1958 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1958 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 21st annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]

1958 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Tennessee State (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Fab Four)
Runner-Up	Western Illinois (2nd title game, 3rd Fab Four)
Semifinalists	Texas Southern University Georgetown College (Ky.)
Coach of the Year	John McClendon (Tennessee State)
Chuck Taylor MVP	Dick Barnett (Tennessee State)
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award	Bill McAfoos (Western Illinois)

The championship game featured returning champions, Tennessee State University who defeated the Western Illinois University. The Tigers won over the Leathernecks, it would be the third time a team won back-to-back championships. Tennessee State is the 5th school to win 2 National Titles, joining University of Central Missouri, Hamline University, Indiana State University and Southwest Missouri State. It was the second year in a row with an upset in the Championship Game. The 3rd place game featured Texas Southern University and Georgetown College (Ky.) It was the first year the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award was awarded. It went to Bill McAfoos of Western Illinois.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1958 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

• Leading scorer est. 1963
• Leading rebounder est. 1963
• Player of the Year est. 1994
• Most consecutive tournament victories; continues: 18 overall; 5 in 1958, Tennessee State, 1957-58-59-60
• All-time leading scorers; third appearance: Dick Barnett, 3rd, Tennessee State (1956,57,58,59) 18 games, 186 field goals, 79 free throws, 451 total points 25.1 average per game, Charles Curtis, 8th, Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) (1956,57,58,59) 14 games 101 field goals, 85 free throws, 287 total points, 20.5 average per game, Roger Iverson, 20th, Pacific Lutheran (1956,57,58,59) 14 games, 109 field goals, 23 free throws, 241 total points, 17.2 average per game, and John Barnhill, 21st, Tennessee State (1956,57,58,59) 17 games, 104 field goals, 27 free throws, 235 total points, 13.8 average per game.
• All-time leading scorer; final appearance: Bennie Swain, 6th Texas Southern (1955,56,57,58) 15 games, 119 field goals, 64 free throws, 302 total points, 20.1 average per game.[2]

1958 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	1	Western Illinois	74
	-	Georgia Teachers	62
						1	Western Illinois	83
						-	Pasadena	80
	-	Pasadena (Calif.)	80
	-	Hastings (Neb.)	55
											1	Western Illinois	70
	TOP TIER
											8	Youngstown	67
	-	Platteville State (Wis.)	77
	-	Austin (Texas)	59
						-	Platteville State	63
						8	Youngstown	74
	-	Quincy (Ill.)	68
	8	Youngstown (Ohio)	88
																1	Western Illinois	86
																-	Georgetown	81
	5	West Virginia Wesleyan	81
	-	Arkansas Tech	75
						5	West Virginia Wesleyan	93
						-	Indiana State (Pa.)	82
	-	Indiana State (Pa.)	96
	-	Troy State (Ala.)	73
											5	West Virginia Wesleyan	74
	TOP TIER
											-	Georgetown	83
	-	Georgetown (Ky.)	93
	-	Rider (N.J.)	76
						-	Georgetown	92
						4	Pacific Lutheran	91*
	-	Eastern New Mexico	63
	4	Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)	76
																					1	Western Illinois	73
																					3	Tennessee State	85
	3	Tennessee State	113
	-	Northern Michigan	45
						3	Tennessee State	77
						-	Anderson	56
	-	Anderson (Ind.)	102
	-	Union (Tenn.)	86
											3	Tennessee State	81
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	East Texas State	62
	7	East Texas State	66
	-	Minnesota-Duluth	59
						7	East Texas State	63
						-	Northern State	57
	-	Northern State (S.D.)	71
	-	St. Benedict's (Kan.)	52
																3	Tennessee State	110
																-	Texas Southern	85
	-	Texas Southern	79
	-	Oklahoma Baptist	68
						-	Texas Southern	91
						6	Drury	61
	-	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	73
	6	Drury (Mo.)	78
											-	Texas Southern	98
	BOTTOM TIER
											2	Coe	78
	-	Western Montana	86
	-	Assumption (Mass.)	73
						-	Western Montana	69
						2	Coe	103
	-	Portland (Ore.)	61
	2	Coe (Iowa)	63

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Georgetown	109
	-	Texas Southern	121

References

1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine