1940: The Battle of the Heartland.

Western Regional Semifinal

KANSAS CITY, March 23- Howard Engleman, a curly-headed blonde forward brought Kansas a 50 to 44 victory over Rice tonight in the first game of the Western NCAA Basketball Playoffs.

Engleman cut through the Texans' defense for 10 baskets and a single free throw. Kansas led at the half, 24 to 14.

Except for a flashy midway in the second half when they garnered 16 points in three minutes, the Owls showed little of the form that carried them to the Southwest Conference title and a record of 21 triumphs and three defeats.

The floating zone defense of the victors kept the Texans on the free throw line throughout the first half but the Rice rally got under way when Bob Kinney, lanky center, sneaked under the basket to receive long lobs for easy tip ins. He finished with 18 points.

Kinney's rebounding kept the losers in the game during the opening of the first half and, in the first six minutes, only one close in shot was manufactured and it added two points to the Texans' aggregate.

Halfway through the period, Engleman went on a one-man drive for three straight baskets to hurry the Kansans out in front 20 to 11. The losers' offense died out completely during the time and they went scoreless for a full eight minutes.

Engleman and Johnny Kline hit for Kansas immediately after the half and the Jayhawks were ahead 32 to 16 when Rice inaugurated its own offensive with Kinney doing the point making. Three minutes later the count was 36 to 32 with Kansas still ahead but Dr. F. C. Allen, the coach, waving for reserves with one arm and reaching for the ever-present water bottle with the other.

Return of Bobby Allen, his son, and Engleman to the lineup squelched the flame.

Although the Rice team was kept in midcourt by the leech-like Kansas guards, the Owls were definitely off shooting form while Engleman sank 10 of his 15 aims.

Western Regional Final

KANSAS CITY, March 25.(UP)- Howard Engleman, a basketball player who never saw a stop sign, sneaked in a basket sixteen seconds before the final gun Saturday night to give Kansas University a 43 to 42 victory over Southern California in the finals of the Western NCAA playoffs (video).

Just a few seconds earlier, Lippert popped in a goal that put the Trojans ahead, 42 to 41, and everyone of the 7,400 spectators climbed on top of the seats. Kansas will meet Indiana University, winner of a similar tourney in Indianapolis, here next Saturday night for the national collegiate title won last year by Oregon University of the Pacific Coast Conference.

Although it was Engleman, a cripple during most of the season who dropped in the winning bucket, credit for the victory goes to Richard Harp, a rustling Jayhawk guard who dominated the floor play and held Ralph Vaughn, outstanding Trojan forward, to two baskets while tossing in six himself.

Dale Sears, a bulky 200 pound pivot for Southern California, was the fair haired boy of the West Coast aggregation. He barged through the Kansas defense for eleven points in the first half. The rugged whirlwind shoved in seven more the first two minutes of the final period before the Jayhawk masterminds found a way of stopping him and turning Harp loose.

The score then was 30 for the Trojans to 24 for the ultimate winners.

Gradually the Big Six team pulled closer and Bobby Allen, son of the Kansas coach, swiped the ball and tore in for a setup that tied the score at 40 all with a minute and 10 seconds to go. He was fouled by Vaughn and shot his club into the lead, 41 to 40, as the entire hall became a bedlam.

Lippert ripped through for his tally. Kansas worked the ball down the court and the Trojans wound up with the pellet after a melee in coffin court. Allen repeated his theft and hurried down the middle of the floor, passing off to Engleman who stood in splendid isolation in the far corner.

He took leisurely aim and let go. There wasn't a seated person in the arena.

With the Californians building furiously to their 21 to 20 lead immediately after the intermission, a jittery Kansas crew missed six attempts from the free throw line in the first seven minute. Crafty substitution by Dr. F. C. Allen, and the Kansans calmed down and started out in chase.

National Championship Game

Kansas City (AP)- Jay McCreary, a gum chewing blonde midget in a forest of physical giants, poured in 12 points last night as Indiana defeated Kansas, 60 to 42, for the basketball title of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

McCreary did not start for the Hoosiers, but once he got onto the floor, he made Coach Branch McCracken regret the oversight. He collected two of his points in the first half and registered five times from the field in the final 20 minutes.

The Hoosiers, only second in the Big Ten conference but winners of the recent Eastern N.C.A.A. playoffs, replace the University of Oregon at the top of the collegiate cage heap. Kansas represented the area west of the Mississippi and is co-champion with Missouri and Oklahoma in the Big Six.

It took Indiana eight minutes to get its first goal but they learned the trick well and after that there was no stopping them. By time of the intermission Indiana was out in front, 32 to 19.

It was after the rest and when victory was apparent that they turned loose a spectacular passing attack which hypnotized the 10,000 fans and almost lulled the Kansas athletes to sleep.

Although he went out early on fouls, big Captain Marvin Huffman of Hoosierland was spectacular. When Kansas stymied the Indiana attack the first eight minutes by relentlessly pushing the Hoosiers back to the center stripe, it was Huffman who found the scoring combination by slashing down the middle of the court for layups. He connected for 12 points and after the game was awarded a trophy as the most valuable player to his team in N.C.A.A. competition.

The game was rough, 30 fouls being called and three players being ejected for personals. At one time two Kansans were prone, a Hoosier red shirt stretched across their legs as the ball bounded down the floor in splendid isolation.

Although the Kansas shot makers were definitely below par, the Indiana victory was deserved as they slashed up and down the field with a crafty passing attack that carried them through and around a Kansas defense that was rated the best in the midlands.

Once Paul (Curly) Armstrong reached down to his shoe tops to snare a pass. A quick twirl and he was goal high with the ball trickling through the nets for two more points.

For the Jayhawks, who finished second in the nation with a team pre-season experts said couldn't gain a first division berth in its own Big Six conference, it was Hobert Allen and Howard Engleman who stood out.

Allen surpassed McCreary's scoring achievement with 12 and Engleman equaled it with 12. Allen, however, was slammed to the floor in the second period and was removed. He returned later and resumed his scoring although he appeared groggy the remaining distance.

Last night's victory was the climax to a brilliant two-year coaching reign at Indiana for Branch McCracken, who only 10 years ago carried the same school's colors to All-America fame. At the Bloomington institution his quintets have never lost a non-conference game and have finished second both times in conference play.