1948–49 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

1948–49 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
1948–49 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
PCC Southern Division Champion
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 15
Record	22–7 (10–2 PCC)
Head coach	John R. Wooden (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Bill Putnam; Eddie Powell;
Home arena	Men's Gym
	Seasons ← 1947–48 1949–50 →

1948–49 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
North
Oregon State †	12	–	4	.750	24	–	12	.667
Washington State	8	–	8	.500	21	–	9	.700
Oregon	7	–	9	.438	12	–	18	.400
Idaho	7	–	9	.438	17	–	15	.531
Washington	6	–	10	.375	11	–	15	.423
South
No. 15 UCLA	10	–	2	.833	22	–	7	.759
USC	8	–	4	.667	14	–	10	.583
Stanford	5	–	7	.417	19	–	9	.679
California	1	–	11	.083	14	–	19	.424

† Conference playoff series winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1948–49 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. The Bruins were led by first year head coach John Wooden. They finished the regular season with a record of 22–7 and were southern division champions with a record of 10–2. They lost to the Oregon State Beavers in the conference play-offs.

Previous season

The Bruins finished the season 12–13 overall and were third in the PCC South Division with a record of 3–9. At the end of the season, head coach Wilbur Johns retired and become UCLA's athletic director. John Wooden was hired as Johns' successor in April 1948.^[1]

Roster

1948–49 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	35	Ray Alba	—	—
G	72	Art Alper	—	—
F	55	Eldon Bennett	—	—	Sr
C	53	Wayne Boulding	—	—
F	56	Guy Buccola	—	—
F	57	Chuck Clustka	—	—	Sr
C	49	Dick Irmas	—	—
F	38	Ralph Joeckel	—	—
F	76	Ernie Johnson	—	—	Jr	Berkeley, California
C	32	Carl Kraushaar	—	—	Jr
	39	Grover Luchsinger	—	—
G	78	Ron Pearson (C)	—	—	Sr
F	54	Alan Sawyer	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Long Beach, California
G	74	Don Seidel	—	—
G	75	Eddie Sheldrake	—	—
G	73	George Stanich	—	—	Jr	Sacramento, California

Head coach

John Wooden (Purdue)

Assistant coach(es)

Eddie Powell (Indiana St)
Bill Putnam (UCLA)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 30 January 2018

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 3, 1948*		Santa Barbara College	W 43–37	1–0	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
December 4, 1948*		Loyola	W 51–38	2–0	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 1948*		vs. Saint Mary's	W 61–58	3–0	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, CA
December 11, 1948*		at San Francisco	W 61–57	4–0	Kezar Pavilion San Francisco, CA
December 17, 1948*		Santa Clara	W 61–43	5–0	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 1948*		Northwestern	W 49–44	6–0	Pan-Pacific Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
December 23, 1948*		Wisconsin	L 46–49	6–1	Pan-Pacific Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
December 27, 1948		vs. Washington State Pacific Coast Conference basketball tournament	W 54–44	7–1 (1–0)	Cow Palace^[2] Daly City, CA
December 28, 1948		vs. Stanford Pacific Coast Conference basketball tournament	L 47–55	7–2 (1–1)	Cow Palace Daly City, CA
December 30, 1948		vs. Oregon State Pacific Coast Conference basketball tournament	L 58–62	7–3 (1–2)	Cow Palace Daly City, CA
January 7, 1949		at Stanford	L 52–61	7–4 (1–3)	Stanford Pavilion Stanford, CA
January 8, 1949		at California	W 63–54	8–4 (2–3)	Men's Gym Berkeley, CA
January 14, 1949		at USC	W 74–68	9–4 (3–3)	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
January 15, 1949		USC	L 52–59	9–5 (3–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
January 28, 1949*		Cal Poly	W 68–49	10–5 (4–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
January 29, 1949*		Fresno State	W 77–33	11–5	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 3, 1949*		20th Century Fox	W 73–55	12–5	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 1949*		Pittsburgh	W 51–48	13–5	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 11, 1949		California	W 49–37	14–5 (5–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 12, 1949		No. 10 Stanford	W 59–48	15–5 (6–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 18, 1949		at California	W 45–42	16–5 (7–4)	Men's Gym Berkeley, CA
February 19, 1949		at No. 20 Stanford	W 59–46	17–5 (8–4)	Stanford Pavilion Stanford, CA
February 25, 1949		Stanford	W 56–50	18–5 (9–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
February 26, 1949*		California	W 59–50	19–5 (10–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
March 4, 1949		at USC	W 51–50	20–5 (11–4)	Olympic Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
March 5, 1949		USC	W 63–55	21–5 (12–4)	Men's Gym Los Angeles, CA
Conference Championship
March 11, 1949	No. 15	at Oregon State PCC Championship play-offs	L 41–53	21–6	Men's Gymnasium Corvallis, OR
March 12, 1949	No. 15	at Oregon State PCC Championship play-offs	W 46–39	22–6	Men's Gymnasium Corvallis, OR
March 14, 1949	No. 15	at Oregon State PCC Championship play-offs	L 35–41	22–7	Men's Gymnasium Corvallis, OR
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source^[3]^[4]^[5]

Rankings

References

^ "John Wooden Signed as Bruin Cage Mentor". Los Angeles Times. April 21, 1948. ProQuest 165836983.
^ "SC, UCLA Triumph in Cage Upsets". Los Angeles Times. December 27, 1948. ProQuest 165904667.
^ "SEASON-BY-SEASON RECORDS" (PDF). UCLA Athletics.
^ "Bruin Cage Team to Play 25 Tussles". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1948. ProQuest 165884839.
^ "Bruin, Beaver Fives Tangle for Crown". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1949. ProQuest 165925772.

[1] "John Wooden Signed as Bruin Cage Mentor". Los Angeles Times. April 21, 1948. ProQuest 165836983.

[2] "SC, UCLA Triumph in Cage Upsets". Los Angeles Times. December 27, 1948. ProQuest 165904667.

[3] "SEASON-BY-SEASON RECORDS" (PDF). UCLA Athletics.

[4] "Bruin Cage Team to Play 25 Tussles". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1948. ProQuest 165884839.

[5] "Bruin, Beaver Fives Tangle for Crown". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1949. ProQuest 165925772.

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[5]

v t e UCLA Bruins men's basketball
Venues	Men's Gym (1932–1965) Pan-Pacific Auditorium (alternate; 1949–1959) Venice High School (1955–1956) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (1959–1965; 2011–2012) Honda Center (2011–2012) Pauley Pavilion (1965–present)
Rivalries	Arizona Notre Dame USC (Crosstown Cup)
Culture & lore	Blue blood status Game of the Century UCLA High Post Offense Joe Bruin
People	Head coaches Retired numbers NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics