The greatest game you ever saw!

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UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

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Ok Gopher fans. Whats the best game YOU saw? Not all of us were around to see the Iron 5 beat Ohio State. Not all of us saw the Final 4 run that didn't happen. Maybe you saw the brawl in 72. Maybe you saw the Gophers upset #1. Maybe, just maybe, you were at the NIT game vs High Point with me and 47 other Gopher faithful on what I remember as a snowy day (attendance was low. Like, I was in the lower level and no one else was in my section low)

For me, I'm not super sure on the game but I remember watching it on TV with my dad. 96-97 season. If I remember correctly, which I may not, it was the March 1st game vs Indiana at The Barn. Gophers won, and I think quite dramatically. Weird that my game was one I don't really remember but that team made me a Gopher fan so hard to beat.

For games I was at, Gophers 68 Maryland 63. 2/18/16. A very bad Gopher team beat #6 maryland at home. Murphy was unreal with 17-11. Mason lit it up as well. Charles Buggs started. BUGGS!!! So did Bakery Konate. BK! Just a fun game in a lost season. And our young guys learned to win and compete. And two of them had great careers.

Note: whoever wrote this did a great job but its depressing that a Gopher SID employee/intern wrote something so sad after a huge win. Its accurate but sad. https://gophersports.com/news/2016/2/18/Minnesota_Upsets_No_6_Maryland_68_63.aspx
 


A couple that quickly come to mind:

08 vs Indiana in the B1G tournament - not really much explanation needed.
05 @ Purdue - Purdue was a bad team that year, but it was a game the Gophers needed to solidify getting into the tournament (first since 99). It was a close game and we pulled it out with Vince Grier leading the way.

I think the game against IU is the best game this century.
 

Couple more to add. Michigan st big 10 tournament game that went to ot, where devoe was on fire, and Hollins 40 pointer against Memphis. Man there are alot running through my head right now
 

Nevermind devoe wasn't really on fire that game, my memory is hazy I guess.
He shot bad until OT where he had 8 points
 



1/26/1989 vs Number 1 Illinois

2/6/2005 Vincent Grier vs Wisconsin
3/6/1982 Big Ten Title vs Ohio State, Breuer vs. Granville Waiters

3/20/1997 vs Clemson to get to the Elite Eight
 

In person? Easy.

First game I ever attended. I was in 7th grade and my brother, who was at the U, took me to the Iowa game in 1989. We won 80-78 on a putback by Shik. It was incredible. Iowa was #4 and this was the first of many big upsets at Williams Arena that year. They also beat Michigan (I was at that one too), Ohio State, and #1 Illinois, eventually making the Sweet 16. The Iowa game put the Gophers back on the map after the scandal and two terrible seasons while Clem was rebuilding. I was so lucky to attend. Fan for life ever since.

Best game I saw, but did not attend: tie between Clemson and UCLA in 1997. The Clemson game for the sheer drama and individual performances of Sam and Bobby (but the team didn't play very well). The UCLA game for the complete and utter domination in the second half after falling behind by 10. Total team effort. The two dishes from Courtney to JT for dunks early in the second half were the signature moments. (I rewatched both games recently. I pretty much knew all these details, but I forgot just how many turnovers they had against Clemson. It was insane.)

Best loss I attended: Cincinnati in 1998. Amazing game and atmosphere. This game was kind of it for that atmosphere as the scandal hit after the season. Electric even in a loss. The place hasn't been the same since and never will be, unfortunately.
 

Really hard to pick the best game. The weirdest game is the 5 vs 3 game vs Alabama. Go Gophers!
 
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WilliamsArenaGuy said:
In person? Easy.

First game I ever attended. I was in 7th grade and my brother, who was at the U, took me to the Iowa game in 1989. We won 80-78 on a putback by Shik. It was incredible. Iowa was #4 and this was the first of many big upsets at Williams Arena that year. They also beat Michigan (I was at that one too), Ohio State, and #1 Illinois, eventually making the Sweet 16. The Iowa game put the Gophers back on the map after the scandal and two terrible seasons while Clem was rebuilding. I was so lucky to attend. Fan for life ever since.

Best game I saw, but did not attend: tie between Clemson and UCLA in 1997. The Clemson game for the sheer drama and individual performances of Sam and Bobby (but the team didn't play very well). The UCLA game for the complete and utter domination in the second half after falling behind by 10. Total team effort. The two dishes from Courtney to JT for dunks early in the second half were the signature moments. (I rewatched both games recently. I pretty much knew all these details, but I forgot just how many turnovers they had against Clemson. It was insane.)

Best loss I attended: Cincinnati in 1998. Amazing game and atmosphere. This game was kind of it for that atmosphere as the scandal hit after the season. Electric even in a loss. The place hasn't been the same since and never will be, unfortunately.
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Bearcats game for me. Williams has never been that electric since, IMO.
 

The game when Sam Freeman scored 22 points and we went to the Sweet Sixteen.
 

Senior night for Willie, Coffey, Newbern and Shik. Sadly they lost to an excellent MSU team featuring Steve Smith but it was a fantastic game.

Also, on the women's side, the beatdown of Kansas State in the tourney.
 



Minnesota 106, Indiana 56, 1994

Indiana was ranked 12th,................gophers went on 13-0 and 15-0 runs.

Voshon Leonard was hitting shots from the parking lot. He had 35 points.

Bobby wouldn't even get out of his chair 10 minutes into the game.

