March 26, 1944

Men's Basketball

St. John's - 47 DePaul - 39

Sixty-five years ago today, defending champion St. John's won its second National Invitation Tournament, beating DePaul 47-39 at Madison Square Garden. A crowd of 18,374 gathered as the Redmen became the first team to win consecutive titles.

Joe Lapchick's squad were led by starting forwards Ray Wertis and Bill Kotsores. Wertis had a team-high 12 points, while Kotsores added 10.

The Redmen (18-4) led the favored Blue Demons 26-24 at halftime. The turning point came when DePaul center George Mikan fouled out with a whopping 15 minutes left in the game. With the 6-10 big man out, the boys from Brooklyn extended their 35-31 edge to a 45-35 bulge. St. John's would never look back and to make matters worse, Mikan's replacement Jack Phelan fouled out with less than seven minutes remaining.   

Despite fouling out early, Mikan finished with a game-high 13 points in the loss as Ray Meyer's team ended their season at 22-4.

Kotsores, who earlier in the tournament scored game highs against Bowling Green and Kentucky, was named the tournaments most valuable player.  

The Redmen would go on to face Utah in the Red Cross Benefit at Madison Square Garden. The charity event paired the winners of the NIT and NCAA tournaments.

St. John's-DePaul Boxscore