1939-1940 Seton Hall Unbeaten Season 19-0
Quickly dubbed the Wonder Five by the media the Seton Hall Pirates finished the season at 19-0
Seton Hall 1939-1940 coached by Honey Russell did not play in either the NIT or NCAA postseason tournaments.
Seton Hall Archives presented by basketballhistorian.com
1939-1940 Seton Hall Statistics:
Points per game or ppg
Seniors: Ed Sadowski center 12.2 ppg in 9 games, Frank Delany guard/forward 3.8 ppg in 19 games, Bernie Coyle g/f 3.7 ppg in 18 games
Juniors: Nick Parpan g/f 3.4 ppg in 14 games
Sophomore: Bob Davies forward 11.8 ppg in 18 games, Bob Fischer forward 4.9 ppg in 18 games, John Ruthenberg g/c 4.7 Ppg in 19 games, Bob Holm guard 4.2 ppg in 17 games, Ken Pine center 3.2 ppg in 16 games, Ray Studwell f/g 1.2 ppg in 18 games
Note: Senior center Ed Sadowski broke a kneecap and missed half of the season.
Games Recap:
Nick Parpan led Seton Hall in the 1939 season opener with 12 points helping the Pirates defeat Alumni 45-29.
Seton Hall’s high point scorers for rest of season as follows
Game 2 Ed Sadowski scored 13 points… Game 3 Bob Davies scored 9 points… Game 4 Bob Davies and Ed Sadowski each had 13
Game 5 Ed Sadowski had 17 points… Game 6 Ed Sadowski had 17 points… Game 7 Ed Sadowski had 14 points
Game 8 Ed Sadowski had 15 points… Game 9 Ed Sadowski had 13 points… Game 10 Bernie Coyle had 13 points
Game 11 Bob Fischer had 13 points… Game 12 Bob Davies and John Ruthenberg each had 8 points… Game 13 Bob Davies had 17 points
Game 14 Bob Davies had 19 points… Game 15 Bob Davies had 15 points… Game 16 Bob Davies had 17 points
Game 17 Ryan had 13 points… Game 18 Frank Delany had 16 points… Game 19 Bob Davies had 16 points
Wisconsin defense plays role in 34-30 win, John Kotz voted Most Outstanding Player.
Newspaper Clipping from basketballhistorian.com archives
Kansas City MO – A quick defense blanketed the Washington State Cougars and its much heralded offense, leading to a 1941 NCAA championship victory by the Wisconsin Badgers.
Forward John Kotz and center Gene Englund played a splendid basketball game and the two stopped the usually high scoring Washington State center Paul Lindeman from reaching his previous tournament scoring totals. Paul Lindeman, a huge man, 6 foot 7 inches 230 lbs, was limited to three points by Wisconsin after averaging 20 points in the Cougars first two games. Lindeman scored 26 of Washington State’s points in a 48-39 decision over Creighton in the opening round of the 1941 NCAA Tournament. Washington State was led by Gebert, who scored a game high 21 points,
Gene Euglund led Wisconsin with 13 points and John Kotz scored 12, Charlie Eppperson had 4 Fred Rehm 4, Don Timmerman 2, Ted Strain 2, Bob Alwin 2, and starting guard Ed Scheiwe (Ed Schrage) none.
John Kotz, of Rhinelander Wisconsin, was selected as the 1941 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Coach Bud Foster who guided Wisconsin(20-3) to a 11-1 Big Ten record was voted the Coach of the Year
1941 NCAA Championship Game Stats
Wisconsin 38 points
Charlie Epperson 2 FG, 3 PF, 4 pts, Schrage 1 PF, 0 pts, John Kotz 5 FG, 2-3 FT, 2 PF 12 pts, Gene Englund 5 FG, 3-4 FT, 2 PF, 13 pts, Don Timmerman 1 FG, 1 PF, 2 pts.
Fred Rhem 2 FG, 0-1 FT, 2 PF 4 pts, Ted Strain 2-2 FT, 1 PF 2 pts, Bob Alwin 1 FG, 2 pts.
Washington State 34
Gentry 0 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 PF, 1 pts, Gilberg 1 FG, 0-2 FT, 2 pts, Butts 1 FG, 1-1 FT, 1 PF, 3 pts, Paul Lindeman 0 FG, 3-4 FT, 1 PF, 3 pts, Gebert 10 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 PF, 21 pts
Zimmerman 0 pts, Hunt 0 pts, Sundquist 2 FG, 0-1 FT, 3 PF, 4 pts, Hooper 0 pts,
Half Time Score Wisconsin 21-17 over Washington St
Note: Sorry no first names were given for most of the Washington State Players. Basketball Historian
Sam Mele set a sports record which probably will never be broken
Sam Mele was a star baseketball player for New York University during the early 1940s, a major league baseball outfielder from 1947-1956 and glater a manager of the Minnesota Twins.
Sam Mele's record:
He is the only person to lead his college team in scoring in a NCAA Tournament (18 points in 1943 for NYU), and lead the American League in doubles with 36 in 1951 with the WAshington Senators... and manage an American League team to a pennant - 1965 with the Minnesota Twins.
For more baseball fun facts check out www.baseballhistorian.com
