1974–75 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team

1974–75 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball
Big Ten Regular Season Champions
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches #1
AP #3
1974–75 record 31–1 (18–0 Big Ten)
Head coach Bobby Knight (4th year)
Assistant coach Dave Bliss
Assistant coach Bob Donewald
Assistant coach Bob Weltlich
Assistant coach Mike Krzyzewski
Captain Steve Green
Quinn Buckner
Home arena Assembly Hall
1974–75 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#3 Indiana 18 0   1.000     31 1   .969
#19 Michigan 12 6   .667     19 8   .704
Minnesota 11 7   .611     18 8   .692
Purdue 11 7   .611     17 11   .607
Michigan State 10 8   .556     17 9   .654
Ohio State 8 10   .444     14 14   .500
Iowa 7 11   .389     10 16   .385
Wisconsin 5 13   .278     8 18   .308
Illinois 4 14   .222     8 18   .308
Northwestern 4 14   .222     6 20   .231
Rankings from AP Poll

The 197475 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. Their head coach was Bobby Knight, who was in his 4th year. The team played its home games in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.

The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an overall record of 31-1 and a conference record of 18-0, finishing 1st in the Big Ten Conference. [1] The Hoosiers went the entire regular season undefeated, and when combined with the following year (1975-76) they won 37-consecutive Big Ten games. The 1974–75 Hoosiers swept the entire Big Ten by an average of 22.8 points per game. However, in an 83-82 win against Purdue they lost consensus All-American forward Scott May to a broken left arm. With May's injury keeping him to 7 minutes of play, the No. 1 Hoosiers lost to Kentucky 92-90 in the Elite Eight. The Hoosiers were so dominant that four starters - Scott May, Steve Green, Kent Benson and Quinn Buckner - would make the five-man All-Big Ten team.

Roster

No.NamePositionHt.YearHometown
20Bobby WilkersonG/F67Jr.Anderson, Indiana
21Quinn BucknerG63Jr.Phoenix, Illinois
22Wayne RadfordG/F63Fr.Indianapolis, Indiana
24Steve AhlfeldG61Sr.Wabash, Indiana
25Doug AllenF66Sr.Champaign, Illinois
30John KamstraG61Sr.Frankfort, Indiana
31John LaskowskiG/F65Sr.South Bend, Indiana
32Mark HaymoreF/C68Fr.Shaker Heights, Ohio
33Tom AbernathyF67Jr.South Bend, Indiana
34Steve GreenF67Sr.Sellersburg, Indiana
40Jim WismanG62Fr.Quincy, Illinois
42Scott MayF67Jr.Sandusky, Ohio
43Don NoortC68Jr.Worth, Illinois
45Jim CrewsG65Jr.Normal, Illinois
54Kent BensonC611So.New Castle, Indiana

Regular season

On December 7, 1974, Indiana and Kentucky met in the regular season in Bloomington with a 98-74 Indiana win. Near the end of the game, Indiana coach Bobby Knight went to the Kentucky bench where the official was standing to complain about a call. Before he left, Knight hit Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall in the back of the head.[2] UK's assistant coach Lynn Nance, a former FBI agent who was about 6 feet 5 inches, had to be restrained by Hall from hitting Knight. Hall later said, "It publicly humiliated me."[3]

Knight said the slap to the head was something he has done, "affectionately" to his own players for years. "But maybe someone would not like that," he said. "If Joe didn't like it, I offer an apology. I don't apologize for the intent." ... "Hall and I have been friends for a long time," Knight said. "If he wants to dissolve the friendship, that's up to him."[4] Knight blamed the furor on Hall, noting in his inimitable style, "If it was meant to be malicious, I'd have blasted him into the seats."[5] Indiana finished the regular season unbeaten (31-0).

Schedule/Results

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
City, State
Regular Season

11/30/1974*
#3 Tennessee Tech W 113-60  1-0
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

12/4/1974*
#3 at #7 Kansas W 74-70 OT 2-0
Allen Fieldhouse 
Lawrence, KS

12/7/1974*
#3 #15 Kentucky
Indiana–Kentucky rivalry
W 98-74  3-0
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

12/11/1974*
#3 at #11 Notre Dame W 94-84  4-0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN

12/14/1974*
#3 vs. Texas A&M W 90-55  5-0
Market Square Arena 
Indianapolis, IN

12/16/1974*
#3 Toledo W 92-70  6-0
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

12/20/1974*
#2 Creighton
Indiana Classic
W 71-53  7-0
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

