1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

1944–45 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
	Rankings from AP Poll

1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
1944–45 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southwest Conference
1944–45 record	17–9 (9–3 SWC)
Head coach	Eugene Lambert (3rd season);
Home arena	Men's Gymnasium
	Seasons ← →

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]

Arkansas received a bid to the NCAA Tournament, its second appearance in the tournament overall after not being able to participate 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	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)	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)	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[]

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

[1] "HogStats.com :: 1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[2] "1944-45 Southwest Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[3] "Arkansas Fans Remember '44 Tragedy That Took Team Out of NCAA". Tulsa World. 4 April 1995. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[4] "1943-44 | College Hoopedia". collegehoopedia.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[5] Arkansas 2020-21 Men's Basketball Media Guide (PDF). Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2020. p. 113. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[6] "HogStats.com :: Player Information :: George Kok". HogStats.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[7] "1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[8] "HogStats.com :: 1944-45 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

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[8]

v t Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
Venues	Schmidt Gymnasium (1923–1937) Men's Gymnasium (1937–1955) Barnhill Arena (1955–1993) Bud Walton Arena (1993–present)
People	Statistical leaders
Seasons	1923–24 1925–26 1929–30 1937–38 1940–41 1944–45 1954–55 1957–58 1977–78 1980–81 1982–83 1983–84 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

1944–45 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
	12	–	0	1.000	20	–	1	.952
Arkansas	9	–	3	.750	17	–	9	.654
	7	–	5	.583	11	–	10	.524
	7	–	5	.583	9	–	20	.310
	5	–	7	.417	10	–	10	.500
	2	–	10	.167	3	–	18	.143
	0	–	12	.000	0	–	17	.000

Rankings from AP Poll