48 years ago today, Tennessee beat Temple, 11-6, in the lowest scoring college basketball game in NCAA history.

[BleedGopher]

per Axios Sports:

48 years ago today, Tennessee beat Temple, 11-6, in the lowest scoring college basketball game in NCAA history.

What happened: Temple, down 7-5 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half, opted to hold the ball for the final shot — a strategy Tennessee obliged and the pre-shot-clock era allowed for.

• The second half was more of the same, as neither team attempted a field goal and scored only when their opponent fouled to get back possession (all five second-half points came at the charity stripe).

The big picture: The NBA had introduced the shot clock in 1954 to ensure a game like this could never happen, landing on 24 seconds thanks to some back-of-the-napkin math from Syracuse Nationals (now, Philadelphia 76ers) owner Danny Biasone.

• The experiment was immediately successful, increasing scoring by 18% in its inaugural year.
• The NCAA finally adopted the rule in 1985, starting with a 45-second shot clock before reducing it to 35 seconds in 1993 and 30 seconds in 2015.

The bottom line: "Danny Biasone saved the NBA with the 24-second rule," said Hall of Famer Bob Cousy. It seems he may have saved college basketball, too.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Still remember Phil Ford, amazing college PG, and Dean Smith’s 4 corners!

 

[stocker08]

Seems crazy that it took until 1985. Wisconsin basketball must have been unwatchable.

 

[matt]

Seems crazy that it took until 1985. Wisconsin basketball must have been unwatchable.

It still is.

 

[GopherVotary]

Still remember Phil Ford, amazing college PG, and Dean Smith’s 4 corners!

Smith would have his team stall and play keep-away with the ball even when he had Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins on the floor. I can’t imagine paying money to watch a team try NOT to score.

 

[MaroonShaft]

A win is a win!