CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY OKLAHOMA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE WasHBURN COLLEGE
Drake UNIVERSITY Sr. Louis UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWS

FROM
THE CONFERENCE NEWS BUREAU
DES MOINES, IOWA

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Chicago, Ill., 23 to 22, in the consolation. Immediately afterward they

left New York, N.Ye, by airplane and managed to reach Kansas City, Moe, for
the N.C eA»A. district playoff game with Kansas the next night. The Aggies,
representing the Valley, and Kansas, co-champion of the Big Six, played a
thrilling game before Phog Allents pupils pulled out the "rubber" decision in
an overtime period, 45 to 43. The Jayhawks went on to the national finals,
eliminating the Southern California "wonder team" in the western playoffs.

Key man on tho crack Cowboy tcam was the Indian guard, 6-foot Z2-inch
Jesse Ronick of Marictta, Okla., who won an all-conference position unani-
mously for the second consecutive yoar, Big Jesse paired with another
senior, 6-foot Howard (Danny) Doyle of Dale, Okla., to give Oklahoma A. & Me
the greatest sot of guards in the school's history. Renick led the team in
scoring while Doyle also was picked on the all-conference team.

The third Aggic to make the alleconference five was Harvey Slade, senior
forward from El Reno, Okla, rated the top floorman in the loop. The other
starting forward usually wos a junior, Gone Smelser of Oklahoma City, Okla.,
but 4 sophomore, Ls J» Eggleston, saw a great deal of action and promises to
become one of the greatest scorers Iba has ever coached. The fourth forward,
Art Johnson, also a senior, was anothcr crack shot.

Six-foot 5-inch Vern Schwertfeger, a junior college transfer from
Satanta, Kone, and a letterman, Howard Francis, junior 6-foot 4-inch player,
divided time at center. Jack Hopkins, Bud Millikan and Leroy Floyd were the
first substitutes called upon at guard.

By Winning 26 of 29 games in 1940, Iba ran. his coaching record for 18
years to 278 victories and only 61 defeats, a lifetime average of .820, an
astounding mark in a game where upsets abounde

Creighton University of Omaha, Nebs, wound up second with a record of
cight victorics and four defeatse This mark was 2 tribute to the coaching
ability of little Eddic Hickey, whose team appearcd headed for nowhere at
the start of the season but which climaxod a campaign of stcady improvement
by beating the foamed Kansas Ue Jayhawks, 35 to 33. Tho Jays lost twice in
the conference to the champion Aggies and were upset by Washburn and Ste
Louis, but beat Drake, Tulsa and Washington twice in the double round-robin.
They beat Denver and Colorado State but fell before Michigan Statc twice,
Iowa Statc, and Kansas Statc.

Asa Kelley, center, and Vinson Roach, guard, two boys who made their
sonior year.a brilliant one, led the Creighton attack, although they were
helped out considerably by a junior college transfer from Kansas, Forward
Brownie Jaquaye At the other forward wis the vetcran Marshall Kittleson,
while & sophomore star of great promisc, Gene Haldeman, filled out at guard.
Norman Engelbretson, Bob Fitzgerald, Don Floming, Gene Ziesel and Leo Scib
were leading replacements. The 1940 Croighton freshmen were rated the greatest

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