Today? Is The 36th? Anniversary Of That Big UCLA Victory at Meadowlands

[AshSaturday]

Thought it was December 2nd 1980 for many years but found my ticket stub later and it said December 3. First basketball game ever at the then new Byrne Arena (had seen Bruce open it up on July 2, 1981). Actually in the 1st game ever the Lady Knights and Teresa Grentz beat the UCLA ladies. Didn't count for me as a few? of my high school buddies and I hit the race track and I lost $10 or so pregame.

What a wild game. Though UCLA had lost earlier that week they were still ranked #2 with Kenny Fields? from Plainfield. The crowd was wild. I remember spotting Shields from this board-a year ahead of me in HS-and ever the good but loud fan-cheering his butt off at end? court. Weirdly I had yet to catch any games with him.

Don't remember much of the game per se but the Knights played lights out. I believe RU was up by a few and with about 7 seconds left my namesake "Darius" Griffin stole a pass to seal the W and the crowd went bonkers.

After the game's end everyone was honking their horns in the parking lot. Everyone en mass drove back up the Turnpike to Exit 9 and there was a 1-2 mile backup at the exit-nobody didn't seem to mind too much. Never saw such a backup at the exit.

Arguably one of the top 2-3 RU game ever including the Penn State A-10 Champonship (Temple semi?) Wenzel's 1st year and the triple overtime win over Ohio State to win the Holiday Classic at the Garden in 1979 (with opener St Johns-seemingly moribund in the 1st half coming from 15+ behind to beat Dook in the consolatoner opener. I was blessed to have been there for all three.

 

[shields]

That UCLA team had like 6 kids who made NBA. Mike Sanders, Rocket Foster and Mark Eaton was on the bench. Stuart Gray was a big recruit for UCLA and took one shot and Roy Hinson sent the ball to the 5th row. Great game.

 

[AshSaturday]

Shields, where did that UCLA team finish in the NCAAs? Check out the HS Football thread for some (bad)( memories...

 

[Mr Magoo]

Great memory (the little I remember). I was a student then and we "tailgated" in the parking lot beforehand and consequently I only remember parts of it. FYI - Darius Griffin's son is the Varsity coach at Bishop Ahr HS - great guy.

 

[higgins3]

Bless all you folks. I will have the same story to tell in a couple of years. Good Rutgers crowds, a nice win, happy players, happy fans.

The RAC is returning to good health. The future seems bright.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Rutgers was losing 33-21 at the half...could not buy a bucket

Second half was just a hungry chip away...Hinson and Tillman had a nice second halves

Down 1......minute to go....Rutgers inserted Darius griffin in his first appearance of his senior year (hurt during football season m)....and got a steal. RU got the lead with 55-54...then on UCLA last possession ...RU got a steal and rich Brunson went to the hole on a break away layup to finish off Rutgers 57-54 win

Rutgers would go on to beat St. John's led by freshman Chris Mullins.. to get to 5-1....then ..lose to UNC in Michael Jordan's first game at MSG...and best number 6 west va on senior day at the RAC

Would have been a NCAA team if the brackets were 64 teams in 1982

 

[DHajekRC84]

was there. Didn't Chris Remly hit that big shot from top of key end game?

 

[RU-ROCS]

It was my freshman year 1981. Doesn't that make it the 35th anniversary? What a great game. We had no ride to the Meadowlands, so a bunch of us listened on the radio in Metler Hall. I seem to remember a bunch of students in the RU student section shaking car keys during UCLA free throws because there were allegations at the time that the UCLA players got new cars to play for the Bruins.

 

[cohwx]

I was there for both games. Don't remember a lot of details. The women won big, by 30 or 40 points I think. Seem to recall crowd storming the court after the men's game and carrying Roy off...did that happen or am I thinking of another game?

 

[PaKnight]

Great game, I remember stuck in traffic at exit 9 getting off the turnpike. Everyone was blowing their horns and cheering, including "we want North Carolina" who we were playing at the Garden in a week or so. They had a freshman who was pretty good.

 

[PaKnight]

I was there for both games. Don't remember a lot of details. The women won big, by 30 or 40 points I think. Seem to recall crowd storming the court after the men's game and carrying Roy off...did that happen or am I thinking of another game?

There is a picture in my yearbook, I graduated in 82, of Roy being carried off the court.

 

[oldtimer67]

Was it the first game or the first college game? Did the Nets play a game there before us?

 

[WJLeggett]

was there. Didn't Chris Remly hit that big shot from top of key end game?

That was against Notre Dame a few years later.

 

[G- RUnit]

Think they put in Mike Brown to guard the inbound pass to clinch game. Great stuff.

 

[BoroKnight]

I remember that game well. Our town's rec department sponsored a bus trip to the doubleheader. Rod Foster was from somewhere in the metro area, because a lot of people in the section next to us had powder blue-and-yellow paper rockets with "Rod" written vertically on them pinned to their coats.

I seem to recall the then-new alternating-possession rule coming into play near the end, to our benefit. But the details escape me.

It was an amazing win and one of the many reasons I couldn't handle Rutgers basketball being so bad while I was an undergrad (the Littlepage era, plus Wenzel's first year).

 

[knights1212]

What a great game that was. Darius Griffin did steal the ball and we sealed the deal.
I was screaming & cheering as loud as I could. I remember being so jacked up that I couldn't fall asleep when I got home. The Notre Dame game when Remley hit the jumper to win at the Meadowlands was also a great win. Those were exciting times. Hopefully we can get back to playing games like those again. The Notre Dame game was 61-59 and was on February 9, 1984.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

We trailed UCLA by 13 at halftime. We played a near-perfect second half.

 

[knights1212]

This was actually the 35th anniversary of the UCLA game as it was played on December 3, 1981.

 

[Hamilton's Cannon]

Saw the end at the old College Ave pub

 

[DHajekRC84]

That was against Notre Dame a few years later.

thanks...was on my way home from last night's game and realized that as well. Was at both those games. FUN times.

 

[snowboarder]

I was there too and it was a great and exciting game. At the time I think that many of us still had hope that we could be a consistent NCAA team. It came on the heels of the Sellers, Dabney, Jordan and Bailey era but we still had talent in the program.
Most of us had no idea that we would become one of the worst programs in the country over the next 35 years. Tom Young won just about 70% of his games at RU reaching the Final Four and Sweet Sixteen but could not sustain
his success under the burden of the Big East.

 

[Ready to Rumble]

I was at the game but didn't recall many of the details. Interestingly, this was the first season with the new possession rule which played a big factor in our win. There were over 13k in attendance back when it wasn't unusual for Rutgers regularly bring large crowds to MSG.

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/04/sports/rutgers-upsets-ucla-by-57-54.html

 

[shields]

I remember Gray had problems with Hinson and Sanders had to guard Hinson in second half.

 

[AshSaturday]

This was actually the 35th anniversary of the UCLA game as it was played on December 3, 1981.

I THOUGHT it the 35th anniversary-that's why I posted. I guess: 1) I was a frosh at Cook and went with a couple of High school seniors I knew. Actually NEVER got reimbursed for my 1-2 tickets. 2) I still must not have been going to games with Shields yet because had I been running into him would have seen what he was up to re the game. Don't remember seeing him with anyone I recognized...

Funny about playing UNC a few games later. Don't remember that game unless I went and didn't know it was Jordan's 1st game. By long shot (think it was much earlier that wasn't the game when Phil Ford was a senior and the 400 lb "human pick" Geoff Crompton? Saw that game as a kid I think.

5 years later and I'm a grad in Chapel Hill!