1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team
1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball | |
|---|---|
Missouri Valley Conference champions | |
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Finalist | |
| Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 1 |
| 1978–79 record | 33–1 (16–0 MVC) |
| Head coach | Bill Hodges |
| Home arena | Hulman Center |
The 1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team is considered the greatest in the school's history. The Sycamores were undefeated in the regular season and were led by Larry Bird. He led an undefeated team to the national title game versus a Magic Johnson-led Michigan State Spartans team, and ended the season as National Runner-Up with a record of 33–1. To date, the 1978-79 Sycamores are the only team to advance this far in their first-ever NCAA appearance.
Contents
1 Season summary
2 Offseason
2.1 Exhibition vs. Soviet National Team
3 Regular season
4 Roster
5 NCAA basketball tournament
6 Schedule and results
7 Awards and honors
8 References
Season summary
In 1979, the NCAA tournament championship game was the most-watched game in the history of the sport, in no small part because of Indiana State star Larry Bird. Bird wasn’t a one-man show, but the unheralded Sycamores rode him to a 33-0 record heading into the title game. The well-rounded Bird averaged 29 points, 14.8 rebounds, and, most significantly, six assists as he changed the way the game was played.
Offseason
Head coach Bob King suffered a stroke and was unable to continue as head coach of the Sycamores. Assistant Bill Hodges was elevated to the position of head coach.
Exhibition vs. Soviet National Team
On November 20, the touring Soviet National team came to Hulman Center to play Indiana State. ISU defeated the Soviets, 83–79, to become one of only four college teams to beat them that season.[1]
Regular season
During the 1978–79 season, Indiana State qualified for the NCAA Tournament. ISU finished the regular season 29–0, 16–0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and earned the top ranking in the country.[1]
The only time that the perfect regular season was in jeopardy was on Feb. 1. The Sycamores were 18–0 against New Mexico State. With three seconds remaining, the Sycamores were down 83–81. New Mexico State was at the free throw line and the shot was missed. The missed shot was rebounded by Brad Miley and passed to Bob Heaton. Heaton launched a 50-foot desperation shot which banked through the net to send the game into overtime.[1]
Bird received several honors at the end of regular season. He won the USBWA College Player of the Year, Naismith[2] and Wooden Awards,[3] given to the year's top male college basketball player.
Roster
The Sycamores were led by Bird, the NCAA Player of the Year, and his 28.6 scoring average. He was followed by Carl Nicks’ 19.3 average. The starting lineup also included Miley, Alex Gilbert and Steve Reed. Heaton and Leroy Staley were key reserves. The remainder of the roster consisted of Tom Crowder, Eric Curry, Rod McNelly, Rich Nemcek, Bob Ritter and Scott Turner.
| No. | Name | Position | Ht. | Year | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Bob Ritter | G | 6–3 | Jr. | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| 10 | Scott Turner | F | 6–6 | Fr. | Bedford, Indiana |
| 15 | Rod McNelly | G | 6–2 | Fr. | Speedway, Indiana |
| 20 | Rich Nemcek | G | 6–6 | Jr. | Hammond, Indiana |
| 22 | Carl Nicks | G | 6–1 | Jr. | Chicago, Illinois |
| 23 | Steve Reed | G | 6–3 | So. | Warsaw, Indiana |
| 24 | Tom Crowder | F | 6–5 | Sr. | Cayuga, Indiana |
| 30 | Bob Heaton | F | 6–5 | Jr. | Clay City, Indiana |
| 32 | Eric Curry | C | 6–9 | Jr. | Chicago, Illinois |
| 33 | Larry Bird | C | 6–9 | Sr. | French Lick, Indiana |
| 40 | Brad Miley | F | 6–8 | Jr. | Rushville, Indiana |
| 42 | Alex Gilbert | F | 6–8 | Jr. | East St Louis, Illinois |
| 44 | Leroy Staley | F | 6–5 | Sr. | Tampa, Florida |
NCAA basketball tournament
The top seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional was awarded to the Sycamores. The final game of the regional tournament was against Arkansas with a berth in the Final Four on the line. With the game tied at 71, the right-handed Heaton was the hero again with a last second left-handed shot in the lane to win the game.[1] They advanced to the championship game and faced Michigan State University, which was led by sophomore Magic Johnson. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever,[4] Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
- West
- Indiana State (#1 seed) 86, Virginia Tech (#8 seed) 69
- Indiana State 93, Oklahoma (#5 seed) 72
- Indiana State 73, Arkansas (#2 seed) 71
[5]
- Final Four
- Indiana State 76, DePaul 74
- Michigan State 75, Indiana State 64
[5]
Schedule and results
| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | |||||||||||
11/25/1978* | Lawrence College | W 99-56 | 1-0 | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | |||||||
