| Season | 1958–59 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 32 | ||||
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Tennessee State (3rd title, 3rd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Pacific Lutheran (1st title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Coach of the year | Bob Davis (Georgetown (Ky.)) | ||||
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award | Roger Iverson (Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)) | ||||
| MVP | Dick Barnett (Tennessee State) | ||||
| |||||
The 1959 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 22nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] The 1959 Tournament is the first tournament to use the 16-seed system, which was used until the 2015.
The championship game again featured Tennessee State University. The Tigers defeated the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University. It would be the first time any school would win three consecutive tournaments; a feat only repeated once, by Kentucky State, in 1970, 1971, and 1972. It was also the first tournament that didn't feature an upset in the championship game and first time a "true" number 1 seed won the tournament since seeding began in 1957.