[Stardust]

It's probably a good thing that Duke got knocked out of the NCAA Tournament, but not for the reason you are thinking.





I would just hate to hear the CBS commentators hyping the potential Kentucky-Duke South Region final by referring back to the second-greatest college basketball game ever played.

Especially after a matchup of the schools involved in the greatest game ever will take place Friday night in Atlanta. Unfortunately, if you are under the age of 40 you probably have no idea.

And that's a shame, because nearly anyone who saw the Mideast Regional championship game played in Dayton, Ohio on March 22, 1975 knows it was the greatest game ever.

Kentucky 92, Indiana 90.

It is still music to any UK fan who remembers where he was the day the Wildcats snapped the winning streak by the guy who coached in the Big 10 – he he – at 34 games.

I was a 17-year-old junior in high school. I had just watched Henry Clay and Male advance to the championship game of the Sweet 16 at Louisville's Freedom Hall. A buddy and I rushed over to a family friend's house on Barrett Avenue.

It was on NBC, but I could not tell you who was assigned to work that game. Like anyone who knew how to watch a game, we turned the sound off and let Cawood Ledford call it.

We were pumped. The entire state of Kentucky was pumped.

And even though Indiana had routed UK 98-74 in Bloomington in December, I had defied conventional wisdom and picked the Wildcats to pull the upset.

It might have been as a way to aggravate Ron Reed, the current men's basketball coach at Kentucky Christian University. Back in 1975, he was an assistant at Anderson County High School and might have been the only fan that guy that coached in Bloomington, Indiana back then had.

But the main reason Kentucky was a trendy pick around Anderson County back then was No. 20, Jimmy Dan Conner.

Everybody around these parts knew Jimmy Dan. They knew that Adolph Rupp had wanted him so badly that he made a recruiting trip to watch Jimmy Dan during his senior year at Anderson County. Everybody knew that Jimmy Dan would lead UK back to the promised land.

Indiana had owned UK in basketball, football and anything this side of horseshoes and it came to a head three months before when Indiana handed the Wildcats one of the worst beatings ever. Then near the end of the game, that guy that was paid to coach basketball in Bloomington patted or cuffed Hall on the head.

UK assistant coach Lynn Nance wanted to go after that guy who had played basketball at Ohio State and had coached at West Point.

On your bracket, it was about advancing to the Final Four.

In your heart, you knew there was more at stake. It was about pride.

I can't tell you a lot about particular plays that day. I have searched for video clips but have yet to find one.

But what I do remember was Rick Robey and Mike Phillps going toe-to-toe with Kent Benson, who was brilliant in defeat for Indiana. I remember Larry Johnson coming off the bench to hound Quinn Buckner.

But most of all, I remember Jimmy Dan Conner and Mike Flynn play like men possessed.

Conner, the team captain, scored 17 points and had 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Flyn blistered the nets for 22 points and dished out 5 assists.

And when it was over, an entire state erupted. A police escort met the team at the state line on I-75 and took the Wildcats to a celebration at Memorial Coliseum. It was the day Kentuckians could unite in a source of pride.

UK went on to rout Syracuse in the Final Four before losing to UCLA in John Wooden's last game in the final.

But that was anti-climatic. We had already seen the greatest game ever a week before.



UK-IU smacktalk

One thing I always loved about the Kentucky-Indiana rivalry was what I perceived as some mutual respect among the fans. I am not sure it is still that way, but I asked my Facebook friends and Twitter followers to give me a does of their best smack talk in preparation for Friday's game.

Former Anderson County resident Ben James, now in the Navy in Florida, wrote, “The Hoosiers are so excited about Friday that they wrote TGIF on their shoes. Toes Go In First.”

Anderson County's No. 1 Hoosier fan, who begged to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, says Indiana will beat Kentucky for the second time this year. “The (Cody) Zeller / (Anthony) Davis match up is even, (Christian)Watford and (Terrence) Jones is a wash, (Marquis) Teague is quicker than (Jordan) Hulls but Hulls is a better shooter. Victor (Oladipo) is a better defender and more athletic than (Darius) Miller, and (Will) Sheehey and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is wash. Indiana has a deeper bench and that will make the difference.”

Man, you've gotta love that enthusiasm, even if it is from the north side of the river.

But Charlene Hanks of Lawrenceburg says she's not very good with smack. “I'll just let the final score do my talking for me,” she wrote.

It says here that the scoreboard will be speaking very loudly.

Kentucky 81, Indiana 69 as the Wildcats take one more step to the Final Four.

http://www.theandersonnews.com/content/c...-game-ever

[Stardust]

File photo
Anderson Countian Jimmy Dan Conner, shown against Alabama during the 1975 season, was Kentucky's team captain and was a big reason the Wildcats won the greatest game ever played, an upset of Indiana in the 1975 NCAA Tournament.[Image: http://www.theandersonnews.com/sites/www...et%203.jpg]

[Stardust]

[Image: http://www.theandersonnews.com/sites/www...basket.jpg]

[Stardust]

[Image: http://www.theandersonnews.com/sites/www...et%202.jpg]

[Granny Bear]

Wow, does that ever bring back memories!!

LOVED listening to Cawood Ledford.

[FBALL]

Somebody actually said Sheehey and MKG are a wash. That's hilarious.

[Scotty doesn't know]

Those pictures are amazing!! I love getting to see those kind of photos before the use of widespread media. It just has such a classic feel!