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1944 NCAA basketball tournament
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Edition of USA college basketball tournament
August 2023
March 2026
1944 1944 NCAA Program.png Program from the east regional tournament 8 Madison Square Garden New York City, New York Utah Redskins 1st 1st 1st Dartmouth Indians 2nd 2nd Iowa State Cyclones 1st Ohio State Buckeyes 2nd Vadal Peterson 1st Arnie Ferrin Utah 59,369 Audley Brindley Dartmouth 52
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. The 6th annual edition of the tournament began on March 24, 1944, and ended with the championship game on March 28, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.
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 third 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.http://utahcommhistory.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/university-of-utah-1944-ncaa-basketball-championship/ University of Utah 1944 National Basketball Championship Chipman Kit April 30, 2010 University of Utah Department of Communication 22 October 2013
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.New York Times The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html November 26, 2019
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 UpUtahL 42–40 East Ohio State Harold OlsenBig Ten National SemifinalsDartmouthL 60–53 East Temple Josh Cody Middle Atlantic Regional third placeCatholicW 55–35 West West Iowa State Louis MenzeBig Six National SemifinalsUtahL 40–31 West Missouri George R. Edwards Big Six Regional third place Pepperdine W 61–46 West Pepperdine Al Duer IndependentRegional Fourth PlaceMissouriL 61–46 West Utah Vadal Peterson Skyline Champion*DartmouthW 42–40OT
Bracket
Dartmouth
63
Catholic
38
Ohio State
57
Temple
47
Iowa State
44
Pepperdine
39
Utah
45
Missouri
35
Dartmouth
60
Ohio State
53
Iowa State
31
Utah
40
Dartmouth
40
Utah
42OT
Regional third place
auto
East Regional third place Catholic 35 Temple 55
West Regional third place Pepperdine 46 Missouri 61
1944 NCAA basketball tournament https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/postseason/1944-ncaa.html College Basketball Reference 4 April 2018
See also
1944 National Invitation Tournament
1944 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
References
Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Ncaa
NCAA Men's division i basketball
NCAA basketball tournament