American college basketball season
1944–45 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
PCT
W
L
PCT
North
Oregon †
11
–
5
.688
30
–
15
.667
Washington State
11
–
5
.688
23
–
13
.639
Oregon State
10
–
6
.625
20
–
8
.714
Washington
5
–
11
.313
22
–
18
.550
Idaho
3
–
13
.188
13
–
20
.394
South
UCLA
3
–
1
.750
12
–
12
.500
USC
2
–
2
.500
15
–
9
.625
California
1
–
3
.250
7
–
8
.467
† North division playoff series and conference playoff series winner
The 1944–45 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State College for the 1944–45 college basketball season. Led by seventeenth-year head coach Jack Friel , the Cougars were members of the Pacific Coast Conference and played their home games on campus at the WSC Gymnasium in Pullman, Washington .
The Cougars were 22–11 overall in the regular season and 11–5 in conference play, tied for first in the Northern division.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
In the best-of-three playoff series with Oregon , the road teams won the first two games,[ 4] [ 5] which were played six nights apart.[ 6] [ 7] In the deciding third game in Eugene the next night, the home team rallied from a six-point deficit at halftime to win by a basket;[ 8] [ 9]
[ 10] Oregon advanced to the eight-team NCAA tournament ,[ 9] [ 11] but lost their opener by three points.[ 12]
Postseason results
Date time, TV
Opponent
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Pacific Coast Conference Northern Division Playoff Series
Sat, March 10 8:00 pm
Oregon Game One
L 41–51
22–12
WSC Gymnasium Pullman, Washington
Fri, March 16 8:00 pm
at Oregon Game Two
W 53–48
23–12
McArthur Court (7,000)Eugene, Oregon
Sat, March 17 8:00 pm
at Oregon Game Three
L 37–39
23–13
McArthur Court (6,000)Eugene, Oregon
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Pacific time.
References
^ "Cougars and Oregon start playoff March 10 in Pullman" . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington). March 5, 1945. p. 12.
^ "Northern Division, Coast Conference final standings" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). March 4, 1945. p. 18.
^ "Playoff series start(s) Saturday in Pullman" . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho). Associated Press. March 5, 1945. p. 6.
^ Strite, Dick (March 11, 1945). "Oregon sweeps over WSC in first playoff win, 51-41" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). p. 16.
^ Johnson, Bob (March 12, 1945). "Backboard shy Cougar five drops opener to Oregonians" . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington). p. 12.
^ "WSC wins tilt from U-O 53-48" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). March 17, 1945. p. 1.
^ "Cougars, Oregon even in playoff" . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington). Associated Press. March 17, 1945. p. 6.
^ Strite, Dick (March 18, 1945). "Webfoots rally to grab title playoff, 39-37" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). p. 1.
^ a b "Oregon grabs Coast crown" . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 19, 1945. p. 3.
^ "Cougars return to Pullman; Ducks travel to Kansas City" . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington). Associated Press. March 19, 1945. p. 10.
^ "Oregon wins division title" . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho). Associated Press. March 18, 1945. p. 11.
^ Strite, Dick (March 24, 1945). "Arkansas clips Webfoots, 79-76" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). p. 1.
External links
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics