7–0	Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
December 30, 1966*	No. 1	USC L.A. Classic	W 107–83	8–0	Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
January 7, 1967	No. 1	at Washington State	W 76–67	9–0 (1–0)	Bohler Gymnasium Pullman, WA
January 9, 1967	No. 1	at Washington	W 83–68	10–0 (2–0)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
January 13, 1967	No. 1	California	W 96–78	11–0 (3–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 14, 1967	No. 1	Stanford	W 116–78	12–0 (4–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 20, 1967*	No. 1	Portland	W 122–57	13–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 21, 1967*	No. 1	UC Santa Barbara	W 119–75	14–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 28, 1967*	No. 1	at Loyola–Chicago	W 82–67	15–0	Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL
January 29, 1967*	No. 1	at Illinois	W 120–82	16–0	Chicago Stadium (10,025) Chicago, IL
February 4, 1967	No. 1	at USC	W 40–35 ^OT	17–0 (5–0)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
February 10, 1967	No. 1	Oregon State	W 76–44	18–0 (6–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 11, 1967	No. 1	Oregon	W 100–66	19–0 (7–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 17, 1967	No. 1	at Oregon	W 34–25	20–0 (8–0)	McArthur Court Eugene, OR
February 18, 1967	No. 1	at Oregon State	W 72–50	21–0 (9–0)	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
February 24, 1967	No. 1	Washington	W 71–43	22–0 (10–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 25, 1967	No. 1	Washington State	W 100–78	23–0 (11–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
March 3, 1967	No. 1	at Stanford	W 75–47	24–0 (12–0)	Burnham Pavilion Stanford, CA
March 4, 1967	No. 1	at California	W 103–66	25–0 (13–0)	Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA
March 11, 1967	No. 1	USC	W 83–55	26–0 (14–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
NCAA Tournament
March 17, 1967*	No. 1	vs. Wyoming Regional semifinals	W 109–60	27–0	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
March 18, 1967*	No. 1	vs. Pacific Regional Finals	W 80–64	28–0	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
March 24, 1967*	No. 1	vs. No. 7 Houston National semifinals	W 73–58	29–0	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
March 25, 1967* 6:30 pm	No. 1	vs. Dayton National Championship Game	W 79–64	30–0	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific time.

Source:^[6]^[7]

Rankings

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Notes

UCLA won the L.A. Classic by defeating Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and USC.
Bruins' third national championship in four years.
The dunk was banned in college basketball after the season, primarily because of Alcindor's dominant use of the shot.^[8]^[9]

Awards and honors

Lew Alcindor, NCAA basketball tournament MOP (1967)
Lew Alcindor, USBWA College Player of the Year^[10]
Lew Alcindor, Helms Foundation Player of the Year award
Lew Alcindor, First Team All-American
Lew Alcindor, School Record, Most season Points: 870 (1967)
Lew Alcindor, School Record, Highest season Scoring Average: 29.0 (1967)
Lew Alcindor, School Record, Most season Field Goals: 346 (1967)
Lew Alcindor, School Record, Most season Free Throw Attempts: 274 (1967)
Lew Alcindor, School Record, Most single game field goals: 26 (vs. Washington State, 2/25/67)

References

^ "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
^ "UCLA to face possible Wyoming stall". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 17, 1967. p. 1B.
^ Uhrhammer, Jerry (March 19, 1967). "Strong Tigers extend UCLA". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
^ UCLA History, UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guild 2008
^ "🏀 Kansas Sets Record for Consecutive Rankings in the Associated Press Poll". Kansas Jayhawks. November 30, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
^ 2014-15 UCLA Men's Basketball media guide. Retrieved 2015-Apr-09.
^ College Basketball @ Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Apr-09.
^ Scavone, Daniel C (2002) [1992]. Dawson, Dawn P (ed.). Great Athletes. Vol. 1 (Revised ed.). Salem Press. pp. 7–10. ISBN 1-58765-008-8.
^ Lew's Still Loose. Time Magazine, April 14, 1967. Quote:First there was the Wilt Chamberlain Rule, designed to force him away from the basket by widening the "3-sec. zone," in which an offensive player can remain for only 3 sec. at a time. Next came the Bill Russell Rule, which forbids blocking a shot when the ball is on its downward course. Now there is the Lew Alcindor Rule. College basketball's rules makers decided last week that players may no longer "dunk" or "stuff" the ball by ramming it through the hoop from directly above.
^ "USBWA > Awards > Oscar Robertson Trophy". Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2007.