1939-40
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| 19-6 |
8-0 |
5-5 |
6-1 |
8-2 |
1st - Tie |
1-0 |
2-1 NCAA - Nat'l Runnerup |
ROSTER:
| NO. |
POS. |
NAME |
CLASS |
HGT. |
WGT. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| |
|
RETURNEES: |
|
|
|
|
| 9
| C
| Bob
Allen *
| Jr.
| 6'0 |
165 |
Lawrence, KS |
| 12
| F
| Don
Ebling ** Cpt.
| Sr.
| 5'11 |
163 |
Lindsborg, KS |
| 99
| F
| Jack
Edward Engel %
|
| |
|
Liberal, KS |
| 5
| F
| Howard
Engleman *
| Jr.
| 6'0 |
170 |
Arkansas City, KS
|
| 20
| G
| Dick
Harp ** Cpt.
| Sr.
| 6'1 |
183 |
Kansas City, KS (Rosedale High
School) |
| 6
| G
| William
Hogben
| Sr.
| 6'1 |
164 |
Kansas City, MO (Southwest HS) |
| 16
| G
| John
Kline *
| Sr.
| 6'3 |
190 |
Hutchison, KS (Transfer from Hutchison Juco) |
| 7
| F-G
| Bruce
Reid * %
| Sr. | |
|
Arkansas City, KS |
| 3
| C
| Jack
Sands *
| Sr.
| |
|
Lawrence, KS
|
| 13
| G
| Bruce
Voran *
| Sr.
| 6'0 |
180 |
Pretty Prairie, KS |
| |
|
NEW FACES: |
|
|
|
|
| 10
| G
| T.
P. Hunter
| Jr.
| 6'2 |
165 |
Oklahoma City, OK (Central
HS) |
| 8
| F
| Bob
Johnson
| So.
| 6'0 |
162 |
Kansas City, KS
(Shawnee-Mission HS) |
| 4
| F
| Ralph
Miller
| So. | 6'1 |
175 |
Chanute, KS |
* Varsity letter Cpt. = Captain
# = Walk-on % = Nonletterman
LOSSES FROM LAST YEAR ('39 stats):
SEASON SUMMARY:
“The 1940
team ranks tops for their ability to overcome tremendous odds and advancing to
the NCAA finals ... In achieving national fame, this team owned no '‘big
men'’yet had the necessary team work and qualifications to rank as one of the
greatest K.U. teams of all time.”
Source:
Allen in the University Daily Kansan, December, 1949
One era passed and another began during the 1939–40
season.
Dr. James Naismith died on Nov.28, 1939, nearly 50 years
after inventing the game and three years after seeing it gain worldwide
acceptance as an Olympic sport at the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin.
Exactly three months later, on Feb.28, 1940, college
basketball appeared on television for the first time when experimental station
W2XBS in New York televised a Pitt-Fordham and Georgetown-NYU doubleheader at
Madison Square Garden.
Indiana finished second to Purdue in the Big Ten, but
district officials sent the Hoosiers to the NCAA tournament because of their two
regular season wins against the Boilermakers. Good choice. Indiana, led by
All-America guard Marv Huffman, won the eight-team tournament, beating Big Six
representative Kansas by 18 in the final. NCAA moved the Final Two to Kansas
City in search of more exposure.
Colorado and Duquesne, both early round losers in the NCAAs,
went to New York and ended up meeting in the NIT final. The Buffaloes won,
51–40.
The Jayhawks finished the 1939-40 Big Six season at 8-2, in
a three-way tie for the league title with Missouri and Oklahoma.
A playoff series to determine who would represent the league in the fifth
district title game was held in Wichita. And
KU prevailed, beating Oklahoma 45-39 after the Sooners had beaten Missouri.
In a contest billed as “The Game of the Year,” Kansas
met Oklahoma A&M for the fifth District title.
The Jayhawks won 45-43 in overtime and headed for the Western
Championships in Kansas City.
