1946 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1946 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 9th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] The championship game was won by Southern Illinois University when the Salukis defeated the Indiana State University Sycamores 49-40.

1946 (1946) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams32
ChampionsSouthern Illinois
(1st title, 1st title game,
2nd Fab Four)
Runner-UpIndiana State
(1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
SemifinalistsPepperdine
Loyola (La.)
Chuck Taylor MVPGene Stotlar
(Southern Illinois)

Central Missouri State, the original National Champions, and first back-to-back National Champions, played in their final NAIA tournament, although they remained an NAIA member for another decade, leaving in the mid 1950s to join the NCAA. The Mules appeared seven tournaments recording an overall record of 13 wins and 6 losses. The Mules won two National Championships in 1937 and 1938 and finishing in 4th place in 1942.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1945 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

  • Leading scorer est. 1963
  • Leading rebounder est. 1963
  • Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
  • Coach of the Year est. 1954
  • Player of the Year est. 1994.[2]

1946 NAIA bracket

First Round
March 11
Second Round
March 13
Elite Eight NAIA National Semifinals NAIA National Championship
               
- Loyola (La.) 76
- Hastings (Neb.) 48
- Loyola (La.) 60*
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 56
- Arizona State-Flagstaff 45
- Rockhurst (Mo.) 37
- Loyola (La.) 54
TOP TIER
- Drury 43
- Drury (Mo). 51
- Eastern Kentucky 47
- Drury 55
- Augsburg 47
- Augsburg (Minn.) 64
- Washburn 36
- Loyola (La.) 37
- Southern Illinois 53
- Southern Illinois 49
- Central Missouri State 39
- Southern Illinois 58
- Loras 55
- Loras (Iowa) 57
- Panzer (N.J.) 43
- Southern Illinois 66
TOP TIER
- Nevada 58
- West Texas State 71
- Eau Claire State (Wisc.) 47
- West Texas State 46
- Nevada 60
- Nevada 56
- Morningside (Iowa) 40
- Southern Illinois 49
- Indiana State 40
- Pepperdine (Calif.) 63
- Arkansas State Teachers 37
- Pepperdine 64
- Iowa State Teachers 22
- Iowa State Teachers 58
- Montana State 42
- Pepperdine 46
BOTTOM TIER
- Eastern Washington State 42
- Eastern Washington State 66
- Louisiana Tech 44
- Eastern Washington State 45
- Southeastern Oklahoma State 37
- Southeastern Oklahoma State 50
- Peru State (Neb.) 36
- Indiana State 56
- Pepperdine 43
- Houston (Texas) 63
- High Point (N.C.) 34
- Indiana State 62
- Houston 43
- Indiana State 62
- St. Cloud State (Minn.) 51
- Indiana State 55
BOTTOM TIER
- Dakota Wesleyan 34
- Culver–Stockton (Mo.) 55
- Wichita State(Kan.) 51
- Culver-Stockton 40
- Dakota Wesleyan 41
- Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 39
- New Mexico Mines 36
  •  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

NAIA Third Place Game
   
- Pepperdine 82
- Loyola (La.) 55

References

  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
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