12/21/1974*
#2 Nebraska
Indiana Classic
W 97-60  8-0
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

12/26/1974*
#2 vs. Florida
Rainbow Classic Quarterfinals
W 98-84  9-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, HI

12/27/1974*
#2 vs. Ohio State
Rainbow Classic Semifinals
W 102-71  10-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, HI

12/30/1974*
#2 vs. Hawaii
Rainbow Classic Championship
W 69-52  11-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, HI

1/4/1975
#2 at Michigan State W 107-55  12-0 (1-0)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI

1/6/1975
#2 at #17 Michigan W 90-76  13-0 (2-0)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI

1/11/1975
#1 Iowa W 102-49  14-0 (3-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

1/13/1975
#1 Minnesota W 79-59  15-0 (4-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

1/18/1975
#1 at Northwestern W 82-56  16-0 (5-0)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL

1/20/1975
#1 at Wisconsin W 89-69  17-0 (6-0)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI

1/25/1975
#1 #20 Purdue
Rivalry
W 104-71  18-0 (7-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

1/27/1975
#1 Illinois
Rivalry
W 73-57  19-0 (8-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

2/1/1975
#1 at Ohio State W 72-66  20-0 (9-0)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH

2/3/1975
#1 Michigan W 74-48  21-0 (10-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

2/8/1975
#1 at Iowa W 79-56  22-0 (11-0)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA

2/10/1975
#1 at Minnesota W 69-54  23-0 (12-0)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN

2/15/1975
#1 Northwestern W 82-58  24-0 (13-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

2/17/1975
#1 Wisconsin W 93-58  25-0 (14-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

2/22/1975
#1 at Purdue
Rivalry
W 83-82  26-0 (15-0)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN

2/24/1975
#1 at Illinois
Rivalry
W 112-89  27-0 (16-0)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL

3/1/1975
#1 Ohio State W 86-78  28-0 (17-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN

3/8/1975
#1 Michigan State W 94-79  29-0 (18-0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
NCAA Tournament

3/15/1975*
#1 vs. UTEP
Quarterfinals
W 78-52  30-0 (18-0)
Memorial Coliseum 
Lexington, KY

3/20/1975*
#1 vs. Oregon State
Sweet Sixteen
W 81-71  31-0 (18-0)
University of Daytona Arena 
Dayton, OH

3/22/1975*
#1 vs. #5 Kentucky
Elite Eight
L 90-92  31-1 (18-0)
University of Dayton Arena 
Dayton, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

NCAA Tournament

Following the contentious regular season game, Indiana and Kentucky met in the 1975 Elite Eight in Dayton, Ohio. Coming into that game, the Hoosiers were on a 34-game winning streak, and the number one ranked team in America. Kentucky was ranked number five. However, Indiana had lost star player Scott May to a broken arm in the regular season finale against Purdue. May scored 25 points in the regular season IU-UK meeting, but he managed only 2 points in seven minutes in the tournament game, which he played with a cast on his left arm. IU surged out to an early seven-point lead before UK rallied to tie it at 44 by halftime. Despite Indiana's Kent Benson scoring 33 points (on 13-of-18 shooting) and grabbing 23 rebounds, Kentucky would win by just two points, 92-90. The game made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time.[6]

The loss for Indiana prevented what could have been back-to-back undefeated seasons and national championships as the Hoosiers went on to take the national title in 1976. Bob Knight would later say that this 1974-1975 team was the best he ever coached, even better than the undefeated national champions of 1976. The win put UK in the Final Four in San Diego, where they dropped the NCAA title game in what would be John Wooden's last game.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year Round Pick Player NBA Club
1975 2 30 Steve Green Chicago Bulls
1975 2 32 John Laskowski Chicago Bulls
1976 1 2 Scott May Chicago Bulls
1976 1 7 Quinn Buckner Milwaukee Bucks
1976 1 11 Bob Wilkerson Seattle SuperSonics
1976 3 43 Tom Abernethy Los Angeles Lakers
1977 1 1 Kent Benson Milwaukee Bucks
1978 2 27 Wayne Radford Indiana Pacers

[7]

References

  1. "Indiana Basketball Men's Database". IndyStar. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  2. "Recapping the rivalry". Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  3. "none". Atlanta Constitution Journal. 28 February 1982.
  4. Laudeman, Tev (8 December 1974). "none". Louisville Courier Journal.
  5. Delsohn, Steve (2006). Bob Knight: The Unauthorized Biography. Simon & Schuster. p. 96.
  6. Mike Douchant - Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
  7. http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1975&lg=N
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