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Ru Princeton first round game 1976

bwrlaw

Junior
Mar 13, 2010
693
612
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anyone remember where the game was played. My son noticed the three point line in the btn show on the 76 team. I think it had to be an ABA team arena. Could be wrong though.
 
anyone remember where the game was played. My son noticed the three point line in the btn show on the 76 team. I think it had to be an ABA team arena. Could be wrong though.
Providence
 
How awesome to play your in-state rival in the tournament! It would be like playing Seton Hall when we actually return to the dance. Hoping it happens sometime in my lifetime.
 
How awesome to play your in-state rival in the tournament! It would be like playing Seton Hall when we actually return to the dance. Hoping it happens sometime in my lifetime.
Except nobody wanted to play Princeton once in those days. Now to have to play them again with everything on the line had to be nightmarish. You had to beat them because they never beat themselves. We had luck on our side that day. Also caught a huge break having to go against VMI to get to Philly.
 
VMI upset DePaul and Tennessee in the first two rounds. Both were very highly ranked. I think DePaul was in the top five at the time.
 
It was at the Providence Civic Center, which probably has a different name by now. The RU - PU games back then were excruciating to watch and that one was the all-time classic, a one-point win that went right down to the wire.

IIRC, RU then went down to the Greensboro Coliseum where it had to play UConn in the Sweet 16. The tournament had 32 teams back then so that all teams had to play a first round game. What a concept. Gone were the days of UNC winning the ACC tournament and going right to the Sweet 16.

There had been several upsets and neither Duke nor UNC were still in the tournament, which gave the press down there no one to cover. So, after RU knocked off UConn and VMI to qualify for the final 4, the Carolina reporters obnoxiously asked Tom Young how it will feel to be an underdog next week. His reply was something along the lines of "I don't know. How much will Carolina be favored by in the other game."
 
It was at the Providence Civic Center, which probably has a different name by now. The RU - PU games back then were excruciating to watch and that one was the all-time classic, a one-point win that went right down to the wire.

IIRC, RU then went down to the Greensboro Coliseum where it had to play UConn in the Sweet 16. The tournament had 32 teams back then so that all teams had to play a first round game. What a concept. Gone were the days of UNC winning the ACC tournament and going right to the Sweet 16.

There had been several upsets and neither Duke nor UNC were still in the tournament, which gave the press down there no one to cover. So, after RU knocked off UConn and VMI to qualify for the final 4, the Carolina reporters obnoxiously asked Tom Young how it will feel to be an underdog next week. His reply was something along the lines of "I don't know. How much will Carolina be favored by in the other game."
I think it's now the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence.
We lucked out by going to the South Region which might have been the easiest with the VMI upsets. UNC went to the Mideast and lost to Alabama, first round. Don't think Duke even made the field of 32. Still a tough Final Four with Indy and UCLA, but who knows if we brought our "A " game. With the Finals in Philly it seemed to be the perfect script to end the season. Here we are 40 years later with great memories.
 
It was at the Providence Civic Center, which probably has a different name by now. The RU - PU games back then were excruciating to watch and that one was the all-time classic, a one-point win that went right down to the wire.

IIRC, RU then went down to the Greensboro Coliseum where it had to play UConn in the Sweet 16. The tournament had 32 teams back then so that all teams had to play a first round game. What a concept. Gone were the days of UNC winning the ACC tournament and going right to the Sweet 16.

There had been several upsets and neither Duke nor UNC were still in the tournament, which gave the press down there no one to cover. So, after RU knocked off UConn and VMI to qualify for the final 4, the Carolina reporters obnoxiously asked Tom Young how it will feel to be an underdog next week. His reply was something along the lines of "I don't know. How much will Carolina be favored by in the other game."

Don't forget a similar thing happened in 1979. Duke and Carolina both lost in the early round, so the Eastern Regional that year, probably in Greensboro but definitely somewhere on Tobacco Road, featured Rutgers, St. John's, Syracuse and Penn. Awesome for the locals. We should never have lost to St. John's, which then lost to Penn, which then got its doors blown off my Magic and Michigan State in the Final Four.
 
Don't forget a similar thing happened in 1979. Duke and Carolina both lost in the early round, so the Eastern Regional that year, probably in Greensboro but definitely somewhere on Tobacco Road, featured Rutgers, St. John's, Syracuse and Penn. Awesome for the locals. We should never have lost to St. John's, which then lost to Penn, which then got its doors blown off my Magic and Michigan State in the Final Four.

Yes, that 1979 loss to SJU somewhere in NC was a great disappointment, especially considering that we had defeated them twice during the regular season. I recall watching it on TV - it was the ultimate feeling of frustration. RU had a great shot at being in the final 4 that season but that game did us in.

The top three rivalries in eastern basketball at that point were RU-SJU, RU-Syracuse, and SJU-Syracuse. The following season, though, when the BE opened for business without RU in it, our rivalries with those two teams lost most of their meaning and soon became uncompetitive. Not joining the BE with all of our natural rivals was the biggest mistake ever made in RU sports. A BE with RU in it and SHU not in it (and in the MAAC where it belonged at that point) would have cemented RU's position as the preeminent basketball program in the state and, with SJU, in the metropolitan region.
 
Yes, that 1979 loss to SJU somewhere in NC was a great disappointment, especially considering that we had defeated them twice during the regular season. I recall watching it on TV - it was the ultimate feeling of frustration. RU had a great shot at being in the final 4 that season but that game did us in.

The top three rivalries in eastern basketball at that point were RU-SJU, RU-Syracuse, and SJU-Syracuse. The following season, though, when the BE opened for business without RU in it, our rivalries with those two teams lost most of their meaning and soon became uncompetitive. Not joining the BE with all of our natural rivals was the biggest mistake ever made in RU sports. A BE with RU in it and SHU not in it (and in the MAAC where it belonged at that point) would have cemented RU's position as the preeminent basketball program in the state and, with SJU, in the metropolitan region.
Yes the game was in Greensboro, NC and it was Black Sunday as both Duke and UNC lost leaving the eastern schools invading the South.
Although the 76 team losing hurt , 1979 loss hurt more personally. I worked on WRSU and headed down to Greensboro on spring break, along with Doug Meyer, Dave Siegelman Tony Malanga and Ken Grossman(now Chamlin). Doug and Dave broadcast the Friday game against St. John's and Kenny interviewed Billy Packer as our halftime guest. This was pre ESPN with sporadic TV coverage, so the broadcast was probably attracting 250,000 listeners . We led St. John's by 10 at half, LOU Carnececca went zone in the second half and we went cold and Wayne McCoy tipped in a bucket at the buzzer to beat us by 2. We were better , had beat them twice during the year, and just blew it. We were also better than Penn, who had Tony Price (Uconn guard's Dad) and would most certainly returned to the Final Four with Magic and Bird . Tony and I would have broadcast the Penn game back to Central Jersey and all Rutgers fans as Rutgers was likely to head back to the Final Four. An opportunity missed that eats at our broadcasting crew but especially Tony and I who would have had the radio call. Just missed out on 2 Final Fours for our time on the Banks.
 
Yes the game was in Greensboro, NC and it was Black Sunday as both Duke and UNC lost leaving the eastern schools invading the South.
Although the 76 team losing hurt , 1979 loss hurt more personally. I worked on WRSU and headed down to Greensboro on spring break, along with Doug Meyer, Dave Siegelman Tony Malanga and Ken Grossman(now Chamlin). Doug and Dave broadcast the Friday game against St. John's and Kenny interviewed Billy Packer as our halftime guest. This was pre ESPN with sporadic TV coverage, so the broadcast was probably attracting 250,000 listeners . We led St. John's by 10 at half, LOU Carnececca went zone in the second half and we went cold and Wayne McCoy tipped in a bucket at the buzzer to beat us by 2. We were better , had beat them twice during the year, and just blew it. We were also better than Penn, who had Tony Price (Uconn guard's Dad) and would most certainly returned to the Final Four with Magic and Bird . Tony and I would have broadcast the Penn game back to Central Jersey and all Rutgers fans as Rutgers was likely to head back to the Final Four. An opportunity missed that eats at our broadcasting crew but especially Tony and I who would have had the radio call. Just missed out on 2 Final Fours for our time on the Banks.

If I recall right, Bailey blocked McCoy's shot and it went right back to him and he was able to lay it in. Darius Griffin fumbled the subsequent inbounds pass and we never got a shot off.
 
If I recall right, Bailey blocked McCoy's shot and it went right back to him and he was able to lay it in. Darius Griffin fumbled the subsequent inbounds pass and we never got a shot off.
As I try to recall , I don't remember. But I am great friends with the whole crew and I will ask if they recall. My email is jadru614@aol.com if you want to follow up
 
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