Anthony Davis wins MOP with fewest points ever in a Championship Game
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Anthony Davis Jordan Brand Classic 2011 (Photo credit: BasketballElite)
Kentucky‘s Anthony Davis recently won the Naismith Player of the Year Award, his team won the national championship, and Monday night he set a record for the fewest points scored in a championship game by the Final Four Most Outstanding Player (MOP). Davis had 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals to go with only six points in the MOP performance. It was the fewest points scored by an MOP in a title game since Bobby Hurley was MOP in Duke’s 1992 national championship. Hurley had only nine points in the title contest.
Following are the Final Four MOPs who had fewer than 15 points in the championship game.
Points, Player, Team, Year
6: Anthony Davis, Kentucky, 2012
9: Bobby Hurley, Duke, 1992
10: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, 1984
11: Walt Hazzard, UCLA, 1964
12: Marv Huffman, Kansas, 1940
12: John Kotz, Wisconsin, 1941
13: Corey Brewer, Florida, 2007
14: Alex Groza, Kentucky, 1948
One more look at the leading scorers from last night’s game. Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor led the Jayhawks with 19 points. This was the fourth straight year that the leading scorer for the losing team scored under 20 points.
In looking at the history of the tournament, there have been 42 players who scored 20 or more points in the title game as a member of the losing team. Slide the scale up to 25 points and we see that there have been 15 players who scored 25 or more points in a losing cause in the NCAA men’s Div. I championship game. Seton Hall’s John Morton tops the list with 35 points in his school’s 1989 championship game loss to Michigan.
Here’s a look at those 15 players who scored 25 or more points in a losing cause in the title game.
Points, Player (School, Year)
35: John Morton (Seton Hall, 1989)
34: Kevin Grevey (Kentucky, 1975)
29: John Wallace (Syracuse, 1996)… Larry Finch (Memphis, 1973)
28: Rick Mount (Purdue, 1969)… Cazzie Russell (Michigan, 1965)… Jerry West (West Virginia, 1959)
27: Udonis Haslem (Florida, 2000)… Ron King (Florida State, 1972)… Jerry Lucas (Ohio State, 1961)
26: B.J. Born (Kansas, 1953)
25: Greg Oden (Ohio State, 2007)… Trajan Langdon (Duke, 1999)… Howard Porter (Villanova, 1971)… Elgin Baylor (Seattle, 1958)
10 boxscore stats that may determine the NCAA men’s basketball champion
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What will be the key factors for Kentucky and Kansas in tonight’s title game? Defense? Three-point shooting? Rebounding? Reserves? To help with the pre-game analysis of the game, here’s a look at several boxscore stats and how these numbers have (or have not) favored the championship game winners. The numbers presented are based on the past 25 NCAA men’s Division I championship games.
1. Bench Scoring: The champion’s reserves have outscored the opposition bench in 15 of the 25 games (they had the same bench point total in one contest). The winners got 10 or more points from their bench in 18 of the 25 contests; the championship game losers bench scored 10 or more points in only 10 of the 25 games.
2. The Game‘s Leading Scorer: The game’s leading scorer has come from the winning team in 17 of the 25 games (in one game, players from opposing teams tied for game-high honors).
3. Halftime Lead: The team leading at halftime has won 19 of the last 23 championship games.
4. Better shooting: In the last 25 title games, the team that had a better field goal percentage won 22 and lost only three. The team with the better field goal percentage for the game has won the last 14 title contests.
5. Three-point shooting: Shooting more threes is not a big deal; the winning team had more three-point attempts in only seven of the 25 games. The winning team made more shots from beyond the arc in 10 games (in one game both team made the same amount).
6. Free throw shooting: Getting to the line and making more free throws than the opposition has been a factor in the last 25 games; the winning team has shot more and made more free throws in 15 of the 25 games.
7. Rebounds: The winning team has outrebounded their opponents in 14 of the 25 games.
8. Assists: The winning team has had more assists in 15 of the 25 games; in two games the teams had the same number of assists.
9. Fewer turnovers: Ironically, having fewer turnovers than the opposition was not a major factor. The team with the fewer turnovers only won 10 of the 25 games.
10. Seeds: Tonight’s title game features #1 seed Kentucky versus #2 seed Kansas. The #1 seed has faced the #2 seed in eight previous title games. The #1 seed has won six and lost two. Since 1979, when all teams were seeded in the tournament, #1 seeds are 12-6 in the championship game. The #2 seeds are 6-9 in championship games since 1979.
Teams with most losses to win NCAA basketball championship
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Championship Trophy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tomorrow night’s NCAA men’s Division I basketball title game is all set with Kentucky (37-2) facing off against Kansas (32-6).
Should Kansas win, they would become the 16th team in tournament history to win the title with six or more losses in the season. Kentucky, on the other hand, with a win would become the first team with two or fewer losses to win the championship since UConn in 1999 (UConn was 34-2 that season).
Here’s a look at the schools that have won the men’s title with five or more losses.
Losses in title season, school, title year
11: Kansas (1988)
10: North Carolina State (1983), Villanova (1985)
9: Indiana (1981), Arizona (1997), Connecticut (2011)
7: Marquette (1977), Louisville (1986), Michigan (1989), Duke (1991), Michigan State (2000)
6: Kentucky (1958), Michigan State (1979), Connecticut (2004), Florida (2006)
5: Oregon (1939), CCNY (1950), UNLV (1990), Syracuse (2003), Florida (2007), Duke (2010)
Did you know? From 1939-76 (38 years), only three teams with five or more losses won the NCAA men’s basketball championship. From 1977 until last year (35 years), 17 different schools with five or more losses won the title. The average number of losses of the 73 previous men’s champions was 3.7.
Schools with a men’s and women’s Final Four team in the same year
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times monthly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The 80-65 loss by the Kentucky women to UConn in the regional final Tuesday night means that we will not have Final Four teams from the same school in both the men’s and women’s tournament.
This year three different schools had their men’s and women’s teams in both Sweet Sixteens: Baylor, Kansas and Kentucky.
Following are the nine times when both the men’s and women’s basketball teams made it to the Final Four in the same season.
Year, school with both men’s and women’s basketball team making the Final Four
1983: Georgia
1999: Duke (both teams played in the championship game)
2002: Oklahoma
2003: Texas
2004: Connecticut (both teams won the championship)
2005: Michigan State
2006: LSU
2009: Connecticut
2011: Connecticut
Schools that have multiple Final Four appearances but no title
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This year’s quartet of men’s Final Four teams have each made multiple trips to the Final Four (Kentucky 15th, Kansas 14th, Ohio State 11th and Louisville 9th) and have each won a national title (Kentucky 7, Kansas 3, Louisville 2 and Ohio State 1).
There have been, however, several schools that have made multiple trips to the Final Four yet have not won a championship. Following are the schools that have made three or more trips to the Final Four but are still waiting for their first title. Also noted is the number of Championship Games they have played in, and the last time they played in the Final Four. Those schools with two Final Four appearances are also noted.
School, Final Four appearances (Championship Games) Last Final Four appearance
Houston……….5 (2) 1984
Illinois………….5 (1) 2005
Kansas State…4 (1) 1964
LSU……………..4 (0) 2006
Oklahoma…….4 (2) 2002
Iowa…………….3 (1) 1980
Memphis………3 (2) 2008
Texas……………3 (0) 2003
Schools with two Final Four appearances but no title: Baylor, Bradley, Butler, Colorado, Dartmouth, DePaul, Georgia Tech, NYU, Oregon State, Providence, Purdue, St. John’s, Temple, USC, Virginia, West Virginia.
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