The Bells Must Ring - A Rutgers Basketball History Blog: December 2018

Friday, December 28, 2018

Rutgers 79 - VMI 72

Home News - December 30, 1968

Home News - January 5, 1969

Home News - January 7, 1969

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Colorado State 67 - Rutgers 66

Fifty years ago playing in a Christmas tournament was the norm in college basketball. While there were large scale events like the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden and the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, the more typical format was a four team tournament hosted by one school. During the Bill Foster era, Rutgers teams never fared too well in these events and it wasn't until the beginning of Tom Young's long tenure that the Scarlet Knights won a Christmas tournament. The 1969 team played in the Utah Classic, held in Salt Lake City and hosted by the University of Utah. While Rutgers basketball wasn't well known in the West, the state of Utah was all too familiar with the Scarlet Knights after Utah State fell to Rutgers in the first round of the 1967 NIT.

That history probably at least partially explains why Utah didn't choose Rutgers as its first round opponent instead pitting the Scarlet Knights against Colorado State. The game has to have been one of the most frustrating losses in Rutgers basketball history as Cliff Sheggog of Colorado State hit a thirty-foot buzzer beater to win the game by one point. As it turned out there was no shame in losing to CSU as they went on to win two games in the NCAA tournament falling in the Midwest Regional Final to Drake. Drake went on to lose to perennial national champion UCLA by three points and then defeated North Carolina by 20 points in the consolation game. With the loss, Rutgers would face VMI in the Utah Classic consolation game.

Home News - December 28, 1968

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Harvard 78 - Rutgers 65

Over the course of the 1968-69 season Rutgers would play four Ivy League teams including the three top teams in the conference - Princeton, Columbia and Penn which would finish 1-2-3 in the league standings. Although Rutgers was decisively defeated by Columbia, the 1969 squad defeated both league champion Princeton and third place finisher Penn. The other Ivy League game was a pre-Christmas match up with Harvard in Cambridge, just before Christmas. Harvard was destined to finish 7th in the Ivy League at just 3-11 with an overall record of 7-18, but somehow managed to defeat Rutgers on that Friday night in December. Perhaps it was a let down from the Princeton game, but more likely it's just one more illustration of the unpredictability of sports in general and basketball in particular. Unfortunately very few articles about this and the next two games are available.

Home News - December 21, 1968

Bob Greacen remembers it as "our worst game of the season, missing 49 of our 75 shot attempts and 13 of our 26 free throws. I was in foul trouble throughout and scored 5 points. [Lou] Goetz was seriously poked in the eye and either lost or broke a contact lens and was taken to the hospital. We missed his competitiveness and defense on the floor." While the loss was disappointing, the team headed into Christmas 5-2 against a tough December schedule. Up next was the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City.

Boston Globe - December 21, 1968

Monday, December 17, 2018

Rutgers 61 - Princeton 60

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 18, 1968

After the St. Louis game on December 12th, Rutgers was scheduled to play at Delaware two days later, but the game was cancelled by the Blue Hens because their team had been decimated by the flu which had been very bad that month. Next up was the annual clash with Princeton on Tuesday, December 17th at the Rutgers Gym. It's fair to say that in those days that the two biggest games on the schedule were Princeton and Army. Princeton because of the historic connection and the proximity of the two schools, Army because of a coach named Bobby Knight.

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 16, 1968

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 17, 1968

While the lost Delaware game deprived Rutgers of a winnable game, Bob Greacen remembers that the cancellation "gave us more time to prepare for Princeton, who was really good and had beaten us badly the year before. The last victory over the Tigers in New Brunswick had been during the 1953-54 season. This year's team was led by [Geoff] Petrie and [John] Hummer, both of whom would become NBA first round picks, and they were coached by Pete Carril known for his bow ties and his annoyingly slow style of play." While Princeton was only 2-2 at the time, they finished 19-7 and went undefeated in the Ivy League winning the conference championship and an NCAA bid.

Newark Star Ledger - December 17, 1968

Courtesy of Jack Penhall

Trenton Evening Times - December 18, 1968

As Bob Greacen remembered, Princeton "had humiliated us the year before on their court and we were ready for them. We played really well, our #4 defense bothered them, and we were up by 15 with eight minutes to play. Brittelle was brilliant scoring 21 against his 6'10" rival Thomforde. They made a furious comeback and tied the game with less than a minute to play. I made one of two free throws and we survived a last-second desperation shot and won 61-60."

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 18, 1968

Home News - December 18, 1968

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 18, 1968

Trenton Evening Times - December 18, 1968

Newark Star Ledger - December 18, 1968

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Rutgers 91 - St. Louis 67

Courtesy of Jack Penhall

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 12, 1968

Home News - December 13, 1968

Newark Evening News - December 13, 1968

Official Madison Square Garden Statistics - courtesy of Jack Penhall

Home News - December 13, 1968

St. Louis Post Dispatch - December 13, 1968

Rutgers Daily Targum - December 13, 1968

Trenton Evening Times - December 13, 1968

Monday, December 10, 2018

Columbia 74 - Rutgers 57

Bob Greacen shoots over Columbia star, Jim McMillian, also pictured in the lower right hand corner is Hayward Dotson, Columbia's other star player - photo courtesy of Bob Greacen

In this game Rutgers was matched against Columbia, the defending Ivy League champions which reached the second round of the 1968 NCAA tournament. Gone from that team was 7 foot Dave Newmark who played two seasons in the NBA and one in the old ABA. There was plenty of talent returning, however, beginning with Jim McMillian perhaps a text book illustration of the ideal small forward of the day. McMillian averaged 22 points per game over his three years at Columbia and then went on to a nine year NBA career beginning with three years with the Los Angeles Lakers. In his second season, the former Columbia star averaged 19 points a game on the Lakers NBA championship team that also featured Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. A year later, McMillian again averaged 19 points per game on a Lakers team that lost to the New York Knicks in the NBA finals. The other prominent player on the Columbia squad was guard Hayward Dotson who was both quick and talented. Perhaps all one needs to know about Dotson can be found in a headline from the Columbia Daily Spectator at the beginning of the 1968-69 season - "Dotson lacks modesty, little else." Columbia would finish the 1969 season with an overall record of 20-4, 11-3 in the Ivy League, second behind 14-0 Princeton which Rutgers would face less than a week after the Columbia defeat.