Boydson Baird

Bill Chambers

Chambers being inducted into W&M Hall of Fame

• Both teams were enduring mediocre seasons.
• The Cavaliers of Evan J. Male brought an 8-8 record to Williamsburg.
• First year coach Boydson Baird's Indians were just 7-9.

Neither team excelled at defense.

• In an era when scores in the 50s and 60s were typical, William & Mary had given up 80 or more points six times, including a 101-100 loss to West Virginia (in OT) and a 101-71 thumping by North Carolina State.
• The Cavaliers had surrendered over 80 points seven times, including a 100-79 by Gettysburg. But UVa had topped the 100 mark twice them­selves (101-61 over Hampden-Sydney and 108-95 vs Virginia Tech).
• When the Indians had played at Virginia December 13, W&M prevailed 87-71.

Both teams would easily top their points totals from that contest.

• The visitors were never in the game as the Indians raced to a 19-4 lead.
• William & Mary blistered the nets for 62 points - in the first half! Vir­ginia's 48 would have been respectable for a full game in those days.
• The Cavs closed the gap to 11 in the early stages of the third period when G Buzz Wilkinson and his running mate, Jake Dohner, started hitting with regularity.
• But that's as close as UVa would come as the Tribe extended their lead again and coasted home 105-84.
• The 105 points constituted a new all-time scoring record for William & Mary.

What makes the game memorable is the performance of William & Mary's 6'4" senior center, Bill Chambers.

• "Using a beautiful jumping twist shot and showing a deft touch around the boards," Chambers came close to the Blow Gymnasium individual scoring mark of 45 points set five years earlier by Chet Giermak against Towson State Teachers College.
• Bill might have bettered that mark except that Coach Baird removed him from the fray when W&M reached the century mark. So Chambers had to be content with 37 points on 16 baskets in 19 shots and five FTs.

But that wasn't the most remarkable aspect of his performance that night.

• Chambers corraled an astounding 51 rebounds.
• The NCAA certified that feat as a new record, obliterating the old mark of 36 by Herb Neff of Tennessee against Georgia Tech a little over a year earlier - January 26, 1952.
• Bill's record still stands to this day. The closest anyone has come is 43 rebounds by Charlie Stack of Marshall against Morris Harvey eleven months later (January 12, 1954).
• Tom Heinsohn of Holy Cross (and of Celtics fame later) snared 42 against Boston College March 1, 1955.

Years later, Chambers recalled his record-setting evening.

It wasn't a big deal at the time. When the game was over, nothing was said. It wasn't until later in the school year after the season was over that I found out I had the record.

Chambers averaged 21.8 rebounds per game but, thanks to the breakneck pace of the game, surpassed that figure by halftime.

• The scorekeeper had been aware that someting exciting was happen­ing as the Indians went to the locker room at halftime. F Jerry Harris recalled: He told us, "You know Chambers has 26 rebounds already?" So we were aware of it after the first half. It was in the back of our mind, but it wasn't the object of the game.
• Still, the PA announcer made no comment about the record in the sec­ond half because no one knew what the record was. The Internet was decades in the future.

Steve Alford

Bob Knight

Kenny Walker

Eddie Sutton

Daryl Thomas

Todd Jadlow

Rick Calloway

Ed Davender

Roger Harden

• A group of sorority girls asked Indiana junior G Steve Alford to pose for a calendar they were putting together to raise money for a camp for handi­capped girls.
• The photo shoot took all of ten minutes. He wore a sport coat and slacks and received no money.
• When the calendar came out, the athletic department's promotions director blanched when he saw Mr. February. Alford had broken an NCAA rule pro­hibiting scholarship athletes from posing for any picture or film made by any­one outside their athletic department.

The timing could hardly have been worse.

• Fresh off an 82-67 trouncing of Notre Dame in which Alford canned 32, Bob­by Knight's 2-0 Hoosiers, ranked #19, were preparing for their trip to Lex­ington in two days to play #9 Kentucky, already 4-0.
• The AD called the NCAA office to report the violation. Given the clean record of the Hoosiers under Knight's leadership, there was every reason to expect that the school would get off with a warning and Alford wouldn't have to miss a game.
• That's what happened at Ohio State two years earlier when QB Mike Tom­czak posed in a magazine ad for a local clothing store. He also hadn't re­ceived any money. So the NCAA issued only a letter of reprimand.
• However, NCAA rules allowed as much as a three-game suspension for Al­ford's violation. After initially saying Indiana should be alright, an official for the infractions committee called back to say that Steve would be suspended for one game. When asked why Ohio State hadn't suffered the same fate, the official replied, The rule wasn't as widely publicized back then. Now, every­one knows it.
• Indiana could appeal, which would allow Alford to play against the Wildcats. But if the committee met formally to hear the appeal, it could impose the maximum three-game suspension.
• Knight and his AD decided to sit Alford for the game in Lexington rather than lose him for the first few games of Big Ten play starting with the opener against Michigan.

