1944–45 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1944–45 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball

NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	15–5 (10–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harold Olsen (23rd season)
Assistant coach	J. E. Blickle
Home arena	Fairgrounds Coliseum
Seasons← 1943–44 1945–46 →

1944–45 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Iowa	11	–	1	.917	17	–	1	.944
Ohio State	10	–	2	.833	15	–	5	.750
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	13	–	7	.650
Purdue	6	–	6	.500	9	–	11	.450
Michigan	5	–	7	.417	12	–	7	.632
Wisconsin	4	–	8	.333	10	–	11	.476
Minnesota	4	–	8	.333	8	–	13	.381
Northwestern	4	–	8	.333	7	–	12	.368
Indiana	3	–	9	.250	10	–	11	.476
Chicago	0	–	0	–	7	–	8	.467

The 1944–45 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1944–45 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 second to Iowa in Big Ten play with a 10–2 record. The Buckeyes were one of eight teams selected to play in the NCAA tournament where they reached the Final Four for the third time in program history before losing to NYU in the East regional final.

Roster

1944–45 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown

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 9, 1944*	Michigan State	W 58–31	1–0	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Dec 18, 1944*	Utah	W 64–36	2–0	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Dec 23, 1944*	at Kentucky	L 48–53	3–0	Alumni Gymnasium Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 16, 1945	at Illinois	L 41–56	11–4 (7–2)	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, Illinois
Feb 17, 1945	at Indiana	W 63–45	12–4 (8–2)	The Fieldhouse Bloomington, Indiana
Feb 23, 1945	Illinois	W 60–44	13–4 (9–2)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
Feb 24, 1945	Indiana	W 85–52	14–4 (10–2)	Fairgrounds Coliseum Columbus, Ohio
NCAA tournament
Mar 22, 1945*	vs. Kentucky National Quarterfinal – Elite Eight	W 45–37	15–4	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 24, 1945*	vs. NYU National Semifinal – Final Four	L 65–70	15–5	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
*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 September 3, 2023.
"N.Y.U. Rally Beats Ohio State Quintet in Overtime, 70-65". The New York Times. March 25, 1945. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
"2022 23 Ohio State Mens Basketball Meida Information Record Book SM" (PDF). Ohio State University Athletics. p. 148. Retrieved September 3, 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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