The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame scored a tremendous 77-73 home win over Duke last week that was reminiscent of their tradition of wrecking high riding power teams at home. As great as last week’s upset was over a Duke team that was basking in the glow of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,000 career wins, there remains a greater and more historic win by the Irish.
In 1974, the UCLA Bruins were riding an all-time best 88-game winning streak into a visit at Notre Dame against the underdog Irish. They left in defeat in one of the greatest and most memorable college basketball games ever played. A total of eight future NBA players took part in the matchup that remains among the most famous of all time.
[related_post_one]
Top Two
UCLA was the seven-time defending national champion and was the top-ranked team in the country heading into their matchup at Notre Dame, who were undefeated and ranked second in the land. Despite the Irish having home court advantage and that undefeated record, they were solid underdogs against the dynasty machine of UCLA Hall of Fame head coach John Wooden’s Bruins.
UCLA had won 218 out of their last 223 games entering their epic showdown at Notre Dame. In fact, the last time UCLA had lost a game it was, ironically enough, at Notre Dame in an 89-82 defeat in which Austin Carr scored 46 points for the Irish.
Digger’s Demand
Notre Dame was coached by a brash, 32-year old Digger Phelps. Phelps took the Notre Dame job in 1971 and demanded that the program become the very best.
“I had the attitude that Notre Dame should be the best,” said Phelps. “The approach I took was to schedule the best. So I scheduled UCLA twice a year, not once.”
Mismatches
UCLA destroyed Notre Dame in the first four meetings of the series by a combined 128 points. The year before UCLA scored an 82-63 win at Notre Dame. There was no reason to expect anything different in 1974.
Phelps Premonition
Despite being dominated by the Bruins, Phelps tried to help his players envision success in their next matchup. On the Wednesday before the game he had the Irish practice cutting down the nets. He called the team together and painted a picture for them stating that, “When we win” before laying out details of how the celebration would ensue.
A Prophetic Homily
At the pregame Mass, reverend Edmund P. Joyce gave a stirring homily in which he stated that, “This is just not an ordinary day. The chances are good that years from now you will look back on this day as one of the most memorable in your life.”
Dominant Start for UCLA
Notre Dame came out aggressive but seemed out manned as they fell behind quickly 33-16 with six minutes to play in the half. The Bruins burned the nets that Phelps had planned to cut down with a scorching hot 70.3 percent on field goals. It proved to be an unsustainable pace.
Slowly, in the second half, the Irish climbed back into the game. But when Tommy Curtis nailed a jumper with 3:32 to play to put UCLA up 70-59, the game appeared to be clinched.
The Jinx
The great Dick Enberg was calling the national telecast and stated during a time out that UCLA star center Bill Walton had won the last 143 games that he had played in dating back to his high school career. As it turned out, Enberg jinxed Walton and the Bruins. There would be no 144th straight win for Walton nor an 89th consecutive win for the Bruins.
No Shot Clock
College basketball did not utilize a shot clock in 1974, which gave UCLA the opportunity to stall the game and run out the clock. But Notre Dame overcame that liability with a memorable stolen pass by Irish freshman Adrian Dantley, who scored on a layup that set off pandemonium in the Athletic and Convocations Center.
Notre Dame would go on to score the final 12 points of the game. As the Irish rallied, Walton wanted to call time out but Wooden refused, as it was his belief that calling a timeout was giving in to your opponent.
Dwight Clay scored his only basket of the second half on a deep corner shot to stake the Irish to the lead. Walton defied his coach and called time out.
On UCLA’s final attempt to escape with victory, an awkwardly conceived inbounds play ended with Walton missing for just the second time in the game.
Irony of Ironies
At the horn, Irish fans stormed the court at a time when such demonstrations were not in vogue. Ironically enough, in the celebratory insanity, it became impossible for the Irish to cut down the nets.