11/27/1978* | at Purdue | W 63-53 | 2-0 | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana | |||||||
12/2/1978* | at Evansville | W 74-70 | 3-0 | Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana | |||||||
12/4/1978* | Illinois State | W 78-76 | 4-0 | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | |||||||
12/8/1978* | vs. East Carolina Hatter Classic | W 102-79 | 5-0 | Edmunds Center Deland, Florida | |||||||
12/9/1978* | vs. Cleveland State Hatter Classic | W 102-71 | 6-0 | Edmunds Center Deland, Florida | |||||||
12/12/1978* | No. 20 | at Ball State | W 93-85 | 7-0 | Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana | ||||||
12/16/1978* | No. 20 | Butler | W 109-71 | 8-0 | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
12/30/1978* | No. 11 | Morris Harvey | W 99-63 | 9-0 | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/3/1979 | No. 11 | Tulsa | W 101-89 | 10-0 (1-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/6/1979 | No. 11 | West Texas State | W 98-77 | 11-0 (2-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/9/1979* | No. 9 | North Carolina A&T | W 83-64 | 12-0 (2-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/13/1979 | No. 9 | Bradley | W 93-74 | 13-0 (3-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/15/1979 | No. 9 | New Mexico State | W 73-69 | 14-0 (4-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/18/1979 | No. 5 | at Wichita State | W 94-84 | 15-0 (5-0) | Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas | ||||||
1/20/1979 | No. 5 | at Creighton | W 90-80 | 16-0 (6-0) | Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska | ||||||
1/22/1979 | No. 5 | Southern Illinois | W 88-79 | 17-0 (7-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1/27/1979 | No. 3 | Creighton | W 77-69 | 18-0 (8-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
2/1/1979 | No. 2 | at New Mexico State | W 91-89 OT | 19-0 (9-0) | Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico | ||||||
2/3/1979 | No. 2 | at Tulsa | W 66-56 | 20-0 (10-0) | Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma | ||||||
2/6/1979 | No. 2 | Drake | W 100-79 | 21-0 (11-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
2/10/1979 | No. 2 | at Bradley | W 91-72 | 22-0 (12-0) | Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois | ||||||
2/12/1979 | No. 2 | West Texas State | W 100-75 | 23-0 (13-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
2/15/1979 | No. 1 | at Southern Illinois | W 69-68 | 24-0 (14-0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois | ||||||
2/20/1979 | No. 1 | at Drake | W 76-68 | 25-0 (15-0) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa | ||||||
2/24/1979 | No. 1 | Wichita State | W 109-84 | 26-0 (16-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1979 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | |||||||||||
2/27/1979 | No. 1 | West Texas State MVC Tournament | W 94-84 | 27-0 (16-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
3/1/1979 | No. 1 | Southern Illinois MVC Tournament | W 79-72 | 28-0 (16-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
3/3/1979 | No. 1 | New Mexico State MVC Tournament | W 74-69 | 29-0 (16-0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana | ||||||
1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament | |||||||||||
3/11/1979* | No. 1 | vs. Virginia Tech(8) NCAA Second Round | W 86-69 | 30-0 (16-0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas | ||||||
3/15/1979* | No. 1 | vs. No. 16 Oklahoma(5) NCAA Regional Semifinal | W 93-72 | 31-0 (16-0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas | ||||||
3/17/1979* | No. 1 | vs. No. 5 Arkansas(2) NCAA Regional Final | W 73-71 | 32-0 (16-0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio | ||||||
3/24/1979* | No. 1 | vs. No. 6 DePaul(2) NCAA Final Four | W 76-74 | 33-0 (16-0) | Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah | ||||||
3/26/1979* | No. 1 | vs. No. 3 Michigan State(2) NCAA National Championship | L 64-75 | 33-1 (16-0) | Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. | |||||||||||
Awards and honors
- Larry Bird, Consensus All-American teams
- Larry Bird, All-Missouri Valley Conference
Larry Bird – AP, UPI, USBWA, The Sporting News, Basketball Weekly All-American selections- Larry Bird, Missouri Valley Conference Most Valuable Player
Larry Bird – 1979 Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Award, John R. Wooden Award, Adolph Rupp Trophy, Eastman Award- Bill Hodges, NCAA Coach of the Year[1]
References
^ abcde http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/wildcard_1/wildcard_01/in_isu_1978_79_Dream_Season_Recap_20090306
^ http://www.naismithawards.com/History/tabid/55/Default.aspx
^ http://woodenaward.cstv.com/ot/award-winners.html
^ Katz, Andy. "From coast to coast, a magical pair". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-05-06..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ ab http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1979