It took far less than this to enrage Knight.

• His favorite player had been careless in not checking with the athletic de­partment before posing for the picture. He said the sorority girls said they'd check but didn't. Knight told him, Their eligibility wasn't at stake, Steve. Yours was. You should have checked it out yourself.
• The coach decided to not even take Alford on the trip to Lexington. Knight told former star G Quinn Buckner, a member of the Indiana Pacers who called to lend support, I'm not even going to take the little sonofabitch on the trip. Screw him.
• What galled Bobby even more, in addition to his alma mater getting off with­out a suspension for the same offense two years earlier, was losing Alford for the game against Kentucky, of all schools.
• In late October, The Lexington Herald-Leader had published a series of stories detailing a protracted period of payoffs to UK players during the 13-year coaching tenure of Joe B. Hall that just ended.
• Knight felt the NCAA was dragging its feet in investigating the allegations, giving the excuse that none of the 26 ex-players mentioned in the series repeated their stories on the record.
• For Alford not to play when all their kids are playing kills me, Bobby said pri­vately. There are kids on that team right now who have gotten more crap from alumni than any players in the country. I supposed [star forward] Kenny Walk­er's never gotten anything. Anyone who believes that is either stupid or blind.
• Another factor underlying Knight's frustration was the fact that he was com­ing off a 19-14 season at the end of which the Hoosiers had to settle for an NIT invitation. (They lost to UCLA in the finals.)

Although Bobby thought Indiana could still win if his players held together and played smart, he nearly changed his mind about sitting Alford.

• His edginess came through the morning of the game when he participated in the obligatory interview by the other team's announcer, in this case the leg­endary Cawood Ledford.
• Cawood innocently asked Knight about the IU-UK rivalry, These games are special, aren't they? Bobby couldn't resist: You know, Cawood, with all the crap that has gone on down here over the years with recruiting and all, these games are not nearly as special to me as you might think.
• Many Big Blue fans would hear the interview on the pregame show and di­rect their ire toward Knight and his boys even more virulently than usual.
• After the interview, Bobby told writer John Feinstein, who was writing a book about Indiana's season: It's just not right for Steve not to play in this game. I've got a mind to have him fly down here and play him. There's no way the NCAA will suspend him for more than one game. Public opinion would bury them if they did.
• As he did frequently when he felt the need for advice, Knight called former coach Pete Newell. I might just say screw the NCAA. How can Steve not play and Walker can play? That just isn't right and you know it.
• But Newell talked him out of changing the plan, which was well thought out as opposed to his current emotional reaction. Don't take the chance that the NCAA won't behave logically.

Knight was surprised when two SEC officials and one Big Ten ref walked onto the court before the game.

• He had told Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton in the spring to get neutral officials.
• Knight hated "split crews" to begin with, and the Big Ten official, Tom Ruck­er, was one of Bobby's least favorite, which is saying something given his low opinion of referees in general.

Even without Alford, the game lived up to its billing as an early season test.

• The screaming crowd of 24,000 didn't bother the Hoosiers, who took care of the two challenges the coaches had worked on: handling the Wildcat press and rebounding.
• Kentucky pulled out to a seven-point lead in the first half, but the visitors pulled into a 32-32 tie at halftime.
• Knight to his team during the break: You have now made this a twenty-minute basketball game. But you have to play smarter to win the game. We are still ma­king mistakes on defense. Play hard and smart. You tell me now that we aren't capable of playing with anybody. Don't mope, don't feel sorry, don't feel hurt. Feel like, "Goddammit, we're gonna win a basketball game." The easy twenty minutes is over. This is the hard twenty minutes. Don't let the effort you've made go down the drain with sloppy effort early. Let's be smart and get it down to the last three minutes where we can win the game with our guts and our hearts. Don't go out there now thinking you're ready to play. Go out there knowing you're ready.

