1938–39 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1938–39 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball


NCAA tournament, Runner-up Big Ten Champions
National Championship Game, L 33-46 vs. Oregon
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	16–7 (10–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harold Olsen (17th season)
Assistant coach	J. E. Blickle
Home arena	Fairgrounds Coliseum
Seasons← 1937–381939–40 →

1938–39 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Ohio State	10	–	2	.833	16	–	7	.696
Indiana	9	–	3	.750	17	–	3	.850
Illinois	8	–	4	.667	14	–	5	.737
Minnesota	7	–	5	.583	14	–	6	.700
Purdue	6	–	6	.500	12	–	7	.632
Northwestern	5	–	7	.417	7	–	13	.350
Michigan	4	–	8	.333	11	–	9	.550
Wisconsin	4	–	8	.333	10	–	10	.500
Chicago	4	–	8	.333	9	–	11	.450
Iowa	3	–	9	.250	8	–	11	.421

The 1938–39 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Harold Olsen and they played their home games at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. Ohio State finished Big Ten play atop the standings with a 10–2 record. The Buckeyes were one of eight teams selected to play in the inaugural NCAA tournament where they finished runner-up after losing to Oregon in the National championship game.

Roster

1938–39 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	3	Bill Sattler	6 ft 6.5 in (1.99 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	Jr	Mineral City, Ohio
C	4	Charles Maag	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Sandusky, Ohio
G	5	Bob Lynch	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	Jr	Hillsboro, Ohio
F	6	Dick Baker	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	Sr	Anderson, Indiana
F	7	Gil Mickelson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	So	Thief River Falls, Minnesota
F	8	Jimmy Hull (C)	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	Sr	Greenfield, Ohio
G	9	Jack Dawson	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Indianapolis, Indiana
C	11	John Schick	6 ft 3.75 in (1.92 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Columbus, Ohio
G	16	Dick Boughner	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Akron, Ohio
G	20	Don Scott	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Canton, Ohio
G	22	Jed Mees	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Pomeroy, Ohio
F	24	Robert Stafford	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Crawfordsville, Indiana

Head coach

Harold Olsen (Wisconsin)

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
Dec 10, 1938*	George Washington	W 43–37	1–0	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Dec 22, 1938*	at Washington	L 41–43	1–1	UW Pavilion Seattle, Washington
Dec 23, 1938*	at Washington	L 37–51	1–2	UW Pavilion Seattle, Washington
Dec 26, 1938*	at UCLA	W 46–38	2–2	Los Angeles, California
Dec 30, 1938*	vs. UCLA	W 59–57	3–3	Men's Gym Berkeley, California
Dec 30, 1938*	California	L 42–45	3–4	Men's Gym Berkeley, California
Jan 7, 1939	Indiana	W 45–38	4–4 (1–0)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Jan 14, 1939	at Northwestern	W 38–33	5–4 (2–0)	Patten Gymnasium Evanston, Illinois
Jan 16, 1939	at Illinois	L 31–45	5–5 (2–1)	Huff Hall (6,846) Champaign, Illinois
Jan 21, 1939*	at Army	W 48–39	6–5	Gillis Field House West Point, New York
Jan 23, 1939	Michigan	W 45–31	7–5 (3–1)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Jan 28, 1939	Chicago	W 52–25	8–5 (4–1)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Feb 4, 1939	at Minnesota	W 31–30	9–5 (5–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota
Feb 6, 1939	at Indiana	L 34–46	9–6 (5–2)	The Fieldhouse Bloomington, Indiana
Feb 18, 1939	Iowa	W 53–40	10–6 (6–2)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Feb 20, 1939	Northwestern	W 30–26	11–6 (7–2)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Feb 25, 1939	at Wisconsin	W 46–38	12–6 (8–2)	UW Field House Madison, Wisconsin
Feb 27, 1939	at Michigan	W 42–28	13–6 (9–2)	Yost Field House Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mar 4, 1939	Purdue	W 51–35	14–6 (10–2)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1939*	vs. Wake Forest National Quarterfinal – Elite Eight	W 64–52	15–6	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 18, 1939*	vs. Villanova National Semifinal – Final Four	W 53–36	16–6	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 27, 1939*	vs. Oregon National championship game	L 33–46	16–7	Patten Gymnasium Evanston, Illinois
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

References

"Ohio State Quintet Takes Big Ten Title". The New York Times. March 5, 1939. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
"Oregon Five Halts Ohio State in Final". The New York Times. March 28, 1939. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
"2022 23 Ohio State Mens Basketball Media Information Record Book SM" (PDF). Ohio State University Athletics. Retrieved July 22, 2023.

v t e Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
Venues	The Armory (1897–1918) Fairgrounds Coliseum (1918–1956) St. John Arena (1956–1998) Value City Arena (1998–present)
Rivalries	Michigan
Culture & lore	Brutus Buckeye Buckeye Nuthouse WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State Sports Network
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 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 national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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