It was Indiana's worst defeat in 89 years. The barn was flipping crazy. Absolutely nuts!
 
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1982 - last BIG game of the season vs Ohio State at the Barn. Breuer, Tucker, Mitchell, Holmes, Davis, Howell, Et al. sealing the deal on the conference championship. I was a senior at the U. There was nothing like Big Ten basketball games in the barn. Best ticket in town!
 

In 1976, the Gophers played Indiana - the team that went undefeated and won the NCAA title. Buckner, May, Benson, Wilkerson, etc. Indiana won by about 8 points. and now for the rest of the story - I went to the game with some guys from St. Cloud State, including a HS classmate of mine. One of the guys from St. Cloud State was from Indiana. He knew one of the Indiana players - Lazkowski, who was the 6th man on the team. He smuggled in a pro-Indiana banner, and wanted to carry it around the court, but no one else would help him. I said WTF, so he and I managed somehow to get down to the court - rolled out the banner, and got up and ran around the court with it. All the Gopher fans were yelling at us and giving us the finger. we stopped in front of the Indiana bench and the guy shook hands with Knight. then security ushered us off the court. true story.
 

Goldteam said:
Minnesota 106, Indiana 56, 1994

Indiana was ranked 12th,................gophers went on 13-0 and 15-0 runs.

Voshon Leonard was hitting shots from the parking lot. He had 35 points.

Bobby wouldn't even get out of his chair 10 minutes into the game.

It was Indiana's worst defeat in 89 years. The barn was flipping crazy. Absolutely nuts!
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Interesting for me because I was in high school in southern Arizona. By that time I had lost my Minnesota knowledge but kept the identity. My history teacher who was a fanatical Indiana fan was always gloating about how great IU was. I didn't follow college bball much except for Lute Olson and the Wildcats vs the ASU Sundevils. Anyway to make a short story long, I knew the score the next day and came into the classroom early and wrote "Indiana LOOOOOSIERS" on the chalkboard. He was on fire when he saw that and I was way to scared to own up to it. But he had a good idea who it was because his eyes burned death into me all class long.
 

Beating UCLA in 97 after a VERY tough game vs Clemson is my favorite for obvious reasons. After that, the 2010 win over North Carolina was terrific. Always a great time taking down blue bloods. Beating #1 Indiana in the barn in 2013 was phenomenal as well.
 

It's a tie: IU game @ B10 tournament in 08 & Clemson game in San Antonio in 97, both crazy fun games.
 

I agree. Clemson win in San Antonia in 97 to get to the final four was the best, but Indiana in 08 B10 tournament was the one where a full court pass resulting in a basket at the buzzer gave us a victory against the biggest odds at the time the ball was in bounded. Great memorable win.
 

That Hoffarber Big 10 tournament W was great because we had literally lost the game down the stretch of that one, only to take it back on a game winner. Love it.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
In 1976, the Gophers played Indiana - the team that went undefeated and won the NCAA title. Buckner, May, Benson, Wilkerson, etc. Indiana won by about 8 points. and now for the rest of the story - I went to the game with some guys from St. Cloud State, including a HS classmate of mine. One of the guys from St. Cloud State was from Indiana. He knew one of the Indiana players - Lazkowski, who was the 6th man on the team. He smuggled in a pro-Indiana banner, and wanted to carry it around the court, but no one else would help him. I said WTF, so he and I managed somehow to get down to the court - rolled out the banner, and got up and ran around the court with it. All the Gopher fans were yelling at us and giving us the finger. we stopped in front of the Indiana bench and the guy shook hands with Knight. then security ushered us off the court. true story.
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I guess we all do stupid sh*t when we were young? Maybe you got caught up in the moment
 

January, 2008 at the kohl center in Madison. I was there to see Westbrook and Damien take becky down in OT. Bostic was at his best as well. Too sweet for words!
 

Goldteam said:
Minnesota 106, Indiana 56, 1994

Indiana was ranked 12th,................gophers went on 13-0 and 15-0 runs.

Voshon Leonard was hitting shots from the parking lot. He had 35 points.

Bobby wouldn't even get out of his chair 10 minutes into the game.

It was Indiana's worst defeat in 89 years. The barn was flipping crazy. Absolutely nuts!
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I second this! Awesome game
 



builtbadgers said:
I was at that game and did not think it was a great game.
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It was a great game if you are a gopher fan. Laying the wood to bobby and a team you rarely beat. Indiana owned us under knight.

What's not to like?
 

Goldteam said:
It was a great game if you are a gopher fan. Laying the wood to bobby and a team you rarely beat. Indiana owned us under knight.

What's not to like?
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I get it, did not say it was not enjoyable, simply not a great game for me.
 

builtbadgers said:
I get it, did not say it was not enjoyable, simply not a great game for me.
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Well, if you aren't a gopher fan, then it was not a great game!

When my team is hitting everything, from the parking lot even, and rolling a team it rarely beats, hanging a 100 on them and almost doubling them up...........with the barn going as bananas as it can from start to finish............to top it off, it was bobby(the jackass) knight

GREAT GAME
 
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Goldteam said:
Well, if you aren't a gopher fan, then it was not a great game!

When my team is hitting everything, from the parking lot even, and rolling a team it rarely beats, hanging a 100 on them and almost doubling them up...........with the barn going as bananas as it can from start to finish............to top it off, it was bobby(the jackass) knight

GREAT GAME
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Said i got it, i just go for competitive tight games where both teams play great. Of course having a different opinion opens up the chance my fan card will get pulled.
 

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