who did texas western lose to in 1966 who did texas western lose to in 1966

Flournoy led the Miners with 17 rebounds while Lattin added nine boards. 1966: Miner's late surge edges Lobos in overtime. And, like all of coach Neither team would score again. a 16-11 advantage. Five minutes into the game, the Miners led 17-4. 1952 - Student pranksters "borrow" a live alligator from San Jacinto Plaza. court, he confronted his two guards about the steals," recalled Eddie Texas secession movements, also known as the Texas independence movement or Texit, refers to both the secession of Texas during the American Civil War as well as activities of modern organizations supporting such efforts to secede from the United States and become an independent sovereign state.. Texas Western celebrated. TWC improved to 11-0 on the season, leaving the Miners and the University of Kentucky as the only two undefeated teams in the nation perhaps a bit foreshadowing. Willie Worsley had 12 points, Orsten Artis had 11, Harry Flournoy had 10 points, David Lattin had nine before fouling out and Jerry Armstrong also had nine points. It never dawned on me the social significance that it was until after the fact., Today, Vaccaro views Texas Western-Kentucky as the most significant game in basketball history. Bobby Joe Hill scored 20 points and Nevil Shed had 16 in the first half alone as the Miners took a commanding 55-30 lead at the intermission. Texas Western made only 34.2 percent of its shots but the Miner defense held West Texas to just 29.1 percent from the field, limiting the Buffaloes to just 50 points for the game. In 1955, Texas Western was the first state college in Texas to integrate its undergraduate classes. That just didn't happen in those days of college basketball. The Miners then turned on the gas, cutting the deficit to 10 points with 6:58 to go. At Northern colleges, where the unwritten rule for coaches had been, "Two [1] The Miners only lost one game, a road loss to Seattle by two points. But that wasnt the same thing as President (Lyndon) Johnson), Cager said. "Nevil (Shed)I'll never forget him saying back then," Riley said. So they could cut down the nets. I don't mean there were any fights -- but they were desperate Texas Western had a cold night shooting. Oklahoma City opened with a flurry but Texas Western finished with a flurry. "That's how coach Haskinsfound out Black guys could really play.". Coach Haskins didn't think that made any sense. Williams wanted to see the mystique of Kentucky firsthand and he was curious about the Miners since virtually no one outside of El Paso, Texas, had seen them play. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com. He couldnt afford the operation, Lattin said. "I wasn't out to be a pioneer when we played Kentucky," Haskins told The Los Angeles Times later in his career. players he did recruit -- like Kentuckians Butch Beard and Wes Unseld -- contest, in fact, that its starting time was 10 p.m., it wasn't carried by a Kansas scored with 22 seconds left then added two free throws with six seconds left when Lattin was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a Kansas player fell beneath him. "It was a thrill for meI'm kind of a young punkand to play a game with Mr. Rupp is quite an honor, let alone win it," Haskins, 36, told reporters after the game. Texas Western, 19-0, and Kentucky, 20-0, were the only two undefeated teams in the nation at this point. consecutive steals from Kentucky's guards. In Glory Road, the 2006 Disney movie about Texas Western, Miners coach Don Haskins tells his team the day before the championship that he will play only blacks the next night to make a social statement. Hill and Shed led the Miners for the entire game, each scoring 20 points and neither playing a great deal in the final half. In "Glory Road," the 2006 Disney movie about Texas Western, Miners coach Don Haskins tells his team the day before the championship that he will play only blacks the next night to make a social. The aesthetics also fall short because the Miners played in front of sellout crowds in a college arena that held thousands of fans, not in some rinky-dinky high school gym with few people dotting the bleachers. "It's just one of those things that sticks out to me about that game.". of Rupp's 1,066 games at Kentucky, in March of 1972, his team lost to Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 18 points. Rupp, stunned college basketball and upset conventional wisdom. Riley was a junior starter on Rupp's Kentucky team in 1966 and, he said, these playerswere young men, barely out of that lanky teenage stage. memory of that game to his grave," wrote his biographer, Russell Rice. section: | slug: significance-of-texas-westerns-1966-ncaa-title-not-realized-at-first | sport: collegebasketball | route: article_single.us | The game only got significant with race being a common denominator in the growth of basketball. Orsten Artis led Texas Western with 18 points, followed by Bobby Joe Hill with 15, Willie Worsley with 14 and David Lattin with 10. The Miner defense was again strong, holding the Wildcats to just 36.4 percent shooting from the field. Still, Rupp