1943–44 Utah Redskins men's basketball team

1943–44 Utah Redskins men's basketball
1943–44 Utah Redskins men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions
National Championship Game, ; W 42-40OT vs. Dartmouth
Conference	Mountain States Conference
Record	22–4 ( Mountain States)
Head coach	Vadal Peterson;
	Seasons ← 1942–43 1944–45 →

The 1943–44 Utah Redskins men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season. The Redskins captured the Mountain States Conference championship and its only national championship.

Utah was given an opportunity to compete in the NCAA tournament through an unusual circumstance. The University of Arkansas Razorbacks squad, who were supposed to appear in the tournament, were victimized by an automobile accident. Prior to the tournament, two of Arkansas’ starters were injured when their station wagon broke down after returning from a scrimmage in Fort Smith, Arkansas. While attempting to fix a flat tire, Deno Nichols and Ben Jones were injured when another car rammed into the back of the station wagon. Both players were injured. The severity of the accident caused Arkansas to withdraw from the upcoming NCAA tournament and the Redskins were tapped as a replacement.^[1]

Schedule and results

^[2]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 12, 1943	18th Replacement Wing	W 48–24	1–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
November 19, 1943	A.S.T.P. Company D	W 51–21	2–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
November 22, 1943	A.S.T.P. Company B	W 76–24	3–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
November 24, 1943	A.S.T.P. ERC	W 71–17	4–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
November 26, 1943	at Hill Field Fliers	W 61–26	5–0	Ogden, UT
December 4, 1943	at Weber	W 63–25	6–0	Ogden, UT
December 4, 1943	at Weber Navy	W 60–25	7–0	Ogden, UT
December 16, 1943	at Kearns 2nd Air Force	W 45–35	8–0	Kearns, UT
January 4, 1944	Fort Douglas	W 41–26	9–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
January 6, 1944	at Wendover Bomber Quin.	W 64–28	10–0	Wendover, UT
January 15, 1944	Idaho State	W 54–43	11–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
January 22, 1944	Ecker Studio	W 46–44	12–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
January 28, 1944	at Colorado College	W 48–34	13–0	Colorado Springs, CO
January 29, 1944	at Fort Logan	W 55–38	14–0	Denver, CO
January 31, 1944	at Fort Warren	L 59–61	14–1	Cheyenne, WY
February 5, 1944	Kearns	W 57–37	15–1	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
February 12, 1944	Salt Lake Air Base	L 39–54	15–2	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
February 16, 1944	Bushnel Hospital	W 78–31	16–2	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
February 19, 1944	at Idaho State	W 52–40	17–2	Pocatello, ID
February 26, 1944	Dow Chemical	L 36–46	17–3	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
March 4, 1944	Salt Lake Air Base	W 62–38	18–3	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, UT
NIT
March 20, 1944	vs. Kentucky	L 38–46	18–4	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
NCAA tournament
March 24, 1944	vs. Missouri Quarterfinals	W 45–35^[3]	19–4	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
March 25, 1944	vs. Iowa State Semifinals	W 40–31^[4]	20–4	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
March 28, 1944	vs. Dartmouth Championship	W 42–40 ^{OT^[5]^[6]}	21–4	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Red Cross Benefit Game
March 30, 1944	vs. St. John's Red Cross Benefit Game	W 43–36	22–4	Madison Square Garden (18,125^[7]) New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Postseason

National Invitation Tournament

Utah competed in the 1944 National Invitation Tournament and lost its quarterfinal match.

Quarterfinal
- Kentucky 46, Utah 38

^[8]

NCAA tournament

In need of a replacement, the NCAA committee turned to Utah, despite the fact that the Redskins had 4 losses and had just lost their first-round game in the NIT tournament. Utah had one player, Lyman Condie, a medical student, who midway through the season quit the team to pursue medical school. Additionally, all of Utah's players were raised within 30 miles of the Utah campus. These players included Arnie Ferrin, Fred Sheffield, and Wat Misaka, who was of Japanese descent.^[1]

West
- Utah 45, Missouri 35
Final Four
- Utah 40, Iowa State 31
Championship
- Utah 42, Dartmouth 40 (OT)

^[9]

Awards and honors

Arnie Ferrin, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b "My Losing Season: Wyoming @ Utah: Sailors, Ferrin, Mikan and the Great Santini". Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
^ "record book (PDF)" (PDF). Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^ "Utah vs. Missouri Box Score, March 24, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^ "Utah vs. Iowa State Box Score, March 25, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^ "Utah Upsets Dartmouth in Extra Period to Take N.C.A.A Basketball Title". The New York Times. March 29, 1944. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
^ "Utah vs. Dartmouth Box Score, March 28, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^ "Utah's 'Blitz Kids' Surprised the Basketball World in 1944". Deseret News. April 2, 1988.
^ "NIT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - History". Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2009.

[mylosingseason.com-1] "My Losing Season: Wyoming @ Utah: Sailors, Ferrin, Mikan and the Great Santini". Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2010.

[2] "record book (PDF)" (PDF). Retrieved March 20, 2018.

[3] "Utah vs. Missouri Box Score, March 24, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.

[4] "Utah vs. Iowa State Box Score, March 25, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.

[5] "Utah Upsets Dartmouth in Extra Period to Take N.C.A.A Basketball Title". The New York Times. March 29, 1944. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

[6] "Utah vs. Dartmouth Box Score, March 28, 1944". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.

[7] "Utah's 'Blitz Kids' Surprised the Basketball World in 1944". Deseret News. April 2, 1988.

[8] "NIT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - History". Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[9] "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".

[Tourney_History-10] "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2009.

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v t e Utah Utes men's basketball
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Rivalries	BYU In-state Utah schools
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NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics