UCLA Plays Notre Dame for a Chance at a Record
50 years ago this weekend, UCLA took a 60 game win streak to South Bend
INTRODCUTION from The Sports Time Traveler™
Last week I wrote about UCLA’s basketball winning streak from 50 years ago. The streak had reached 57. And the record of 60 was in sight. See last week’s article at this link:
Now I’m just back from my virtual trip to South Bend, Indiana, to see if UCLA could break the all-time consecutive wins record of 60. Here’s my latest article:
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - January 27, 1973
I’ve traveled back in time exactly 50 years to the campus of Notre Dame to witness a chance at basketball history. UCLA came into this afternoon’s game here in South Bend, having won their last 60 games in a row. If they can win today they’ll establish a new NCAA record winning streak.
The University of San Francisco established the record of 60 straight wins back in 1956 when the team was led by Bill Russell and K.C. Jones.
UCLA Tied San Francisco’s 60 Straight 2 Nights Ago
UCLA tied the record 2 nights ago in nearby Chicago when they beat Loyola 87 - 73. The Ramblers put up a tough fight as they were within 2 points late in the 1st half and were only 8 points back at 60 - 52 with 12 minutes to go in the game. At that point UCLA scored 7 straight to go up 67 - 52 and the game never got close again.
The main reason UCLA won, as is the case in most of their games, is the dominance of junior center Bill Walton, for whom no team has had an answer.
Walton leads the gang
Walton had his best game of the season against Loyola scoring 32 points, grabbing 27 rebounds and terrorizing Loyola on defense as attested by the 6 calls against him for goaltending.
Could Notre Dame possibly contain the Walton gang and stop the streak?
History was on Notre Dame’s side.
Notre Dame was the last team to beat UCLA
The last time UCLA lost a game was 2 years and 4 days ago when on this same court, Notre Dame upset UCLA.
That game took place on January 23, 1971. Notre Dame came into the game ranked #13 at 8 - 4. UCLA was #1 and 14 - 0 and had won the past 4 NCAA championships.
UCLA didn’t yet have Bill Walton, who was still on the freshman team in 1971. The Bruins were led by the sensational senior forward combo of Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe who had led UCLA to their 4th straight NCAA championship the prior year.
Notre Dame’s 1971 team was led by Austin Carr
Notre Dame had Austin Carr, the leading scorer in college basketball. And Carr was on fire that day. He scored 46, more than half his team’s total, including 15 of his team’s final 17 points in the last 7 minutes of the game as the Fighting Irish won the game 89 - 82.
Bedlam in South Bend
Dwight Chapin in the Los Angeles Times wrote about the scene in the arena at Notre Dame when the game ended in that 1971 victory for the Fighting Irish, “They went absolutely nuts when the final horn sounded, pouring onto the court, grabbing Carr, and surging with him on their shoulders. Then they lifted their hero up to cut the nets - just as if they’d won an NCAA championship.”
Carr said, “There’s no doubt this is my biggest thrill in basketball.”
NOTE from the The Sports Time Traveler™
I interrupt this article for a moment to inform you about Austin Carr and UCLA after this game.
Carr went on to be the consensus college player of the year in 1971, averaging 38 points a game. He subsequently was selected as the #1 draft pick in the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 20 points a game in each of his first three seasons for the Cavs and was an NBA all-star in 1974.
The Notre Dame game in 1971 turned out to be the only loss of the season for UCLA which won their 5th consecutive NCAA championship with a 29 - 1 record.
Now back to 1973.
The Wizard Goes Home
Whenever UCLA visits Notre Dame it’s a bit of a homecoming for coach John Wooden. The Wizard of Westwood taught English and coached basketball for 3 years at South Bend Central High School in the 1930s.
Now Wooden’s homecoming was a national TV game. On this day, January 27, 1973, NBC broadcast the game at 3:30pm ET.
Reason to Believe
The “highly charged” sellout crowd was primed for the game. They had some reason to believe that their team could knock off the champs. They had done it 2 years ago and even though this Notre Dame team was coming into the game unranked, they had recently defeated #4 Marquette on the road.
Digger Phelps, Notre Dame’s coach, also had a strategy devised. He would use his star center, 6-9 John Shumate, and some extra help, to keep the ball away from Bill Walton. Shumate, just a sophomore, was having a great season averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds.
The Luck of the Irish Runs Out
On this day however, unlike in 1971, Notre Dame did not have Austin Carr, and it did not have any of that Irish luck against the Bruins.
Ron Rapaport in the Los Angeles Times wrote after the game, “Not a dozen fight songs, nor Rockne pep talks, nor the prayers of every priest on campus could have stopped UCLA this day.”
Wilkes is the Leading Scorer
The Notre Dame strategy did keep the ball away from Bill Walton, but that freed up Keith Wilkes who made 10 of 16 shots for a game high 20 points.
Wooden said about Wilkes, “I’m never surprised by him. He’s so smooth out there that often he goes unnoticed. But not by me. If you were to mould a basketball player, make exactly the kind of person you wanted, you couldn’t do better than Keith Wilkes.”
NOTE from the The Sports Time Traveler™
I interrupt this article for another moment to inform you about Keith Wilkes. In 1975, he changed his name to Jamaal Wilkes and went on to have a stellar NBA career garnering 4 championships, 1 with Warriors and 3 with the Showtime Lakers. In 2012, Wilkes was voted into the basketball hall of fame.
Now back again to 1973.
While the Irish limited Walton on offense, he was held to 16 points, he still dominated inside on defense with 15 rebounds and 7 blocks.
UCLA also dominated the game on the offensive boards sometimes getting as many as 5 shots on a single possession.
The Bruins took a 38 - 25 halftime lead and extended it to 61 - 39 midway through the 2nd half. Then they cruised to an 82 - 63 victory.
A new all-time record winning streak
UCLA had won their 61st in a row. A new record.
The victory was most satisfying for senior Larry Hollyfield, he and Larry Farmer were the only two UCLA players from the 1971 team that began the 61 game streak after the loss to Notre Dame. And in that 1971 loss, it was Hollfyfield who was guarding Austin Carr in the final 7 minutes.
Hollyfield told the Los Angeles Times, “I said to myself I lost my first game here and I’m redeeming myself. It feels good now.”
Wooden’s and the UCLA player’s reaction to the record
Wooden had this to say about his players setting the new record, “They seemed to relish it. They wanted it. And they said they wanted to get it before a partisan crowd rather than at home.”
Wooden himself was not very excited about the record. He said, “I’m very happy about it, but it doesn’t compare to winning your 1st national championship.”
Then referring to the Vietnam war he said, “This is cease fire day. And that’s more important.”
UCLA players also exhibited emotional control at the end of the game. Rapaport’s article noted that photographers from national magazines were on hand and were “disappointed that there were no jubilant leaps in the air by Bruin players at the final buzzer.”
One of those photographers was from Sports Illustrated.
POSTSCRIPT from the The Sports Time Traveler™
One of the photographers at the game on January 27, 1973 was either Jack Sheedy and George Long of Sports Illustrated. We’ll never know which one of them was actually there. They were a famous photographer team and Sports Illustrated always posted their credits as “Sheedy and Long” as they did in the February 5, 1973 issue. The picture they took of the UCLA - Notre Dame game was on the cover and you can see it at this link:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1973/02/05/43313#&gid=ci0258c05f101126ef&pid=43313---cover-image
The three UCLA players on the cover are from left to right: Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes and Larry Hollyfield.
The Sports Time Traveler™ will continue following the 1973 season of the UCLA Bruins as they continue their quest for another NCAA title and also a second straight undefeated season, something no men’s college team has ever done.