1940–41 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

The 1940–41 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State College in the 1940–41 college basketball season. The team was led by 13th-year head coach Louis Menze. In 1939–40, the Cyclones finished 9-9 overall (2-8 in the Big Six Conference). The team's captains were Al Budolfson and Gordon Nicholas. The Cyclones shared the Big Six conference championship with the Kansas Jayhawks. This marked the first time that Iowa State had ever qualified for the postseason; they would face Creighton in a district qualifying game for the 1941 NCAA Tournament, where they would fall, 57-48.^[1]

1940–41 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Big Six Regular Season Champion
Fifth District NCAA Qualifying Game
Conference	Big Six Conference
Record	15–4 (7–3 Big Six)
Head coach	Louis Menze (13th season)
Home arena	State Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1939–40 1941–42 →

1940–41 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Iowa State	7	–	3		.700			15	–	4		.789
Kansas	7	–	3		.700			12	–	6		.667
Nebraska	6	–	4		.600			8	–	10		.444
Oklahoma	5	–	5		.500			6	–	12		.333
Kansas State	3	–	7		.300			6	–	12		.333
Missouri	2	–	8		.200			6	–	10		.375

Roster

1940–41 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F Al Budolfson (C) — — Jr Rolfe, IA G Dale DeKoster — — Sr Spencer, IA F Jerry Deneckere — — Rock Island, IL Fred Gordon — — Decorah, IA C Gordon Nicholas (C) — — Sr Lawton, IA G Grover Miehe — — Maynard, IA G Larry Owens — — Ames, IA F Carol Schneider 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Jr Rock Island, IL F Ed Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — So Minburn, IA F Leon Uknes — — Sioux City, IA	Head coach Louis Menze Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

^[2]

Player stats

Note: PPG = Points per Game

Player	Class	Pos	PPG
Gordon Nicholas	Sr	C	9.7
Al Budolfson	Jr	F	8.1
Dale DeKoster	Sr	G	7.3
Carol Schneider	Jr	G	7.0

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 4, 1940* 7:15 pm		Cornell	W 37–22	1–0	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
December 7, 1940*		Coe	W 28–23	2–0	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
December 9, 1940*		at Minnesota	W 37–36	3–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 14, 1940*		at Bradley Tech	W 31–28	4–0	Peoria Armory  Peoria, IL
December 21, 1940*		Grinnell	W 43–37	5–0	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
December 31, 1940*		Drake Iowa Big Four	W 45–26	6–0	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
January 4, 1941* 8:15 pm		at Drake Iowa Big Four	W 36–30	7–0	Drake Fieldhouse  Des Moines, IA
January 6, 1941* 7:15 pm		Montana	W 41–27	8–0	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
January 13, 1941		at Kansas	L 41–44	8–1 (0–1)	Hoch Auditorium  Lawrence, KS
January 18, 1941		Missouri	W 40–37	9–1 (1–1)	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
January 25, 1941 7:30 pm		Nebraska	L 35–38	9–2 (1–2)	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
February 1, 1941		at Nebraska	L 36–41	9–3 (1–3)	Nebraska Coliseum  Lincoln, NE
February 8, 1941		at Oklahoma	W 35–33	10–3 (2–3)	OU Field House  Norman, OK
February 10, 1941		at Kansas State	W 50–41	11–3 (3–3)	Nichols Hall  Manhattan, KS
February 17, 1941		Oklahoma	W 44–30	12–3 (4–3)	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
February 24, 1941		at Missouri	W 49–29	13–3 (5–3)	Brewer Fieldhouse  Columbia, MO
March 1, 1941		Kansas State	W 36–33	14–3 (6–3)	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
March 3, 1941		Kansas	W 41–29	15–3 (7–3)	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
Postseason
March 18, 1941* 9:00 pm		vs. Creighton Fifth District NCAA Qualifying Game	L 48–57	15–4	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[3]

References

1. Green, Mike (August 8, 2017). "Cyclone Stars From The 1940s Highlight Reunion". Cyclone Sidebar. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
2. (1) December 4, 1940 (Page 16 of 22). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1940 Dec 04(166):16.
3. "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/isuni.sidearmsports.com/documents/2020/4/23/2020_21_Results2.pdf