# 1949–50 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team

The 1949–50 William & Mary Indians men's basketball team represented the College of William & Mary in intercollegiate basketball during the 1949–50 NCAA men's basketball season. Under the third year of head coach Barney Wilson, the team finished the season 23–9 and 12–4 in the Southern Conference. This was the 45th season of the collegiate basketball program at William & Mary, whose nickname is now the Tribe. William & Mary played its home games at Blow Gymnasium.
The Indians finished in a tie for 2nd place in the conference and qualified as the #2 seed for the 1950 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament, hosted by Duke University at the Duke Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, where the Indians defeated North Carolina in the quarterfinals before losing against Duke in the semifinals.
For the second straight year, William & Mary was invited to participate in the 1950 Cincinnati Invitational Tournament, where the Indians lost their first game against Cincinnati but defeated Morris Harvey in their second.

## Program notes

* The Indians won their first ever game against a ranked opponent (and first against an AP Top 10 team) when they defeated #8 NC State on February 7, 1950, at Blow Gymnasium.
* Senior center Chet Giermak was named to the first team All-Southern Conference for the second straight year. Furthermore, Giermak ended the season with the school record for career points at 2,052 (a record that was not surpassed until 2015, broken by Marcus Thornton). He was also named a second team All-American by Collier's Magazine. Following the season, Giermak was drafted by the Rochester Royals of the NBA. William & Mary would eventually retire his number (#32) and honor him with a banner in William & Mary Hall.
* This was the second of three consecutive 20-win seasons for William & Mary, all under head coach Barney Wilson, the only such streak in program history.
* The Indians played eight teams for the first time this season: Colby, Pensacola, John Carroll, Akron, Bowling Green, Siena, Cincinnati, and Morris Harvey/Charleston (WV).

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 12/6/1949* | at Colby | W 69–53 | 1–0 | Waterville, ME |
| * | Pensacola | W 72–52 | 2–0 | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| 12/10/1949* | Quantico Marines | W 72–51 | 3–0 | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| * | Randolph–Macon | W 73–46 | 4–0 | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| 12/16/1949* | at John Carroll | L 54–64 | 4–1 | University Heights, OH |
| * | at Akron | W 53–49 | 5–1 | Akron Armory Akron, OH |
| * | at Bowling Green | L 58–74 | 5–2 | Bowling Green, OH |
| 12/30/1949* | at Seton Hall | W 65–47 | 6–2 | Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ |
| * | at Siena | L 50–57 | 6–3 | Loudonville, NY |
| | at Wake Forest | W 48–34 | 7–3 (1–0) | Gore Gymnasium Wake Forest, NC |
| | Washington and Lee | W 80–56 | 8–3 (2–0) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| 1/10/1950 | at Maryland | W 56–52 | 9–3 (3–0) | Ritchie Coliseum College Park, MD |
| 1/12/1950 | at No. 9 NC State | L 58–72 | 9–4 (3–1) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| | Wake Forest | L 49–61 | 9–5 (3–2) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | at VMI | W 68–43 | 10–5 (4–2) | Cormack Field House Lexington, VA |
| * | Hampden–Sydney | W 70–67 $^{OT}$ | 11–5 | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| 1/21/1950* | Maryland | W 64–56 | 12–5 (5–2) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | George Washington | W 58–50 | 13–5 (6–2) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| 2/4/1950 | at Richmond | W 50–47 | 14–5 (7–2) | Blues Armory Richmond, VA |
| 2/7/1950 | No. 8 NC State | W 54–50 | 15–5 (8–2) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | VPI | W 64–50 | 16–5 (9–2) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | North Carolina | L 48–52 | 16–6 (9–3) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | at Washington and Lee | W 70–57 | 17–6 (10–3) | Doremus Gymnasium Lexington, VA |
| | VMI | W 74–57 | 18–6 (11–3) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| | at VPI | L 52–54 | 18–7 (11–4) | War Memorial Gymnasium Blacksburg, VA |
| 2/21/1950* | at Roanoke | W 53–50 | 19–7 | Roanoke, VA |
| 2/25/1950 | Richmond | W 81–54 | 20–7 (12–4) | Blow Gymnasium Williamsburg, VA |
| * | Virginia | W 76–58 | 21–7 | Norfolk City Auditorium Norfolk, VA |
| 1950 Southern Conference Tournament ||||||
| 3/1/1950 | vs. (5) North Carolina Quarterfinals | W 50–43 | 22–7 | Duke Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| 3/2/1950 | vs. (8) Duke Semifinals | L 50–60 | 22–8 | Duke Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| 1950 Cincinnati Invitational Tournament ||||||
| 3/13/1950 | vs. Cincinnati | L 44–80 | 22–9 | Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH |
| | vs. Morris Harvey | W 68–59 | 23–9 | Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||
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