held out. Artis had 12 points, seven rebounds, Shed had 12 points and Harry Flournoy hhad 11 points, eight rebounds. Don Haskins, the coach who hastened the full integration of college basketball when he started five black players for Texas Western College against an all-white University of Kentucky team and. It was what I had done all year.. Bobby Joe Hill had 17, Cager had 15 and Orsten Artis had 11 points to pace TWC. Whether Texas Western-Kentucky deserved this much significance in social history is debatable. Video from the game showed a Confederate flag being waved by a Kentucky fan. The Miners outrebounded West Texas 49-26. Theirstory was on the the cover of Sports illustrated on March 28, 1966, with the headline "Texas Western Takes it All" witha photo of Flournoy stealing a rebound from Riley. But Texas Western was faster, could pull down rebounds and steal a pass before Kentucky realized what was happening. Bobby Joe Hill and David Lattin each had 18 points and Willie Cager added 10. 1965: Miners take opening game, beat ENMU. it's a wonder I didn't say something to him about it. Texas Western used its smothering defense, fierce rebounding and a balanced scoring attack to dismantle Iowa. I was simply playing the best players on the team, and they happened to be Black.. 1965: Miners, Hawkeyes take first-round tourney wins. It didnt matter to me. A big reason for the win was that the Miners outrebounded the Sun Devils 47-34. Otherwise, Miners players said there was no racial tension. The Miners, coming off a 21-day break for semester exams, picked up where they left off in steamrolling the Sun Devils. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Its kind like, hello, give me a break, Cager said of the flag. The team was coached by Hall of Famer Don Haskins. The Miners, ranked 9th in the nation, improved to 12-0 on the season with the Thursday night win. It was a special beginning to a special season. 1 person. American sports championship would be contested by one team that was Black athletes, prevailing wisdom The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 17-0 on the season with Thursday's win. 1966: TWC nips Pan American, stays unbeaten. time, they would somehow revert to their native impulses.". Ten players in laughably short pants move slowly through 40 minutes of "What a piece of history. Iowa, ranked No. Sign up to receive The Shadow League Newsletter in your inbox. Texas Western smothered New Mexico State early and raced away for an easy 73-56 win over the Aggies on Wednesday night, March 2, 1966, in Las Cruces. Nomention of skin color. That win accelerated the advancement of black athletes in the South. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: collegebasketball | pageType: stories | During halftime of the Texas Western game, he reportedly referred to the Miners as coons, as ESPN reports. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Follow and read more from Jon Solomon on Facebook and Twitter. The "borrowed" alligator is then placed in Professor Quinn's Geology office. major network, and it was televised only on a tape-delayed basis in several Princeton-Dartmouth on a Friday night in January. In fact, until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did. After the NCAA title in 1966,the nation watched the players goto the White House and meet Lyndon B. Johnson. Elusive point guard Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 16 points, including four buckets on quick drives down the middle for layups. Ray suggested Texas Western simply crushed East Texas State in the second half on the way to a 73-51 win on a Thursday night, Dec. 9, in game two of that 1965-66 championship season. They hadjust finished their pregame meal and Texas Western coach Don Haskins had corneredhis big center David Lattin with a demand. Its not really a book, its more like a pamphlet, Lattin said. 1961 - TWC trains the nation's first Peace Corps class. Basketball is long gone from Cole, which was built for boxing, became one of the most storied basketball arenas, and now is transitioning into a football indoor practice facility. The game began with a message. The other The Miners improved to 20-0 on the season and coach Don Haskins got his 100th career victory against only 25 losses. The American . It's a regret he once heard Shed voice. Determined to put an end to it, Haskins fielded an all-black team on that fateful night. Adolph Rupp's teams, they ran at every opportunity. "If you get too high, it's a long fall down. The exciting victory earned the Miners a spot in the NCAA Final Four along with Utah, Duke and Kentucky in College Park, Md. When the game was over and Texas Western was thevictor, the players didn't shake hands. "You know what I was thinking about? "and We were successful in kicking their booty., After Texas Westerns 72-65 victory over Kentucky, there was virtually no mention in the media about race. He didnt treat African-American guys differently than white guys.. Lattinscored 16 points and had nine rebounds while Rupp's words from that press conference echoed in his mind. 2023 www.elpasotimes.com. TWC led just 29-22 at the half but shot 60 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and outscored Nevada 57-27 in front of 3,600 fans. He treated us all poor. So, the All-American player had a front-row seat to what happened that night. 1966: TWC, Cincinnati defense to clash in NCAA. I was completely and totally shocked, Lattin said. There's not much drama, very little passion, and, in If we could have just gone over and shook their hands. But it was not to be. one shocked coach asked Haskins afterward. David Lattin added 11 points and Bobby Joe Hill had 10. Texas Western put up shot after shot after shot as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock. COLLEGE PARK, Md., March 19 -- Texas Western, overlooked in preseason ratings last December, became the collegiate basketball champion for the first time by whipping long-time powerful Kentucky, 72-65, tonight in the final of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . player in the Southeastern Conference. The '66 team is inescapable in El Paso. Adolph Rupp, Kentuckys coach from 1930-1972, recruited almost exclusively inside Kentucky, earning the nickname The Baron of Bluegrass. Like many other coaches of the era, Rupp did not recruit African American players. On this date in 1966: Texas Western becomes the first team to start five black players in the NCAA national championship.The Miners beat Adolph Rupps all-white No. player, Tom Payne. outside the Southwest despite its 27-1 record and its No.3 ranking. It had been a year since the voting rights marches from Selma to. Your email address will not be published. blacks. But it was on the boards that the Miners truly dominated this game. David Lattin led Texas Western to a comfortable 74-63 win over Weber State Tuesday night, Dec. 14, in front of 3,875 fans in Memorial Gym. NBA Hall of Fame Coach Pat Riley played a key role in the historic matchup thats been immortalized in movies and books. The Miners dominated the overtime period and escaped with the win. historian Charles Martin. Nevil Shed had 11 points and 17 rebounds in the game and guard Willie Worsley added 10 more points. Lattin had 24 points, 12 in each half, and 13 rebounds despite fouling out with 7:44 left in the game to lead the Miners to their fourth win of the season. President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers. Their tenacity paid off, and Texas Western won the game 72 65. "`They can do everything with How about that? Antonio Brown Tweets Pic Of Himself In A Baltimore Ravens Uniform. 1966: TWC smack Chiefs, continue winning streak. 72-65 victory that night over No.1 Kentucky, coached by the legendary Adolph He just couldn't take it.". UTEP honored the 1966 team earlier this month during a ceremony that includes messages from President Barack Obama, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and ESPN commentator Dick Vitale. Cager scored in the lane, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Miners up 74-70 in overtime. Haskins had grownup in Enid, Oklahoma, where a railroad track separated Black neighborhoods from white ones. How can you talk to these black guys like that?" Adolph Rupp and his Kentucky players as Texas Western puts the championship game out of reach in 1966. The Miners led 40-33 at the half and their defense simply smothered the Sun Devils holding them to just 39.1 percent shooting from the floor and forcing 23 turnovers. One of the reasons were still talking about it is something Pat Riley said one time, Lattin said. stupid sons of bitches!' FILE - In this March 19, 1966, file photo, Kentucky's Thad Jaracz (55) and Texas Western's David Latin (42) reach for a rebound during the first period of the NCAA men's baksetball championship game in College Park, Md. David Lattin had 16 points, 12 rebounds, Nevil Shed had 12 points, 10 rebounds and Harry Flournoy had 12 rebounds. It was the second big upset of the day. Willie Worsley and Willie Cager had eight pints each. David Lattin had 14 points, seven rebounds. But, as Geoffrey C. Ward writes in "Unforgivable Blackness," Johnson's unapologetic. In an arena filled with white cheerleaders, referees, and officials, it seemed impossible that an all-black team just won the NCAA title. The Miners held Tulsa to just 37.7 percent shooting from the field. through the hoop as much as possible, will present quite a challenge to '", "The Miners, who don't worry much about defense but try to pour the ball Dave Lattin played center, and his grandson plays Saturday for Oklahoma. We wanted to carry that trophy out of there," he said. David Lattin had 20 points, 15 rebounds. Fifty years ago, Texas Western started five black players Willie Worsley, Orsten Artis, Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin and Harry Flournoy against Kentucky in the N.C.A.A. Dan Koeck for The New York Times . He was a tough guy, but were all tough. "You meet the same people going up you meet on the way back down," she told him. snapped. So are the He loved us.". Lattin isn'ttalking about a team of white Kentucky players. He always blamed the loss on a flu bug, on inept shooting, on the referees, The Miners beat Kentucky (an all-white program until 1969) 7265 in the historic championship game, played on Saturday, March 19, at Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.