1948–49 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

1948–49 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
Southwest Conference Champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	15–11 (9–3 SWC)
Head coach	Eugene Lambert (7th season)
Home arena	Men's Gymnasium

1948–49 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Arkansas	9	–	3		.750			15	–	11		.577
Baylor	9	–	3		.750			14	–	10		.583
Rice	9	–	3		.750			13	–	11		.542
Texas	7	–	5		.583			17	–	7		.708
SMU	5	–	7		.417			11	–	13		.458
Texas A&M	2	–	10		.167			5	–	19		.208
TCU	1	–	11		.083			4	–	20		.167
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1948–49 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 1948–49 college basketball season. The Razorbacks played their home games in the Men's Gymnasium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was former Razorback All-American Eugene Lambert's seventh and final season as head coach of the Hogs. Arkansas received its first-ever rating in the new AP Poll (which was first published on January 18, 1949) on February 28, 1949, coming in at #20.^[1] The Razorbacks tied Baylor and Rice for the Southwest Conference regular season championship with a record of 9–3 and 15–11 overall.^[2][3]

Arkansas received a bid to the NCAA tournament, its third appearance in the tournament overall and second with Lambert as coach after advancing to the 1945 Final Four and not being able to participate during the 1943–44 season due to a serious car crash that killed a staff member, Everett Norris, and injured two starters, Deno Nichols and Ben Jones.^[4][5] Arkansas lost to Oregon State in the first round of the tournament, the Razorbacks' first-ever loss in the first round, before going on to defeat #17 Wyoming in a consolation game, the Hogs' first game and win against an AP-ranked team.

Guard Kenneth Kearns was named First Team All-SWC for the season, going on to be drafted by the New York Knicks in the 1949 BAA Draft.^[6]

Coach Eugene Lambert moved on after the end of the season, entering sports administration before coaching stints at Memphis State and Alabama, eventually settling as the athletic director at Memphis State.^[7]

Roster

Roster retrieved from HogStats.com.^[8]

1948–49 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 11 Bob Ambler 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So N/A Texarkana, Arkansas G 40 Kenneth Kearns — — Sr Denton High School Denton, Texas G 21 Cliff Horton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr N/A Marshall, Arkansas F 14 Jim Cathcart 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Little Rock Central High School Little Rock, Arkansas G 3 John Campbell 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) — Sr Harrison High School Harrison, Arkansas 41 Bob Williams 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — So N/A Billings, Missouri G 31 Gerald Hudspeth — — Jr St. Joe High School St. Joe, Arkansas 15 Mike Schumchyk — — Center Moriches Long Island, New York G 32 Norman Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So N/A Mansfield, Arkansas 55 Roxie Rankin — — Fayetteville High School Fayetteville, Arkansas 22 Paul Coleman — — N/A Marion, Arkansas 30 Robert Adams 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr N/A Mulberry, Arkansas 35 Elmo Adams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Beebe High School Beebe, Arkansas	Head coach Eugene Lambert (Arkansas) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: August 16, 2022

Schedule and results

Schedule retrieved from HogStats.com.^[9]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 29, 1948*		at Phillips 66ers	L 40–58	0–1	Bartlesville, Oklahoma
December 1, 1948		Oklahoma City	W 31–29	1–1	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 4, 1948*		at Oklahoma A&M	L 28–53	1–2	Gallagher Hall  Stillwater, Oklahoma
December 9, 1948*		vs. Long Island University	L 42–56	1–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
December 11, 1948*		at Canisius	L 51–60	1–4	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, New York
December 13, 1948*		at Kentucky	L 39–76	1–5	Alumni Gymnasium  Lexington, Kentucky
December 16, 1948*		Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg	W 79–53	2–5	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 23, 1948*		Oklahoma A&M	L 45–50	2–6	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 30, 1948*		vs. Tennessee Delta Bowl Classic	W 58–55	3–6	Memphis, Tennessee
January 5, 1949		Baylor	L 37–41	3–7 (0–1)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 8, 1949*		Phillips 66ers	L 32–58	3–8 (0–1)	Little Rock, Arkansas
January 15, 1949		at SMU	W 54–45	4–8 (1–1)	Perkins Gymnasium  Dallas, Texas
January 17, 1949		at TCU	W 41–36	5–8 (2–1)	TCU Fieldhouse  Fort Worth, Texas
January 21, 1949		Rice	L 48–49	5–9 (2–2)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 31, 1949		Texas A&M	W 62–47	6–9 (3–2)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 5, 1949		at Baylor	W 52–46	7–9 (4–2)	Marrs McLean Gymnasium  Waco, Texas
February 7, 1949		at Texas	W 60–54	8–9 (5–2)	Gregory Gymnasium  Austin, Texas
February 12, 1949		Texas	W 54–50	9–9 (6–2)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 19, 1949		SMU	W 47–39	10–9 (7–2)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 21, 1949		TCU	W 67–52	11–9 (8–2)	Men's Gymnasium  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 26, 1949		at Rice	L 48–54	11–10 (8–3)	Houston, Texas
February 28, 1949	No. 20	at Texas A&M	W 61–46	12–10 (9–3)	DeWare Fieldhouse  College Station, Texas
NCAA District 6 Playoffs
March 9, 1949*		vs. Rice	W 50–34	13–10 (9–3)	Fair Park Recreation Building  Dallas, Texas
March 10, 1949*		vs. Arizona	W 65–44	14–10 (9–3)	Fair Park Recreation Building  Dallas, Texas
NCAA Tournament
March 18, 1949*		vs. Oregon State NCAA Tournament Elite Eight	L 38–56	14–11 (9–3)	Kansas City, Missouri
March 19, 1949*		vs. No. 17 Wyoming NCAA Tournament Consolation Game	W 61–48	15–11 (9–3)	Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. "Arkansas 1949 AP Men's Basketball Rankings | College Poll Archive". College Poll Archive. College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
2. "HogStats.com :: 1948-49 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
3. "1948-49 Southwest Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
4. "Arkansas Fans Remember '44 Tragedy That Took Team Out of NCAA". Tulsa World. April 4, 1995. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
5. "1943-44 | College Hoopedia". collegehoopedia.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
6. "HogStats.com :: Player Information:: Kenneth Kearns". HogStats.com. HogStats.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
7. "Eugene Lambert (Former Head Coach) - Coaches Database". Coaches Database. Lakefront Digital Marketing. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
8. "1948-49 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
9. "HogStats.com :: 1948-49 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.