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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2022 0:16:13 GMT -6
Aces were still formidable, highly ranked in the College Division and -- oh, man how much fun it was to go to games back then! 12,756 was, according to Fluty, the fifth-largest crowd ever at the Stadium, and the most ever for a weeknight game. That's like ... WOW! The EC team did make the Regionals, losing to ... um, SIU again. 90-77 at Carbondale, crowd of more than 9,000. Things didn't look good for the Frosh this night either.   |
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Post by aceschamps6571 on Feb 7, 2022 10:56:26 GMT -6
Guess the Salukis got us back somewhat that year with a 3 game sweep after the Aces got them 3 times the year before. I say somewhat because they kind of "wasted" their tournament win in '66 with a loss to Kentucky Wesleyan in the championship game at Roberts Stadium. They had beaten Wesleyan twice during the regular season, and at the age of 10, I had already developed a "dislike" of the Purple Panthers. But KWC upset the Salukis.
After SIU won here in January, I still remember walking out of the Stadium with my family and we had to walk past the buses filled with SIU students. They were chanting loudly about being number 1, and I can remember thinking that still didn't make up for the year before. The Aces lost in OT at Carbondale in the final game of the regular season, giving us some hope for the NCAA tournament that we might be able to win there.
In 1965, Evansville and Southern Illinois had been placed in different Regionals, and they ended up playing the epic 85-82 OT game for the national championship.
But in 1966, the selection committee placed 3 of the top teams in the country, Evansville, SIU and Indiana State in the same Regional at the SIU Arena. Lamar Tech, now just known as Lamar was the other team. Lamar Tech was an unknown team to fans here but they gave the Aces all they could handle before Evansville won. Without digging too deep, I think it might have been 111-103. If that wasn't the score, it was close to it. ISU had Jerry Newsome, Butch Wade, etc. and SIU beat them in the next game, before beating the Aces the following night.
So SIU got us 3 times that year, but I would never trade them for our 3 wins of 81-80, 68-67 and 85-82 the year before. 😄
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Post by aceschamps6571 on Feb 7, 2022 11:16:40 GMT -6
After heart breaking losses to Evansville in 1965 and then Kentucky Wesleyan in 1966, Southern Illinois coach Jack Hartman wanted no part of the NCAA College Division tournament in 1967, even though he probably had the best team.
They turned down an invitation to play in the NCAA and ended up being picked to play in the NIT, which at that time was still a prestigious 16 team tournament played entirely at Madison Square Garden.
The Salukis, with Walt Frazier, won the NIT championship, the only small college team to ever win it.
Winston Salem State, with Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe, won the College Division title here.
That would have been a fun matchup to watch if those two greats and future teammates, and their teams had met up in the NCAA tournament. I think SIU may have been the better of the two, but Winston Salem was way more fun to watch.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2022 12:16:26 GMT -6
After heart breaking losses to Evansville in 1965 and then Kentucky Wesleyan in 1966, Southern Illinois coach Jack Hartman wanted no part of the NCAA College Division tournament in 1967, even though he probably had the best team. They turned down an invitation to play in the NCAA and ended up being picked to play in the NIT, which at that time was still a prestigious 16 team tournament played entirely at Madison Square Garden. The Salukis, with Walt Frazier, won the NIT championship, the only small college team to ever win it. Winston Salem State, with Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe, won the College Division title here. That would have been a fun matchup to watch if those two greats and future teammates, and their teams had met up in the NCAA tournament. I think SIU may have been the better of the two, but Winston Salem was way more fun to watch. All in all, fun times to be a fan of college basketball. I recall seeing Winston-Salem all three games in that tournament and seeing how the fans gradually grew to like their style of play, and the immortal Big House Gaines. KILL KILL KILL in the huddle and Monroe being a craftsman with the ball. SIU, I guess I respected more than KWC, for reasons I can no longer reconcile. But there were some really amazing teams in those days, to the point where the first year Alcindor was at UCLA didn't even play on the front page. Of course, I had a running feud with my brother, who was a student at Indiana State the same time I was at Evansville. I'd go up there when the Aces played and meet his buddies, and then they'd return the favor. Fun stuff, back when -- yeah, the pep band was awesome, there were only four cheerleaders, not 16 bobblehead dummies ... and the place was filled with smoke. The '66 season, the Aces lost a game at Wesleyan in early January and Pete Swanson, the C&P writer, was straightforward in saying that officiating left a lot to be desired. Knowing Pete, that was not his usual style. He was opinionated but he saw the game as holistic. You don't make your shots, don't complain when the other guy does. Evidently, that game was very physical, but KWC was sort of known for that. |
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Post by aceschamps6571 on Feb 7, 2022 13:51:41 GMT -6
You are absolutely correct about that early January game at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1966. It was on January 1, just two nights after the Aces had beaten Marquette to win the HolidayTournament.
Through a family connection then, we got first row seats- in folding chairs no less, to the right of the Aces' bench. The benches in the Sportscenter for decades were behind the baskets on each end. We could hear everything the coaches hollered, good or not so good.
At some point, there was a free throw missed by Kentucky Wesleyan right in front of us, Herb Williams got the rebound for Evansville, a Wesleyan player jumped on his back almost knocking him over, and no foul call. Aces fans about lost it. My Dad and an uncle who had gone with us, hollered some words I as a small boy would get my mouth washed out if I ever uttered those words. 😄 One of Owensboro's finest was standing right there and he definitely heard the nearby fans.
Years later when recalling this event, my Mom (who didn't drive then, as we were a one car family at the time) says she was scared to death for a few moments that she and her 10 year old son would be stuck in Owensboro, Kentucky, without a way home. That was the night being anti Kentucky Wesleyan was ingrained in a young mind. 😀
New Year's Day 2006, I called my parents in Arizona to wish them a happy New Year and reminded my Dad that it was 40 years ago to the day since that night in Owensboro. We had a good laugh at that.
Yes ATP, those were definitely some memorable years and teams in Aces history.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2022 17:56:30 GMT -6
The other fun part, likely as not, the Aces would go to DePauw or St. Joe or Valpo and get homered to beat hell, lose a game 98-83 and see a box where the home team would hit 38 out of 42 foul shots -- which was next to impossible for anybody. But you had to protect the home court and the Stadium was daunting for teams coming in, even the Big 10 schools. I think Southern was the only team that never ever buckled in the Stadium. Hell, they played more games there than anywhere else that wasn't their home court.
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