 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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The 1944 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. 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.
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 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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