1945 NCAA basketball tournament
Appearance
Teams | 8 | ||||
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Finals site | Madison Square Garden New York City | ||||
Champions | Oklahoma A&M (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
Runner-up | NYU (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
Semifinalists |
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Winning coach | Henry Iba (1st title) | ||||
MOP | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) | ||||
Attendance | 67,780 | ||||
Top scorer | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) (65 points) | ||||
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The 1945 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City. A total of 9 games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 49–45 victory in the final game over NYU, coached by Howard Cann. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1945 tournament:
Regionals
- March 22 and 24
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
- March 23 and 24
- West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri
Championship Game
- March 27
- Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Teams
Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
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East | ||||||
East | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | SEC | Regional Third Place | Tufts | W 66–56 |
East | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 49–45 |
East | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | National Semifinals | NYU | L 70–65 |
East | Tufts | Richard Cochran | New England | Regional Fourth Place | Kentucky | L 66–56 |
West | ||||||
West | Arkansas | Eugene Lambert | Southwest | National Semifinals | Oklahoma A&M | L 68–41 |
West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | NYU | W 49–45 |
West | Oregon | John Warren | Pacific Coast | Regional Third Place | Utah | W 69–66 |
West | Utah | Vadal Peterson | Skyline | Regional Fourth Place | Oregon | L 69–66 |
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
NYU | 59 | |||||||||||||
Tufts | 44 | |||||||||||||
NYU | 70 | |||||||||||||
Ohio State | 65* | |||||||||||||
Ohio State | 45 | |||||||||||||
Kentucky | 37 | |||||||||||||
NYU | 45 | |||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 49 | |||||||||||||
Arkansas | 79 | |||||||||||||
Oregon | 76 | |||||||||||||
Arkansas | 41 | |||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 68 | |||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 62 | |||||||||||||
Utah | 37 |
Regional Third Place
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