[2][3][4]. After the game, he refused to congratulate or shake hands with the players. championship game on. The color of the players' skin wasn't even mentioned in newspaper articles that followed. No longer would we be kept out of mainstream America.". The Miners, playing their fourth road game in their last five outings, were led by David Lattin with 22 points, seven rebounds. pic.twitter.com/CjYykMS62n, After Texas Western secured the win, white Kentucky fans, who had been waving Confederate flags, sat speechless. Did The Flock Sign Him Or Does He Have A New Trolling Target. those racist myths. David Lattin led Texas Western to a comfortable 74-63 win over Weber State Tuesday night, Dec. 14, in front of 3,875 fans in Memorial Gym. The Miners led the Buffaloes just 30-27 at the half but ran away for a 78-64 victory, improving their record to 21-0 for the season. Until that moment, at the height of the civil-rights era, no major-college team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. The Miners roster consisted of seven African-Americans. Watch the full historic 1966 NCAA Championship between Texas Western and Kentucky. team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. 1966 NCAA tournament: Bracket Haskins contends he doesn't recall the incident, but Ray spoke of their Led by Don Haskins, a gruff, straight-talking coach known as "The Bear," the Texas Western Miners lit up the 1965-66 regular season with a 23-1 record. SHAPIRO: Texas Western is now known as the University of Texas at El Paso, and Andrade Franco says that historic team is a point of pride for his city. A lot of stuff happened that wasnt supposed to happen, even with Don Haskins. The legendary Miner defense took over after that, allowing Eastern New Mexico just two field goals in the first half and holding the visitors to a paltry 20.8 percent shooting from the field. The Miners improved to 7-0 on the 1965-66 season by dominating South Dakota 88-42 in the tournament's semifinals. violent game. TWC also led by seven points in the final half but Colorado State refused to go away. The Miners nursed the lead, pulling ahead to stay when Hill converted Heading into the 1966 NCAA semifinals -- this was before the corporate and catchy Final Four -- the prevailing opinion was that the second semifinal between Kentucky and Duke would decide the national champion. Texas Western roared away to a 30-point halftime lead and cruised to a 93-56 victory over Loyola of New Orleans Wednesday night, Dec. 29, 1965, in the opening round of the Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament. "It was a Willie Worsley led the Miners in scoring, hitting from the outside and finishing with 18 points. The Miners went into their delay game with Bobby Joe Hill and Orsten Artis handling the ball. He was also certain his team would secure the championship. As basketball lore has told a thousand times since, Texas Western did beat Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA championship. Whites then thought that if you put five blacks on the court at the same The top rebounder for the Miners was Flournoy with 11. Bobby Joe Hill had 20 points and Orsten Artis added 18. It was March 19, 1966, the night a team with five black starters made history by winning a national championship. In this March 19, 1966, file photo, Texas Western basketball coach Don Haskins, second from left, and players celebrate after winning the NCAA basketball championship in College Park, Md.. Bobby Joe Hill, the Miner point guard, picked up three fouls early and had to sit for 13 minutes in the first half. Even Texas Western players remain amazed theyre still remembered 50 years later. It was Arizona State's worst home loss in 10 years. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Jerry Armstrong came off the bench to defend and slow Jerry Chambers and help the Miners reach Saturday night's championship game against No. Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. 1965: TWC takes 67-47 win over Pan American. Few teams were recruiting black players, so it was unheard of to field an all-black team. Their tenacity paid off, and Texas Western won the game 72 - 65. He did his best to always reiterate that skin color was never an issue when he put his Miners on the floor with the highly favored Wildcats. As with most Hollywood sports biopics, although based on actual events, there are many inaccuracies in the movie. Bobby Joe Hill and Harry Flournoy added 12 points each, and Flournoy led the Miners with 14 rebounds. It was one of those Southern states that had through the years enforced widespread segregation. Why? In fact, Overview Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845 and became the 28th state. quote of the tournament when he was talking about Texas Western," wrote John What happened to the 1966 Texas Western basketball team? Claiborne, who was Dukes first black basketball player and became a business professor at Texas Southern. Bobby Joe Hill offered a bit of foreshadowing for that championship game against Kentucky, picking off four steals from East Texas and turning each one into an easy, uncontested layup in front of 3,800 fans in Memorial Gym. The Miners got off to a slow start and actually trailed 11-8 six minutes into the game. He cut to the middle of the court, went high just in front of the top of the circle and, on the dead run, drained the game winner. They never trailed again. Title. Orsten Artis had 13 points and Harry Flournoy led all rebounders with 18. of it: David Lattin is an executive with a Houston liquor distributor. On the plane, she sat next to him and gave him bubblegum so his ears wouldn'tpop. Texas Western led 42-32 at the half and held the Lions to just 19 points in the final half, improving to 2-0 on the season. Texas Western appeared to be dead in the water with 14 minutes to play Saturday night, Feb. 12, 1966, trailing New Mexico by 20 points. Orsten Artis became a detective sergeant in Gary, Ind., and Bobby Joe Hill The win was the Miner's fifth of the season without a loss at Memorial Gym Friday night. David Lattin and Nevil Shed had 14 points each. The squad also had four Anglo-Americans (Jerry Armstrong, Louis Baudoin, Dick Meyers, and Togo Railey and one Mexican-American Dave Palacio). Oh, it felt like yesterday, man, Cager said about returning to Cole Field House. point to prove. But it was not enough for the Jayhawks. The lead in Saturday's game changed hands 20 times as the two teams went back and forth. Glory Road is a 2006 American sports drama film directed by James Gartner, based on a true story surrounding the events leading to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship. Rupp's lingering bitterness helped paint the Miners as urban street thugs, But Hill hit a long jumper and Shed dropped in a layup and the Miners never trailed again. in 1977, the old coach lamented to visitors about the loss. Texas Western took an early lead and never relinquished it on its way to a national championship. Lattin and roommate Bobby Joe Hill sitting on their beds. Texas Westerns offense was tougher to guard and they played under control for the whole game.. Florida State. For weeks Don Haskins had splitting headachesfrightful, bursting pains that seemed to cleave his brain. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. A crowd of 5,399 packed Memorial Gym and spilled over into the auxillary gym to watch on closed circuit television. David Lattin led TWC with 14 points, 11 rebounds. The Miners roasted South Dakota 88-42 in the first game and then toasted Nevada 86-49 for the two commanding victories. Texas Western smothered Tulsa defensively on Monday night, Jan. 3, 1966 the day the Miners first moved into the Associated Press national rankings. The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now known as the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). 1 Kentucky. On this date in 1966, Texas Western (now called UTEP) becomes the first team to start 5 African-Americans in the NCAA Tournament title game, beating a Kentucky team (72-65) that included Pat Riley. The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), led by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins. 1965: TWC wins Mississippi Valley Classic. Texas Western survived a scare Thursday night, Feb. 10, 1966, edging Arizona 81-72 in overtime in front of an overflow crowd at Memorial Gym. American cities. The victory, according to sportswriters, analysts and prognosticators was a watershed event because it encouraged other predominantly white schools to recruit African-American players, ending years of shameful and evil segregation. According to Lattin, Haskins heard that Cager was ill many years ago and persuaded a friend to operate on Cager for free. The meeting was swift and to the point. David Lattin had 16 points, nine rebounds. 5:57 pm ET. The score was tied 2-2 just 74 seconds into the game. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. Battle of Fort Sumter. They werent some unheard of team that came out of nowhere, as Haskins had led them to two previous NCAA Tournaments. Orsten Artis had 15 points, eight rebounds. Harry Flournoy had 13 points, 17 rebounds and David Lattin managed 11 points, despite fouling out with 9:26 to play. Hill played the second half, scored 17 points and got the Miner offense rolling, leading them to their sixth straight victory, a commanding 83-65 decision over Fresno State. Their Willie Worsley can't disagree Haskins' starting five were the best players on the team. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: March 19. At the games end, Rupp was defeated and humiliated by the loss, reports the Washington Post. That move by a bearish white man didn't come without controversy. "Sports wasa vehicle through which African Americans could compete with whites on an equitable playing field," he said. Nevil Shed had 12 points, eight rebounds, and Willie Worsley had 10 points. As early as the 1920s, the NAACP urged Black people to take part in sports, "as a way to demonstrate citizenship, reliability, sportsmanship, all those kinds of character issues," said Pierce,who studies twentieth century America andspecializes in the urban experience of Blacks.