1943 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1943 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 7th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] The championship game featured Southeast Missouri State University defeating Northwest Missouri State University 34 to 32. This was the first tournament to feature a championship game between two teams from the same state, Missouri, playing in Missouri. The 3rd place game featured the first overtime in the NAIA Final Four history when North Texas State University defeated Murray State College 59 to 55 in one overtime.

1943 (1943) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Southeast Missouri State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Fab Four)
Runner-Up	Northwest Missouri State (1st title game, 1st Fab Four)
Semifinalists	North Texas State Murray State (Ky.)
Chuck Taylor MVP	Belus Smawley (Appalachian State (N.C.))

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1943 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]

1943 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	-	Southeast Missouri State	50
	-	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	30
						-	Southeast Missouri State	56
						-	Westminster	33
	-	Westminster (Mo.)	48
	-	Loyola (Ill.)	45*
											-	Southeast Missouri State	57
	TOP TIER
											-	Eastern Washington State	51
	-	Eastern Washington State	54
	-	Valparaiso (Ind.)	42
						-	Eastern Washington State	54
						-	St. Cloud State	41
	-	St. Cloud State (Minn.)	59
	-	Texas Wesleyan	54
																-	Southeast Missouri State	38
																-	Murray State	36
	-	Murray State (Ky.)	72
	-	Southwest Missouri State	44
						-	Murray State	44
						-	Southwestern	42
	-	Southwestern (Kan.)	70
	-	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	36
											-	Murray State	44
	TOP TIER
											-	George Pepperdine	38
	-	George Pepperdine (Calif.)	50
	-	Kearney State (Neb.)	45
						-	George Pepperdine	43
						-	Luther	38
	-	Luther (Iowa)	31
	-	Southwestern Oklahoma State	29
																					-	Southeast Missouri State	34
																					-	Northwest Missouri State	32
	-	York (Neb.)	52
	-	Akron (Ohio)	49
						-	York	49
						-	North Texas State	51
	-	North Texas State	60
	-	Stout Institute (Wisc.)	37
											-	North Texas State	45
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Hamline	41
	-	East Central State (Okla.)	53
	-	South Dakota State	47
						-	East Central State	39
						-	Hamline	41
	-	Hamline (Minn.)	65
	-	Central College(Mo.)	38
																-	North Texas State	31
																-	Northwest Missouri State	47
	-	Kansas Wesleyan	43
	-	Lawrence Tech (Mich.)	42
						-	Kansas Wesleyan	40
						-	Appalachian State	54
	-	Appalachian State (N.C.)	48
	-	Simpson (Iowa)	31
											-	Appalachian State	34
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Northwest Missouri State	46
	-	Eastern Oregon State	45
	-	Illinois Wesleyan	40
						-	Eastern Oregon State	24
						-	Northwest Missouri State	61
	-	Northwest Missouri State	37
	-	Indiana State	28

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. This game would be the first 3rd place game to enter into overtime.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Murray State	55*
	-	North Texas State	59

•  * denotes overtime.

References

1. NAIA.org
2. NAIA Championship History archived via WebCite