1947–48 Baylor Bears basketball team

1947–48 Baylor Bears men's basketball
1947–48 Baylor Bears men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up; Southwest Conference champions
National Championship Game, ; L 42-58 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	24–8 (11–1 SWC)
Head coach	Bill Henderson (5th season);
Home arena	Marrs McLean Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1946–47 1948–49 →

1947–48 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Baylor	11	–	1	.917	24	–	8	.750
Texas	9	–	3	.750	20	–	5	.800
Arkansas	8	–	4	.667	16	–	8	.667
Rice	6	–	6	.500	10	–	14	.417
SMU	5	–	7	.417	13	–	10	.565
Texas A&M	2	–	10	.167	7	–	17	.292
TCU	1	–	11	.083	3	–	20	.130

The 1947–48 Baylor Bears men's basketball team represented the Baylor University as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1947–48 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by 5th-year head coach Bill Henderson, the team played their home games at Marrs McLean Gymnasium in Waco, Texas.

This season marked the first Final Four appearance in program history for the Bears. Baylor would return again in 1950, but then waited another 71 years before winning the national championship in 2021.

Roster

1947–48 Baylor Bears men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G		Red Owens	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Houston, Texas
F	14	Bill DeWitt	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So
C		Don Heathington	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So

Head coach

Bill Henderson

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 8, 1947*	North Texas	W 51–43	1–0	Marrs McLean Gymnasium Waco, Texas
Dec 9, 1947*	North Texas	W 64–53	2–0	Marrs McLean Gymnasium Waco, Texas
Dec 12, 1947*	at Wichita	W 52–43	3–0	Wichita, Kansas
Dec 13, 1947*	at Saint Louis	L 38–65	3–1	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 18, 1947*	at Arizona	L 54–62	3–2	Tucson, Arizona
Dec 19, 1947*	at UCLA	W 45–42	4–2	Men's Gym Los Angeles, California
Dec 29, 1947*	vs. Wyoming All-College Basketball Classic	W 36–29	7–3	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 30, 1947*	vs. Oklahoma A&M All-College Basketball Classic	L 21–22	7–4	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 31, 1947*	vs. Alabama All-College Basketball Classic	W 29–24	8–4	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Southwest Conference regular season
Jan 10, 1948	at SMU	W 43–42	9–4 (1–0)	Perkins Gymnasium Dallas, Texas
Jan 13, 1948	Texas A&M	W 57–41	10–4 (2–0)	Marrs McLean Gymnasium Waco, Texas
Feb 17, 1948	SMU	W 51–49	18–4 (10–0)	Marrs McLean Gymnasium Waco, Texas
Feb 25, 1948	at Texas	L 28–32	18–5 (10–1)	Gregory Gymnasium Austin, Texas
Feb 28, 1948	TCU	W 61–47	19–5 (11–1)	Marrs McLean Gymnasium Waco, Texas
NCAA Division Six Playoffs
Mar 12, 1948*	vs. Arizona	W 65–59	20–5	Dallas, Texas
Mar 13, 1948*	vs. Arizona	W 64–54	21–5	Dallas, Texas
NCAA tournament
Mar 19, 1948*	vs. Washington Regional Semifinal – Elite Eight	W 64–62	22–5	Municipal Auditorium (9,700) Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 20, 1948*	vs. Kansas State Regional Final/National semifinal – Final Four	W 60–52	23–5	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 23, 1948*	vs. Kentucky National championship game	L 42–58	23–6	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Olympic Basketball Trials
Mar 27, 1948*	at NYU	W 59–57	24–6	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 30, 1948*	vs. Kentucky	L 59–77	24–7	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 31, 1948*	vs. Denver Nuggets	L 64–73	24–8	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[1]^[2]

References

^ "1949–50 Baylor Bears Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
^ "2022-23 Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Baylor University Athletics. p. 93. Retrieved August 20, 2023.

[1] "1949–50 Baylor Bears Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.

[2] "2022-23 Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Baylor University Athletics. p. 93. Retrieved August 20, 2023.

[1]

[2]

v t e Baylor Bears men's basketball
Venues	Marrs McLean Gymnasium (1938–1953) Heart O' Texas Fair Coliseum (1953–1988) Ferrell Center (1988–2024) Foster Pavilion (2024–present)
Culture & lore	"Old Fight" Baylor basketball scandal Murder of Patrick Dennehy
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
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics