1944 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1944 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of the 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season. It began on March 24, 1944, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.

1944 NCAA basketball tournament

Championship game program
Teams	8
Finals site	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Champions	Utah Redskins (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Dartmouth Indians (2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Iowa State Cyclones (1st Final Four) Ohio State Buckeyes (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Vadal Peterson (1st title)
MOP	Arnie Ferrin (Utah)
Attendance	59,369
Top scorer	Audley Brindley (Dartmouth) (52 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1943 1945»

Utah, coached by Vadal Peterson, won the national title with a 42–40 victory in the final game over Dartmouth, coached by Earl Brown. Arnie Ferrin of Utah was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Utah became the first team to play in both the NIT and NCAA tournament in the same season. Utah was given a second chance to play in the NCAA Tournament after a March 1944 automobile accident killed a coaching aide and seriously injured two players on the Arkansas team.^[1]

Utah's winning team featured Wataru Misaka, who later joined the New York Knicks to become the first person of color (in his case, being an Asian-American by being of Japanese descent) to play in modern professional basketball.^[2]

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1944 tournament:

Regionals

March 24 and 25

East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Championship Game

March 28

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Catholic	John Long	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Temple	L 55–35
East	Dartmouth	Earl Brown	EIBL	Runner Up	Utah	L 42–40
East	Ohio State	Harold Olsen	Big Ten	National Semifinals	Dartmouth	L 60–53
East	Temple	Josh Cody	Middle Atlantic	Regional third place	Catholic	W 55–35
West
West	Iowa State	Louis Menze	Big Six	National Semifinals	Utah	L 40–31
West	Missouri	George R. Edwards	Big Six	Regional third place	Pepperdine	W 61–46
West	Pepperdine	Al Duer	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Missouri	L 61–46
West	Utah	Vadal Peterson	Skyline	Champion*	Dartmouth	W 42–40OT

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	Dartmouth		63
	Catholic		38
						Dartmouth		60
						Ohio State		53
	Ohio State		57
	Temple		47
											Dartmouth		40
											Utah		42OT
	Iowa State		44
	Pepperdine		39
						Iowa State		31
						Utah		40
	Utah		45
	Missouri		35

Regional third place

East Regional third place       Catholic 35 Temple 55

West Regional third place       Pepperdine 46 Missouri 61

^[3]

See also

• 1944 National Invitation Tournament
• 1944 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament