1956 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records

San Francisco completed back-to-back championships by winning the 1956 NCAA tournament title. The Dons defeated Iowa 83-71 in the final to become the first undefeated tournament champion at 29-0.

Temple's Hal Lear earned Most Outstanding Player honors, as the Owls and SMU also made the Final Four. San Francisco was led by Bill Russell.

1956 NCAA tournament: Bracket

Click or tap here for a closer look at the 1956 March Madness bracket.

1956 NCAA tournament: Scores

• First Round
  • East Region
    • UConn 84, Manhattan 75
    • Temple 74, Holy Cross 72
    • Dartmouth 61, West Virginia 59 (OT)
    • Canisius 79, NC State 78 (4OT)
  • Midwest Region
    • Morehead State 107, Marshall 92
    • Wayne State 72, DePaul 68
  • West Region
    • SMU 68, Texas Tech 67
    • Oklahoma City 97, Memphis State 81
  • Far West Region
    • Seattle 68, Idaho State 66
• Regional Semifinals
  • East Region
    • Temple 65, UConn 59
    • Canisius 66, Dartmouth 58
  • Midwest Region
    • Iowa 97, Morehead State 83
    • Kentucky 84, Wayne State 64
  • West Region
    • SMU 89, Houston 74
    • Oklahoma City 97, Kansas State 93
  • Far West Region
    • Utah 81, Seattle 72
    • San Francisco 72, UCLA 61
• Regional Third Place Games
  • East Region
    • Dartmouth 85, UConn 64
  • Midwest Region
    • Morehead State 95, Wayne State 84
  • West Region
    • Kansas State 89, Houston 70
  • Far West Region
    • UCLA 94, Seattle 70
• Regional Finals
  • East Region
    • Temple 60, Canisius 58
  • Midwest Region
    • Iowa 89, Kentucky 77
  • West Region
    • SMU 84, Oklahoma City 63
  • Far West Region
    • San Francisco 92, Utah 77
• Final Four (Evanston, Illinois)
  • Iowa 83, Temple 76
  • San Francisco 86, SMU 68
• National Third Place Game
  • Temple 90, SMU 81
• National championship
  • San Francisco 83, Iowa 71

1956 NCAA tournament: Stats, records

Here are the tournament leaders, with games in parentheses (minimum three games):

Individual scoring

• Hal Lear, Temple (5) — 32.0 points per game
• Temple's Hal Lear scored 48 points against SMU to set a then-record for points in an NCAA tournament game

Individual rebounding

• Temple's Fred Cohen's 34 rebounds against UConn set the NCAA tournament record

Team stats/records

• The 105 combined free throws attempted in the Iowa-Morehead State broke a tournament record
• The 4OT Canisius-NC State game set a tournament record for most overtime periods
• San Francisco became the first undefeated NCAA tournament champ at 29-0