Iowa History Daily: On February 11, 1944, Iowa State beat Kansas State to move to 6-0 in Big 6 play. The Cyclones went on to capture a conference championship and eventually made the school’s only appearance in the NCAA Final Four to date.
Under the direction of sixteenth year head coach Louis Menze, the squad featured ten players. Eight of the ten Cyclone players doubled as service members enrolled in the school’s naval training program providing engineers for the military during World War II. Price Brookfield paced Iowa State throughout the season, sporting an 11.6 point-per-game average for the season.
When the Wildcats came to Ames in February, the Iowa State attack proved ready and a 47-20 win took place. Stifling defense from the Cyclones held Kansas State to only five field goals for the entire game. Holstein, Iowa’s Ray Wehde led the Cyclone scoring with 19 to nearly match the Wildcat point total.
Late in the season, the Cyclones almost didn’t wind up playing in the NCAA tournament due to a military rule stating players couldn’t leave Ames for more than 48-hours at a time. However, an exception allowed Iowa State to head to the tournament. The Cyclones went on to beat Pepperdine to secure the program’s only Final Four birth to date. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
