 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 |
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| Winning coach | Vadal Peterson (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Arnie Ferrin (Utah) | ||||
| Attendance | 59,369 | ||||
| Top scorer | Audley Brindley (Dartmouth) (52 points) | ||||
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The1944 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of the1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season. It began on March 24, 1944, and ended with thechampionship game on March 28 inNew York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Utah, coached byVadal Peterson, won the national title with a 42–40 victory in the final game overDartmouth, coached byEarl Brown.Arnie Ferrin of Utah was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player. Utah became the first team to play in both theNIT andNCAA 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 theArkansas team.[1]
Utah's winning team featuredWataru Misaka, who later joined theNew York Knicks to become the first person of color (in his case, being an Asian-American by being ofJapanese descent) to play in modern professional basketball.[2]
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1944 tournament:
| 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 |
| 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 | |||||||||||||
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