1943–44 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

1943–44 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
1943–44 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Big Six Champions
1944 NCAA basketball tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big Six Conference
Record	14–4 (9–1 Big Six)
Head coach	Louis Menze (16th season);
Home arena	State Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1942–43 1944–45 →

1943–44 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Iowa State	9	–	1	.900	14	–	4	.778
Oklahoma	9	–	1	.900	15	–	8	.652
Kansas	5	–	5	.500	17	–	9	.654
Missouri	5	–	5	.500	10	–	9	.526
Kansas State	1	–	9	.100	7	–	15	.318
Nebraska	1	–	9	.100	2	–	13	.133

The 1943–44 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Louis Menze, who was in his sixteenth season with the Cyclones. They played their home games at the State Gymnasium in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones qualified for the Final Four for the first time in school history, defeating Pepperdine in the NCAA Western Regional, before falling to Utah, 40-31. Initially, it was not even known if Iowa State would be able to fulfill its role in the postseason tournament, but they were ultimately able to do so.^[1] Star player Price Brookfield joined the Cyclones mid-season through the naval training program at Iowa State.^[2]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Hometown
	33	Price Brookfield	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—
F		Rae Chisholm	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—
		Bob Deck	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—
F		James Felix	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—
G		Earl Kelso	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Rochester, NY
G		Lloyd Kester	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Ames, IA
G		Darle Larson	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	—
		James Myers	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—
G		Lyle Naylor	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—
C		Don Nelson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—
C	21	Gene Oulman	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Mason City, IA
G	20	Bob Sauer	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—
C		Lee Schneider	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Rock Island, IL
F	28	Ray Wehde	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Holstein, IA
F	27	Roy Wehde	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Holstein, IA

Head coach

Louis Menze

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[3]

^[4]^[5]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 4, 1943* 7:30 pm	Iowa Pre-Flight	W 31–29	1–0	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
December 18, 1943* 8:00 pm	at Minnesota	L 28–31	1–1	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 31, 1943* 7:30 pm	Drake Iowa Big Four	W 43–20	2–1	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
January 3, 1944	at Kansas State	W 42–33	3–1 (1–0)	Nichols Hall Manhattan, KS
January 8, 1944	at Nebraska	W 56–24	4–1 (2–0)	Nebraska Coliseum Lincoln, NE
January 15, 1944* 7:30 pm	Ottumwa Naval	W 60–37	5–1	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
January 17, 1944*	at Iowa Pre-Flight	L 27–33	5–2	Iowa City, IA
January 22, 1944 7:30 pm	Missouri	W 41–25	6–2 (3–0)	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
January 29, 1944 7:30 pm	Kansas	W 40–29	7–2 (4–0)	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
February 5, 1944	at Oklahoma	W 41–39	8–2 (5–0)	OU Field House Norman, OK
February 9, 1944* 8:15 pm	at Drake	W 64–36	9–2	Drake Fieldhouse Des Moines, IA
February 11, 1944 7:30 pm	Kansas State	W 47–20	10–2 (6–0)	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
February 14, 1944	Nebraska	W 58–35	11–2 (7–0)	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
February 21, 1944	at Missouri	W 43–32	12–2 (8–0)	Brewer Fieldhouse Columbia, MO
February 28, 1944 7:15 pm	Oklahoma	L 30–44	12–3 (8–1)	State Gymnasium Ames, IA
March 3, 1944	at Kansas	W 47–25	13–3 (9–1)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
Postseason
March 24, 1944 9:30 pm	vs. Pepperdine NCAA tournament West Regional semifinals	W 44–39	14–3	Municipal Auditorium (4,762) Kansas City, MO
March 25, 1944	vs. Utah NCAA Tournament West Regional Finals (Final Four)	L 31–40	14–4	Municipal Auditorium (5,112) Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[6]

References

^ (1) IOWA STATE DECLINES. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) 1944 Mar 07:17.
^ "Centennial Moments: Price Brookfield".
^ (1) November 24, 1943 (Page 12 of 54). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1943 Nov 24(156):12.
^ "Centennial Moments: Price Brookfield".
^ (1) December 2, 1943 (Page 11 of 16). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1943 Dec 02(164):11.
^ "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[1] (1) IOWA STATE DECLINES. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) 1944 Mar 07:17.

[2] "Centennial Moments: Price Brookfield".

[3] (1) November 24, 1943 (Page 12 of 54). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1943 Nov 24(156):12.

[4] "Centennial Moments: Price Brookfield".

[5] (1) December 2, 1943 (Page 11 of 16). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1943 Dec 02(164):11.

[6] "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

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v t e Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Venues	Margaret Hall Gymnasium (1907–1912) State Gymnasium (1913–1947) Iowa State Armory (1947–1971) Hilton Coliseum (1971–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
Culture & lore	Cy the Cardinal "ISU Fights" Iowa State Pep Band ISU Holiday Classic
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 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 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics