1919–20 Chicago Maroons men's basketball team

At the end of the regular season, Chicago sat at the top of the Big Ten and was considered the champion of the Western Intercollegiate Conference. Simultaneously the Penn Quakers had won the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference. To decide the 1920 national collegiate basketball championship a series of three games was arranged between the two champions. On March 22, 1920, the first game was played before a crowd of 3,600 fans in Bartlett Gymnasium. The champions of the east would fall behind the Maroons at the half by a score of 17–6; however, the final score of the game would be much tighter at 28–24. In the game both Vollmer and Birkhoff each scored 12 points, while Curtiss and Halladay each added a basket.

The second game was played at the University of Pennsylvania's gymnasium which was also the YMCA. The Maroons were not equipped to play in a facility such as this and struggled to a 10–10 halftime score. But, in the end, the champions of the west would succumb to the Quakers and be defeated by a final score of 29–18. In the game both Hinkle and Halladay would foul out as the Maroons would be the recipients of 20 fouls, allowing the Quakers to have multiple free throw opportunities.

The final game was played on the campus of Princeton University within the University Gymnasium. Back on a familiar setting and playing on a semi-neutral court, the Maroons played a very close game. In the end, the Quakers would come out on top by a score of 23–21 and win the Intercollegiate National Championship.[2]