1944 Team roster
Mas Tatsuno, Ray Kingston, James Nance, Fred Lewis, Wat Misaka, William Kastelic, Vadal Peterson, Fred Sheffield, Herb Wilkinson, Arnie Ferrin, Dick Smuin, Bob Lewis, Pete Couch.
Storyline
It seems odd now, but going to the 1944 NCAA Championships - and winning it all - was more a consolation prize for the Utes than the object of their dreams.
The 1943-44 Ute team won its first 13 games and finished the regular season 18-4 under coach Vadal Peterson (now deceased). It was invited to both the NCAA and the National Invitation Tournament and chose the NIT, which was then more prestigious, more profitable for participating teams and held entirely in New York's Madison Square Garden. Utah lost in the first round to Kentucky, 46-36.
While the team toured New York, it got another call from the NCAA, asking Utah to fill in for Arkansas, which couldn't play because of an automobile accident.
Utah hopped a plane to Kansas City, where it beat Missouri (45-35) and Iowa State (40-31) returned to the Garden to play Dartmouth in the NCAA title.
With the score tied 36-all at the end of regulation, tourney MVP Arnie Ferrin (later U. athletic director) scored four of his 22 points in OT. With three seconds left and the game tied at 40-40, Utah's Herb Wilkinson hit the game-winner from the top of the key.
Days later, Utah beat NIT champ St. John's 43-36 in a Red Cross benefit game, also in the Garden, to finish 21-4.
1961 Team roster
Joe Aufderheide, Bob Cozby, Bo Crain, Barry Epstein, Dick Hetherington, Neil Jenson, Billy McGill, Joe Morton, Jerry Peterson, Jim Rhead, Rich Ruffell, Ed Rowe, Jim Thomas, Mel Yergensen.
Storyline
After going 12-2 to tie for the Skyline Conference championship, breaking a 10-game win streak with a one-point loss to Colorado State and then beating the Rams, Utah entered the NCAA tourney whipping Loyola of California 91-75 and Arizona State 88-80 for coach Jack Gardner and winning the West Regional.
That put Utah in the Final Four at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, where it stayed close for nearly 10 minutes but fell behind 30-16 as Bearcat reserve forward Dale Heldotting had three straight baskets. Utah kept going to Billy "the Hill" McGill (25 points) for fade shots against a collapsing Cincy defense made strong because Utah's perimeter players couldn't score. The Utes shot 22 percent in the first half.
Utah opened the second half with a man-to-man defense that got it back within 10 points with 12 minutes left. The Bearcats, however, ran off nine straight points to go up 61-42 and win 82-67. The Bearcats went on to defeat Jerry Lucas' Ohio State team 70-65 in OT for the title.
Utah and fellow semifinal loser St. Joseph's battled four overtimes in the NCAA consolation game, St. Joe's outlasting the Utes 127-120.
1966 Team roster
Leonard Black, Jerry Chambers, Steve Cotterell, Ron Cunningham, Joe Day, George Fisher, Bill Ivey, Mervin Jackson, Gene Lake, Lundon MacKay, Jeff Ockel, Eugene Rodgers, Kent Stepan, Richard Tate.
Storyline
Utah's last NCAA Final Four appearance, at College Park, Md., saw Jerry Chambers named the tournament MVP despite an 85-78 semifinal loss to Texas Western (now UTEP) and a 79-77 consolation-game loss to Duke in University of Maryland's Cole Fieldhouse.
Chambers scored 38 against Texas Western, but coach Jack Gardner said later Chambers (14-for-31) hadn't played well, and neither had the guards. "Our guards got us this far," said Gardner, who got a technical foul, "but they didn't play well." Utah shot 41 percent from the field.
Utah completed the season 23-8.
Still called the Runnin' Redskins in 1966, Utah won the Western Athletic Conference championship with a 7-3 record and tuned up for the postseason beating archrival BYU 115-100 in the regular-season finale.
Standing 21-6 going into the NCAA West Regional, the Utes had lost some of their steam when regular George Fisher, 6-foot-7, broke a leg late in the season. Utah, however, whipped the University of the Pacific 83-74 and Oregon State 70-64 to win the West.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
At New York City
March 28, 1944
Utah 42, Dartmouth 40
UTAH Fg Ft-A Pf Tp
Dick Smuin 0 0-0 2 0
Arnie Ferrin 8 6-7 0 22
Fred Sheffield 1 0-0 1 2
Wat Misaka 2 0-0 1 4
Herb Wilkinson 3 1-4 0 7
Fred Lewis 2 3-3 2 7
TOTALS 16 10-14 6 42
DARTMOUTH Fg Ft-A Pf Tp
Harry Legat 4 0-0 1 8
Robert Gale 5 0-2 1 10
Everett Nordstrom 0 0-0 0 0
Audey Brindley 5 1-1 3 11
Franklin Murphy 0 0-0 0 0
Joseph Vancisin 2 0-0 3 4
Vincent Goering 0 0-0 0 0
Walter Mercer 0 1-1 3 1
Richard McGuire 3 0-1 3 6
TOTALS 19 2-5 14 40
Halftime: Dartmouth 18, Utah 17. Regulation: Dartmouth 36, Utah 36. Officials: Paul Menton, James Osborne. Attendance: 15,000.
NCAA SEMIFINAL
At Kansas City, Mo.
March 24, 1961
Cincinnati 82, Utah 67
UTAH Fg Ft-APf Tp
Richard Ruffell 6 2-2 4 14
Jim Rhead 2 4-6 4 8
Billy McGill 11 3-4 4 25
Joe Morton 3 1-1 4 7
Ed Rowe 1 0-0 2 2
Bo Crain 2 0-1 4 4
Joe Aufderheide 2 2-2 1 6
Robert Cozby 0 0-0 0 0
James Thomas 0 1-2 0 1
Neil Jenson 0 0-0 0 0
TOTALS 27 13-1823 67
CINCINNATI Fg Ft-APf Tp
Bob Wiesenhahn 5 4-6 4 14
Tom Thacker 1 5-6 3 7
Paul Hogue 9 0-4 4 18
Carl Bouldin 7 7-8 0 21
Dale Heldotting 3 1-1 1 7
Tony Yates 4 5-7 2 13
Tom Sizer 1 0-0 0 2
Fred Dierking 1 0-0 0 2
Mark Alteneau 0 0-0 0 0
Larry Shingleton 0 0-0 0 0
Jim Calhoun 0 0-0 0 0
TOTALS 30 22-3215 82
First half: Cincinnati 35, Utah 20. Second half: Cincinnati 47, Utah 47. Attendance: 10,700.
NCAA SEMIFINAL
At College Park, MD.
March 18, 1966
Texas Western 85, Utah 78
TEXAS WESTERN Fg Ft-A Tp
Harry Flornoy 3 2-2 8
Nevil Shed 2 5-6 9
Dave Lattin 5 1-1 11
Orsten Artis 10 2-3 22
Bobby Joe Hill 5 8-10 18
Willie Cager 2 1-1 5
Jerry Armstrong 0 0-1 0
Willie Worsley 5 2-3 12
TOTALS 32 21-27 85
UTAH Fg Ft-A Tp
Jeff Ockel 1 3-3 5
Lyndon MacKay 4 6-9 14
Jerry Chambers 14 10-12 38
Merv Jackson 3 2-2 8
Rich Tate 0 1-3 1
Leonard Black 3 2-4 8
Joseph Day 1 0-0 2
Eugene Lake 1 0-0 2
TOTALS 27 24-33 78
First half: Texas Western 42, Utah 39. Second half: Texas Western 43, Utah 39. Attendance: 14,000+.