1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

The 1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 1944–45 college basketball season. The Razorbacks played their home games in the Men's Gymnasium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was former Razorback All-American Eugene Lambert's third season as head coach of the Hogs. The Razorbacks finished second in the Southwest Conference standings with a record of 9–3 and 17–9 overall.^[1][2]

1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	17–9 (9–3 SWC)
Head coach	Eugene Lambert (3rd season)
Home arena	Men's Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1943–44 1945–46 →

1944–45 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Rice	12	–	0		1.000			20	–	1		.952
Arkansas	9	–	3		.750			17	–	9		.654
SMU	7	–	5		.583			11	–	10		.524
TCU	7	–	5		.583			9	–	20		.310
Texas	5	–	7		.417			10	–	10		.500
Texas A&M	2	–	10		.167			3	–	18		.143
Baylor	0	–	12		.000			0	–	17		.000
Rankings from AP Poll

Arkansas received a bid to the NCAA tournament, its second appearance in the tournament overall after not being able to participate the year before due to a serious car crash that killed a staff member, Everett Norris, and injured two starters, Deno Nichols and Ben Jones.^[3][4] Arkansas beat Oregon in the first round of the tournament to advance to its second Final Four in as many tournament appearances before losing to eventual champion Oklahoma A&M in the two clubs' fourth meeting of the season.

Center George Kok was named First Team All-SWC for the season.^[5][6]

Roster

Roster retrieved from HogStats.com.^[7]

1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 72 Melvin McGaha 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Mabelvale Oak Grove, Louisiana G 37 Bill Flynt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Jr Beebe Ouachita Baptist Beebe, Arkansas F Ocie Richie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So Natchitoches Northwestern State Natchitoches, Louisiana 15 Mike Schumchyk — — So Center Moriches Long Island, New York 71 Earl Wheeler — — Jr 24 Tony Byles — — Fr Marthaville Robeline, Louisiana G 40 Kenneth Kearns — — Fr Denton Denton, Texas 78 Frank Schumchyk — — Jr N/A Long Island, New York Charles Joliff — — Jr 55 Jady Copeland — — C 42 George Kok 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Ottawa Hills Grand Rapids, Michigan	Head coach Eugene Lambert (Arkansas) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 29, 2021

Schedule and Results

Schedule retrieved from HogStats.com.^[8]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
December 7, 1944*		at Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg	W 45–30	1–0	Pittsburg, Kansas
December 9, 1944*		Blytheville AAB	W 76–45	2–0	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 16, 1944*		vs. City College of New York	W 59–47	3–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
December 19, 1944*		at Westminster College	L 61–71	3–1	New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
December 27, 1944*		vs. Denver All College Tournament	W 50–36	4–1	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 28, 1944*		vs. Oklahoma All College Tournament	W 54–51	5–1	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 29, 1944*		vs. Oklahoma A&M All College Tournament	L 34–43	5–2	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
January 5, 1945		Baylor	W 94–28	6–2 (1–0)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 6, 1945		Baylor	W 90–30	7–2 (2–0)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 9, 1945*		Phillips 66ers	L 40–60	7–3 (2–0)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 12, 1945*		vs. Oklahoma A&M	W 41–38	8–3 (2–0)	Little Rock, Arkansas
January 13, 1945*		vs. Oklahoma A&M	L 40–49	8–4 (2–0)	El Dorado, Arkansas
January 19, 1945		at Texas	L 40–49	8–5 (2–1)	Gregory Gymnasium  Austin, Texas
January 20, 1945		at Texas	W 74–38	9–5 (3–1)	Gregory Gymnasium  Austin, Texas
January 26, 1945		at Rice	L 46–57	9–6 (3–2)	Houston, Texas
January 27, 1945		at Rice	L 56–69	9–7 (3–3)	Houston, Texas
February 2, 1945		at TCU	W 37–33	10–7 (4–3)	TCU Fieldhouse  Fort Worth, Texas
February 3, 1945		at TCU	W 60–35	11–7 (5–3)	TCU Fieldhouse  Fort Worth, Texas
February 8, 1945*		Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg	W 76–45	12–7 (5–3)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 16, 1945		at SMU	W 59–52	13–7 (6–3)	Perkins Gymnasium  Dallas, Texas
February 17, 1945		at SMU	W 65–49	14–7 (7–3)	Perkins Gymnasium  Dallas, Texas
February 23, 1945		Texas A&M	W 80–21	15–7 (8–3)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 24, 1945		Texas A&M	W 87–36	16–7 (9–3)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 28, 1945*		at Phillips 66ers	L 34–62	16–8 (9–3)	Bartlesville High School  Bartlesville, Oklahoma
NCAA Tournament
March 23, 1945*		vs. Oregon Elite Eight	W 79–76	17–8 (9–3)	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
March 24, 1945*		vs. Oklahoma A&M Final Four	L 41–68	17–9 (9–3)	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. "HogStats.com :: 1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
2. "1944-45 Southwest Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
3. "Arkansas Fans Remember '44 Tragedy That Took Team Out of NCAA". Tulsa World. April 4, 1995. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
4. "1943-44 | College Hoopedia". collegehoopedia.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
5. Arkansas 2020-21 Men's Basketball Media Guide (PDF). Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2020. p. 113. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
6. "HogStats.com :: Player Information :: George Kok". HogStats.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
7. "1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
8. "HogStats.com :: 1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.