After defeating Rice 50-44, KU advanced to meet Southern
Cal in the NCAA Western final. The
Jayhawks weren’t given much of a chance: “The midget University of Kansas
basketball team was up against the sun-bronzed giants rated the best in the
nation. The Jayhawks looked puny by comparison,” the Saturday Evening Post
reported. But KU hung close and
rallied in the final 18 seconds for a victory as Howard Engleman swished a high,
arching shot from far out on the right side as the timer’s gun went off.
The Jayhawks had won 43-42. “It
was another miracle in Kansas basketball. Kansas
fans should be getting used to them by this time,” the Post reported.
But the miracles were over, and KU fell to Indiana 60-42 in
the NCAA final at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. Dick Harp and Don Ebling were captains of the 1939-40 team.
But other key players in Allen’s “seven-man starting lineup” were
Ralph Miller and Allen’s son, Bob, who had fed Engleman the assist in the USC
game.
|
1940 FINAL TEAM STATISTICS (Team
highs in bold):
Statistics, Cont'd
Source:
GAME-BY-GAME
|
Oklahoma A&M |
W |
34-30 |
|
Dec. 5 |
at Lawrence |
|
Warrensburg |
L |
31-33 |
* |
Dec. 8 |
at Warrensburg, Mo. |
|
SMU |
W |
63-31 |
|
Dec. 18 |
at Lawrence |
|
SMU |
W |
37-26 |
|
Dec. 19 |
at Lawrence |
|
Baker |
W |
34-18 |
|
Dec. 28 |
at Topeka, Kan. |
|
New Mexico Mines |
W |
40-24 |
|
Dec. 29 |
at Topeka, Kan. |
|
Washburn |
W |
52-34 |
|
Dec. 30 |
at Topeka, Kan. |
|
Oklahoma |
W |
46-26 |
|
Jan. 5 |
at Lawrence |
|
Loyola (Ill.) |
W |
40-36 |
|
Jan. 8 |
at Chicago, Ill. |
|
Kansas State |
W |
34-33 |
|
Jan. 12 |
at Lawrence |
|
Missouri |
L |
31-42 |
|
Jan. 18 |
at Columbia, Mo. |
|
Nebraska |
W |
40-24 |
|
Jan. 23 |
at Lawrence |
|
Iowa State |
W |
36-34 |
|
Feb. 12 |
at Lawrence |
|
Oklahoma A&M |
L |
22-24 |
|
Feb. 15 |
at Stillwater, Okla. |
|
Kansas State |
W |
44-33 |
|
Feb. 10 |
at Manhattan, Kan. |
|
Nebraska |
W |
48-41 |
|
Feb. 24 |
at Lincoln, Neb. |
|
Iowa State |
W |
42-29 |
|
Feb. 26 |
at Ames, Iowa |
|
Missouri |
W |
42-40 |
|
Mar. 1 |
at Lawrence |
|
Creighton |
L |
33-35 |
|
Mar. 4 |
at Omaha, Neb. |
|
Oklahoma |
L |
36-47 |
|
Mar. 8 |
at Norman, Okla. |
|
Oklahoma |
W |
45-39 |
|
Mar. 12 |
at Wichita, Kan.
(Big Six Playoff) |
|
NCAA Tournament |
|
|
|
|
Oklahoma A&M |
W |
45-43 |
* |
Mar. 16 |
at Oklahoma City, Okla.
(Fifth District Playoff) |
|
Rice |
W |
50-44 |
|
Mar. 22 |
at Kansas City, Mo.
(NCAA Western Playoff) |
|
Southern California |
W |
43-42 |
|
Mar. 23 |
at Kansas City, Mo.
(NCAA Western Finals) |
|
Indiana |
L |
42-60 |
|
Mar. 30 |
at Kansas City, Mo. |
|
Link to National Statistics for
Link to Big Conference for
|