1944–45 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

1944–45 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
1944–45 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Big Six Champions
Conference	Big Six Conference
Record	11–5 (8–2 Big Six)
Head coach	Louis Menze (17th season);
Home arena	State Gymnasium

1944–45 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Iowa State	8	–	2	.800	11	–	5	.688
Kansas	7	–	3	.700	12	–	5	.706
Oklahoma	5	–	5	.500	12	–	13	.480
Missouri	5	–	5	.500	12	–	13	.480
Kansas State	4	–	6	.400	10	–	13	.435
Nebraska	1	–	9	.100	2	–	17	.105

The 1944–45 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1944–45 NCAA men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Louis Menze, who was in his seventeenth season with the Cyclones. They played their home games at the State Gymnasium in Ames, Iowa.

They finished the season 11–5, 8–2 in Big Six play to finish in first place and win the Big Six championship. They lost to Kansas, 50–35 on January 27 to drop their record to 5-5 (2-2) before winning their last six games en route to a conference championship. The March 2, 1945 contest turned into a de facto championship game, with the Cyclones routing the Jayhawks, 61–39, to win their second consecutive Big Six championship.

Jim Myers was awarded with a first team All-Big Six distinction by the United Press, while Bob Mott garnered second team honors.^[1]

Roster

1944–45 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C		Bill Bailey	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—		Winona, Minnesota
G	30	Bill Block (C)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr	Muscatine, Iowa
G		Ted Chamberlain	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—
C		Sam Deal	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—		Amarillo, Texas
F	25	Orlyn Feuerbach	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Sr	Keystone, Iowa
C		Jim Harland	—	—		Cedar Falls, Iowa
C		Merl Kleen	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—		Pomeroy, Iowa
		Harry Kraus	—	—		Sargent, Nebraska
		Jack McDowell	—	—		Harlan, Iowa
C	24	Bob Mott	—	—	Fr	Jewell, Iowa
F	18	Jim Myers	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Jr	Sioux City, Iowa
F		Dana Omer	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—		Spirit Lake, Iowa
F		John Pflum	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	—
G		Bob Peterson	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Fr	Harlan, Iowa
G		Gene Phelps	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	—		Wells, Minnesota
		Rex Wagner	—	—		Homer, Nebraska

Head coach

Louis Menze

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
December 4, 1944* 7:15 pm	Minnesota	W 42–21	1–0	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
December 13, 1944*	at Iowa Pre-Flight	L 39–49	1–1	Iowa City, Iowa
December 16, 1944* 8:15 pm	at Drake Iowa Big Four	L 45–52	1–2	Drake Fieldhouse Des Moines, Iowa
December 29, 1944*	Iowa Pre-Flight	L 33–34	1–3	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
January 6, 1945 7:30 pm	Kansas State	W 60–31	2–3 (1–0)	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
January 8, 1945	at Nebraska	W 50–38	3–3 (2–0)	Nebraska Coliseum Lincoln, Nebraska
January 15, 1945* 7:15 pm	Ottumwa Naval	W 50–48	4–3	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
January 20, 1945	at Missouri	L 32–38	4–4 (2–1)	Brewer Fieldhouse Columbia, Missouri
January 24, 1945* 7:15 pm	Drake Iowa Big Four	W 57–32	5–4	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
January 27, 1945	at Kansas	L 35–50	5–5 (2–2)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, Kansas
February 9, 1945	Missouri	W 58–30	6–5 (3–2)	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
February 17, 1945	Oklahoma	W 51–43	7–5 (4–2)	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
February 19, 1945	Nebraska	W 47–45	8–5 (5–2)	State Gymnasium Ames, Iowa
February 24, 1945 7:45 pm	at Oklahoma	W 31–29	9–5 (6–2)	Municipal Auditorium^[2] Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
February 26, 1945	at Kansas State	W 44–39	10–5 (7–2)	Nichols Hall Manhattan, Kansas
March 2, 1945 7:30 pm	Kansas	W 61–39	11–5 (8–2)	State Gymnasium (3,500) Ames, Iowa
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[3]

References

↑ (1) March 4, 1945 (Page 15 of 58). Des Moines Register 1945 Mar 04(256):15.
↑ (1) February 24, 1945 (Page 8 of 12). Des Moines Register 1945 Feb 24(248):8.
↑ "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[1] (1) March 4, 1945 (Page 15 of 58). Des Moines Register 1945 Mar 04(256):15.

[2] (1) February 24, 1945 (Page 8 of 12). Des Moines Register 1945 Feb 24(248):8.

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

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 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 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics