# 1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball team

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. 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. 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. Despite the loss, they were named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
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