1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball team

The 1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 1939–40 NCAA men's basketball season in the United States. Their head coach was Sam Barry, coaching in his 11th season with the Trojans. The Trojans played their home games in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California as members of the South division of the Pacific Coast Conference. The team finished the season 20–3, 10–2 in PCC play to win the South division. They swept North division champion Oregon State in the best of three series to win the PCC championship. USC was invited to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Colorado before losing to Kansas in the Final Four. Despite the loss, they were named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation.

1939–40 USC Trojans men's basketball
Helms Foundation National Champions PCC Champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Division	South
Record	20–3 (10–2 PCC)
Head coach	Sam Barry (11th season)
MVP	Tom McGarvin
Captain	None
Home arena	Shrine Auditorium

1939–40 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North
Oregon State	12	–	4		.750			27	–	11		.711
Oregon	10	–	6		.625			19	–	12		.613
Washington State	9	–	7		.563			23	–	10		.697
Washington	6	–	10		.375			10	–	15		.400
Idaho	3	–	13		.188			11	–	15		.423
South
USC †	10	–	2		.833			20	–	3		.870
Stanford	6	–	6		.500			14	–	9		.609
California	5	–	7		.417			15	–	17		.469
UCLA	3	–	9		.250			8	–	17		.320
† Conference playoff series winner

Forward Ralph Vaughn was named an All-American at the end of the season.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 18, 1939*		at DePaul	W 44–42 OT	1–0	Chicago, IL
Dec 20, 1939*		at Purdue	W 38–34	2–0	Lambert Fieldhouse  West Lafayette, IN
Dec 22, 1939*		at Notre Dame	W 55–38	3–0	ND Fieldhouse  South Bend, IN
Dec 26, 1939*		at Long Island	W 57–49	4–0	Brooklyn, NY
Dec 27, 1939*		at Temple	W 46–30	5–0	Convention Hall  Philadelphia, PA
Jan 5, 1940*		Loyola Marymount	W 43–33	6–0	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Jan 6, 1940*		Saint Mary's	W 59–23	7–0	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
PCC regular season
Jan 12, 1940		California	W 49–36	8–0 (1–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Jan 13, 1940		California	W 56–49	9–0 (2–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Jan 19, 1940		UCLA Rivalry	W 50–32	10–0 (3–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Jan 26, 1940		Stanford	W 51–48	11–0 (4–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Jan 27, 1940		Stanford	W 53–36	12–0 (5–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Feb 9, 1940		UCLA Rivalry	W 60–26	13–0 (6–0)	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Feb 16, 1940		at California	L 30–38	13–1 (6–1)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, CA
Feb 17, 1940		at California	W 49–33	14–1 (7–1)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, CA
Feb 23, 1940		at Stanford	L 45–46	14–2 (7–2)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
Feb 24, 1940		at Stanford	W 39–32	15–2 (8–2)	Stanford Pavilion  Stanford, CA
Mar 1, 1940		at UCLA Rivalry	W 32–26	16–2 (9–2)	Men's Gym  Los Angeles, CA
Mar 2, 1940		at UCLA Rivalry	W 47–35	17–2 (10–2)	Men's Gym  Los Angeles, CA
PCC Divisional playoff
Mar 8, 1940*		Oregon State Game 1	W 54–41	18–2	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
Mar 9, 1940*		Oregon State Game 2	W 62–25	19–2	Shrine Auditorium  Los Angeles, CA
NCAA tournament
Mar 22, 1940*		vs. Colorado NCAA Quarterfinals	W 38–32	20–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
Mar 23, 1940*		vs. Kansas NCAA Semifinals	L 42–43	20–3	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source