1939–40 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team

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The 1939–40 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team represented the College of William & Mary in intercollegiate basketball during the 1939–40 season. Under the first year of head coach Dwight Steussey, the team finished the season 13–10 and 6–5 in the Southern Conference. This was the 35th season of the collegiate basketball program at William & Mary, whose nickname is now the Tribe.

The Indians finished in a tie for 8th in the conference and did not quality for the 1940 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

William & Mary played its first overtime game in program history in February 1940 against Washington and Lee in a 33–36 loss. Additionally, the Indians played several teams for the first time this season, including St. Francis (NY), Seton Hall, The Citadel, and Furman.

Schedule

1939–40 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Duke	13	–	2		.867			19	–	7		.731
North Carolina †	11	–	2		.846			23	–	3		.885
Washington and Lee	7	–	3		.700			13	–	5		.722
Wake Forest	10	–	5		.667			13	–	9		.591
Maryland	7	–	5		.583			14	–	9		.609
Clemson	9	–	7		.563			9	–	12		.429
Richmond	5	–	4		.556			11	–	6		.647
The Citadel	6	–	5		.545			8	–	9		.471
William & Mary	6	–	5		.545			12	–	11		.522
Furman	4	–	6		.400			11	–	11		.500
North Carolina State	5	–	10		.333			8	–	11		.421
Davidson	4	–	11		.267			8	–	13		.381
South Carolina	3	–	10		.231			5	–	13		.278
VMI	2	–	9		.182			3	–	12		.200
Virginia Tech	1	–	9		.100			4	–	15		.211
† Southern Conference Tournament winner

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
*		at Norfolk NTS	L 44–46	0–1	Norfolk, Virginia
*		Newport News Apprentice School	W 50–37	1–1	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
*		at Randolph–Macon	W 33–22	2–1	Ashland, Virginia
*		at Langley Field	W 62–50	3–1	Hampton, Virginia
*		Norfolk NTS	W 55–44	4–1	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
*		at Panser	L 44–50	4–2
*		at St. Francis (NY)	W 32–28	5–2	Park Slope Armory  Brooklyn, New York
1/8/1940*		at Seton Hall	L 35–51	5–3	Walsh Gymnasium  South Orange, New Jersey
1/10/1940		at Richmond	L 33–35	5–4 (0–1)	Millhiser Gymnasium  Richmond, Virginia
*		at Virginia	L 31–49	5–5	Memorial Gymnasium  Charlottesville, Virginia
		at The Citadel	L 35–36	5–6 (0–2)	The Citadel Armory  Charleston, South Carolina
1/29/1940		at Furman	W 47–37	6–6 (1–2)	Greenville, South Carolina
		VPI	W 38–33	7–6 (2–2)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
		at NC State	L 29–36	7–7 (2–3)	Thompson Gym  Raleigh, North Carolina
*		Virginia	W 29–28	8–7	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
*		Hampden–Sydney	W 42–31	9–7	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
		at Washington and Lee	L 39–49	9–8 (2–4)	Doremus Gymnasium  Lexington, Virginia
		at VPI	W 49–29	10–8 (3–4)	War Memorial Gymnasium  Blacksburg, Virginia
		at VMI	W 50–48	11–8 (4–4)	Cormack Field House  Lexington, Virginia
2/19/1940		Richmond	W 43–38	12–8 (5–4)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
		Washington and Lee	L 33–36 OT	12–9 (5–5)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
		VMI	W 59–36	13–9 (6–5)	Blow Gymnasium  Williamsburg, Virginia
2/24/1940*		at Navy	L 46–52	13–10	Annapolis, Maryland
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source