1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball

Helms Foundation National Champions PCC Champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Division	South
Record	20–3 (10–2 PCC)
Head coach	Sam Barry (11th season)
MVP	Tom McGarvin
Captain	None
Home arena	Shrine Auditorium
Seasons ← 1938–39 1940–41 →

1939–40 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
North
Oregon State	12	–	4	.750	27	–	11	.711
Oregon	10	–	6	.625	19	–	12	.613
Washington State	9	–	7	.563	23	–	10	.697
Washington	6	–	10	.375	10	–	15	.400
Idaho	3	–	13	.188	11	–	15	.423
South
USC †	10	–	2	.833	20	–	3	.870
Stanford	6	–	6	.500	14	–	9	.609
California	5	–	7	.417	15	–	17	.469
UCLA	3	–	9	.250	8	–	17	.320

† Conference playoff series winner As of 1940^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 1939–40 NCAA men's basketball season in the United States. Their head coach was Sam Barry, coaching in his 11th season with the Trojans.^[2] The Trojans played their home games in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California as members of the South division of the Pacific Coast Conference. The team finished the season 20–3, 10–2 in PCC play to win the South division.^[3] They swept North division champion Oregon State in the best of three series to win the PCC championship. USC was invited to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Colorado before losing to Kansas in the Final Four.^[4] Despite the loss, they were named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation.^[5]

Forward Ralph Vaughn was named an All-American at the end of the season.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 18, 1939*	at DePaul	W 44–42 ^OT	1–0	Chicago, IL
Dec 20, 1939*	at Purdue	W 38–34	2–0	Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN
Dec 22, 1939*	at Notre Dame	W 55–38	3–0	ND Fieldhouse South Bend, IN
Dec 26, 1939*	at Long Island	W 57–49	4–0	Brooklyn, NY
Dec 27, 1939*	at Temple	W 46–30	5–0	Convention Hall Philadelphia, PA
Jan 5, 1940*	Loyola Marymount	W 43–33	6–0	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Jan 6, 1940*	Saint Mary's	W 59–23	7–0	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
PCC regular season
Jan 12, 1940	California	W 49–36	8–0 (1–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Jan 13, 1940	California	W 56–49	9–0 (2–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Jan 19, 1940	UCLA Rivalry	W 50–32	10–0 (3–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Jan 26, 1940	Stanford	W 51–48	11–0 (4–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Jan 27, 1940	Stanford	W 53–36	12–0 (5–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Feb 9, 1940	UCLA Rivalry	W 60–26	13–0 (6–0)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Feb 16, 1940	at California	L 30–38	13–1 (6–1)	Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA
Feb 17, 1940	at California	W 49–33	14–1 (7–1)	Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA
Feb 23, 1940	at Stanford	L 45–46	14–2 (7–2)	Stanford Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 24, 1940	at Stanford	W 39–32	15–2 (8–2)	Stanford Pavilion Stanford, CA
Mar 1, 1940	at UCLA Rivalry	W 32–26	16–2 (9–2)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
Mar 2, 1940	at UCLA Rivalry	W 47–35	17–2 (10–2)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
PCC Divisional playoff
Mar 8, 1940*	Oregon State Game 1	W 54–41	18–2	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Mar 9, 1940*	Oregon State Game 2	W 62–25	19–2	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
NCAA tournament
Mar 22, 1940*	vs. Colorado NCAA Quarterfinals	W 38–32	20–2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
Mar 23, 1940*	vs. Kansas NCAA Semifinals	L 42–43	20–3	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source^[6]

References

^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
^ "USC Trojans season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
^ "History" (PDF). 2013–14 USC Trojans Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Southern California. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
^ "1939-40 Pacific Coast Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
^ "NCAA Division I Men's Basketball – NCAA Division I Champions". Rauzulu's Street. 2004. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
^ "Game-by-game records" (PDF). 2013–14 USC Trojans Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Southern California. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.

v t e USC Trojans men's basketball
Venues	Shrine Auditorium (1926–1949) Pan-Pacific Auditorium (1949–1959) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (1959–2006) Galen Center (2006–present)
Rivalries	UCLA (Crosstown Cup)
Culture & lore	George Tirebiter "Fight On" Traveler Athletics scandal 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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
Helms national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics