One for Gopher history buffs

[CP Gopher]

Another thread reminded me of this.
I think it was January or February 1978. We played first-place Purdue at home on a Saturday afternoon. The game wasn't on in Duluth (where I grew up), so I listened to Ray as the Gophers knocked-off the Joe Barry Carroll-led Boilermakers.
The very next day, we hosted powerhouse Louisville on a Sunday afternoon on NBC. It was one of the most exciting games I ever watched. McHale was amazing and we beat a Cardinal team (led by Darryl Griffith) that went on to win the national title a couple years later.
I thought it was really something that we played a team like Louisville in the middle of the conference season.
Does anyone else remember these two games? Somewhere in my storage room I have a piece of grid paper which I turned into a scorecard for the Louisville game. I need to dig that out.
I have some great memories of Gopher basketball from the 70's and early 80's. There was no local radio affiliaite, so my brother and I would find Ray (amid static) and listen to every game on this giant black radio. Man that was fun!
And then for a few years our local PBS station televised almost all of the home games. What a treat that was before cable TV and basketball all night/every night.
Great times!

 

[freshtrout]

Tried my best to listen to the Purdue game that Saturday.... Sitting in my car on top of hill outside of Valley City ND. Depending on the wind the game on CCO would come and go... You're right that the next game was outstanding on NBC... Good memories. What is a bit sad and frustrating today/tonight, those of us that can't get to the game are forced to watch (if one can call it that) on the internet via streaming ..... Technology is great in it's place, but I'm not so sure that back in 70's we Gopher fans didn't have as many opportunities to watch most of the games as we do today. Yes we didn't have HD and all of the bells, whistles, and other enhancements, but I would argue that just as many Gopher games were watchable on TV as today. Even the Midwest Sports channel had most of the games (nc & conference) on TV in the 90's ..... Oh well - what we have is what we have.

 

[Tully55]

I'd like to help you out, but unfortunately back then I was too busy doing straight tequilla shots while sitting in the GA section of of Williams Arena during Gopher hockey games.

 

[ofergopher]

Purdue and Louisville

Here is the account from Gopher Glory: 100 Years of University of Minnesota Basketball.

Williams Arena was packed with 17,477 screaming fans as Purdue took the raised floor as the last team that had beaten the Gophers. Minnesota had been criticized by some for its lack of intensity, but nobody was saying that after the Gophers played a white-hot game, shooting 58 percent from the floor and outmuscling the Boilermakers inside. The final score was 79-72 Minnesota, and the Gophers were poised to walk away from the 1977-78 season with the conference crown. The very next day nationally ranked Louisville came to the Barn for a nationally-televised game against the exhausted Gophers. But they were also the pumped-up Gophers, and they came through again behind 21 points from McHale, 20 from Thompson, and 14 from Lockhart to win 72-71.

[But then they lost three of their final four games.]

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Another thread reminded me of this.
I think it was January or February 1978. We played first-place Purdue at home on a Saturday afternoon. The game wasn't on in Duluth (where I grew up), so I listened to Ray as the Gophers knocked-off the Joe Barry Carroll-led Boilermakers.
The very next day, we hosted powerhouse Louisville on a Sunday afternoon on NBC. It was one of the most exciting games I ever watched. McHale was amazing and we beat a Cardinal team (led by Darryl Griffith) that went on to win the national title a couple years later.
I thought it was really something that we played a team like Louisville in the middle of the conference season.
Does anyone else remember these two games? Somewhere in my storage room I have a piece of grid paper which I turned into a scorecard for the Louisville game. I need to dig that out.
I have some great memories of Gopher basketball from the 70's and early 80's. There was no local radio affiliaite, so my brother and I would find Ray (amid static) and listen to every game on this giant black radio. Man that was fun!
And then for a few years our local PBS station televised almost all of the home games. What a treat that was before cable TV and basketball all night/every night.
Great times!

I was at both those games against Purdue and Louisville. Those are the absolute best memories I have of Gopher sports. The Barn was incredibly loud.

 

[dlw4gophers]

I was also at both games. I still have the program from the Louisville game. It was one of the few times I kept score in a program. What a great day for BB.