Neither team could shake the other through the first part of the second half.

• Each time UK took a lead, the Hoosiers answered.
• Daryl Thomas, whom Knight had reduced to tears during preseason prac­tices, and Todd Jadlow did a good job on Walker inside, causing Kenny and his coach to complain to the officials about what Sutton afterwards called thuggery in the pivot.
• IU freshman Rick Calloway made a layup to tie the game for the tenth time 42-42.
• During the timeout called by Kentucky, Knight returned to the theme of his halftime talk: Twelve minutes. You've taken it from a forty-minute game to a twelve-minute game. Hang with it now, don't make mistakes, and we'll be fine.

But with their best outside shooter back in Bloomington, IU had to work for every basket, and that effort takes a toll on you.

• When play resumed, Kentucky reeled off nine straight points to lead 51-42, forcing Knight to call time.
• Trying to be heard over the din, he told his huddle: Just be patient. There's lots of time. Don't get rattled. There is nothing to be rattled about.
• The Hoosiers fought back. Captain Stew Robinson did a reasonable Alford imitation with an outside shot as IU cut the deficit to 57-54 with 2:20 on the clock.
• The crowd began to get nervous. Surely their Men in Blue wouldn't lose at home to an IU team without Alford.

With UK leading 59-56 with 1:30 left, Rucker had to make a crucial call.

• Kentucky G Ed Davender, who would lead all scorers with 22, penetrated looking to pass to Walker. But Andre Harris knocked the ball loose, and Robinson came up with it.
• Stew and Harris raced downcourt on a 2-on-1 against G Roger Harden. As they neared the goal, Robinson decided not to pass and go straight up for a layup.
• Harden turned to face downcourt and planted his feet to take the charge as the offensive player soared and put the ball into the basket. Both players fell in a heap.
• The nearest official, Rucker, blew his whistle immediately. As he stopped run­ning under the goal, he came back in bounds to make his call as 24,000 held their breath. Charging or blocking? 59-58 UK with Indiana shooting a FT to tie or Wildcat ball still leading by 3?
• Rucker put his hand behind his head and pointed toward Kentucky's basket - charging.
• Knight, hands on hips, just stared at Rucker who had ruled in favor of the team with 24,000 fans in the building and against a man he didn't like.
• The game tape would show that the call was wrong, that Harden was still moving when Robinson contacted him.
• Knight especially hated the fact that Harden had fooled the official. Not only did Roger leave the Hoosier state to play for UK but earlier in the week gua­ranteed a Kentucky victory.

The Wildcats held on for the hard-earned win.

• After running the clock down, Harden drove along the baseline for a clinching layup with 30 seconds left.
• The final score was 63-58 - close enough to make Hoosier fans claim that Al­ford would have made the difference.

Knight hated all losses, but especially this one, as he told his team in the locker room.

On his way to the postgame press conference, Knight met Sutton in the hallway returning from his.

• Eddie came over to offer more congratulations on a good game.
• Knight: Eddie, didn't I ask you to get neutral officials when we talked last spring?
• Sutton: I don't remember, Bobby. I suppose you might have. I don't pay much attention to that sort of thing.
• Knight: Well I do. And I wanted neutral officials.
• Sutton: If you wanted neutral officials, Bob, why didn't you get 'em yourself?
• Knight: You were the home team, Eddie. That means you get the officials. And when I ask you to get neutral officials and you agree, I think I have every right to think I'll get neutral officials.

Knight's press conference didn't last long.

• He had told the players to deflect any questions about Alford.
• When the inevitable question came, Bobby replied, I would like to think that the NCAA would have given some consideration to our past record. A rule was broken. They have to live with what they did. But I accept responsibility. We didn't have a good enough checking system.

When the Hoosiers returned to campus, Knight said, It bothers me that Alford's not here to see his teammates. That disappoints me.

• As usual, the staff reviewed the tapes of the game.
• They finally went home at 4 am to get some sleep before practice at 11 am.

Postscript

• The 1985-6 Indiana Hoosiers finished 21-8, 13-5 in the Big Ten before being ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Cleveland State.
• The Wildcats had a great season, winning 32 and losing 4 but the last de­feat came at the hands of LSU in the Southeast Regional final, 59-57, after UK had defeated the Tigers three times earlier in the season.