Has an NCAA Men's Basketball game ever ended 88-53?
It has. 88-53 has been a NCAA Men's Basketball final 30 times in 136,843 games. The first was Illinois Fighting Illini beat Oakland Golden Grizzlies on January 4, 2003; the latest was Arizona Wildcats beat West Virginia Mountaineers on January 24, 2026.
That makes 88-53 the 1030th most common final score out of 3,845 that have ever occurred in NCAA Men's Basketball. One point away, 89-53 has happened 23 times and 88-54 has happened 42 times. Nearly all of its occurrences fall between 2010 and 2039.