60 Moments at Memorial Gym: Others

March 5, 2012

This is the 60th season of basketball in Memorial Gymnasium. To commemorate the occasion, VUCommodores.com recalled 60 of the most memorable moments from men’s and women’s basketball games played on Vanderbilt’s home court. Each day last week VUCommodores.com revealed 12 historical moments, totaling 60 by Friday. The moments will not be listed by rank.

Because there is no way to capture every historical moment in a list of 60, we have listed additional memorable moments below.

Submit Your Memorable Moments | Recalling 60 Seasons at Memorial Gym

Moments 1-12 | 13-24 | 25-36 | 37-48 | 49-60

A jump shot from the top of the circle by Doug Yates beats Baylor, 61-60, at the buzzer.

With No. 6 Georgia Tech looking for a share of the SEC title, Vanderbilt’s Bobby Bland scored 16 points to help the Commodores defeat the Yellow Jackets, 62-57, and prevent them from winning a league title. Bland also held Georgia Tech All-American and SEC-leading scorer Roger Kaiser to just seven points.

Vanderbilt’s Roger Schurig hits a buzzer-beater to give the Commodores a 75-74 overtime win in their season finale against Georgia Tech.

John Ed Miller missed a game-tying jumper against LSU, but Clyde Lee grabbed the rebound and tossed in the game-winning basket to beat the Tigers, 66-64.

With Vanderbilt Head Coach Roy Skinner playing only six players throughout the game, Vanderbilt defeated Dean Smith’s fifth-ranked North Carolina team, 89-76. All five starters – Bob Warren, Kenny Campbell, Tommy Hagan, Bo Wynenandt, and Perry Wallace – scored in double figures for the Commodores. Reserve Gene Lockyear made key free throws and had a late tip-in to seal the victory.

Vanderbilt’s Bo Wynenandt beats Duke, 76-75, with an 18-foot jump shot with four seconds remaining. The Commodores were coached by Roy Skinner, while Duke’s coach was Vic Bubas.

Vandebilt’s Tom Hagan scored 32 points, Thorpe Weber added 22 and Bob Bundy hauled in 15 rebounds as the Commodores outscored LSU and its star player, Pete Maravich, 94-92. Maravich scored 38 points in the game, but it was eight points below his average of 46 points per game.

Vanderbilt defeated No. 6 and eventual SEC Champion Kentucky, 101-99. The Commodores were up by nine with two minutes to play and were able to withstand a late charge by the Wildcats.

Vanderbilt defeated No. 2 Kentucky 89-81. Tom Arnholt scored 28 points and Perry Wallace added 20 for the Commodores. Kentucky’s Dan Issel poured in 26 points and Mike Pratt had 20.

Memphis and Louisville finished the 1972 season with identical 12-2 Missouri Valley Conference records, forcing a neutral site playoff at Memorial Gym. Louisville won the game 83-72 to earn the league’s bid to the NCAA Tournament. Memphis had to settle for an NIT appearance. The game was played before a rabid sold-out crowd of 15,500 fans.

The governors for both states were in attendance at the game. Before the game, Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn incited the crowd by holding up a sign at center court that said, “We’re No. 1 in the Valley.” Louisville (24-3) had lost the two previous meetings with Memphis (21-6).

Vanderbilt holds Tennessee stars Bernard King and Ernie Grunfield almost 20 points below their team scoring average as the Commodores upset No. 9 Tennessee, 77-66. Butch Feher guarded Grunfield and Jeff Fosnes spent most of his time guarding King, who was ejected from the game with less than a minute to play.

Led by Mike Rhodes’ 19 second-half points, Vanderbilt (7-3) handed No. 4 LSU (9-1) its first loss of the season, upsetting the Tigers, 77-66.

Rhodes’ performance included two rare dunks as the Commodores made 70.8 percent of their shots in the second half and scored 51 points.

“At the start my legs were weak, but the big, noisy crowd set me on fire,” Rhodes said. “I was playing numb. I can’t dunk a ball very good, but tonight I was soaring,” Rhodes said. “We came out hot the second half, the crowd got with us and when this takes place we’re hard to beat. Everybody played so good.”

The win was the first in SEC play for Vanderbilt Head Coach Richard Schmidt. Rhodes, from Linden, Tennessee and Charles Davis of Nashville formed the duo of “Town and Country” for the Commodores.

Vanderbilt defeated Florida, 79-78, thanks in part to a technical foul called on Florida Head Coach Mickey DeMoss. With the score tied at 76, Florida brought the ball downcourt with less than 10 seconds left in the game. Terry Whitehead of Florida made a move inside and crashed into a Vanderbilt player. As the ball went out of bounds, the referee blew his whistle and signaled for a Florida possession.

At the same time, DeMoss stood up, expecting a call against her team, and said a few words. She would be whistled for a technical. Vanderbilt’s Meg Turner would make the free throw, and the Commodores received the ball. Florida was then forced to foul Dana Turner, who made two free throws, which essentially won the game as Florida scored a basket at the buzzer.

Sophomore Barbara Brackman made four free throws in the final 23 seconds to pull Vanderbilt from a one-point deficit and lift the Commodores to a 63-62 win over No. 10 Georgia. Brackman’s free throws made Georgia’s last-second shot meaningless.

“The free throw to tie the game was the hardest,” Brackman said. “Then, the rest got easier. I felt confident. I’m from Georgia. You know how badly I wanted to beat them.”

Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky, 77-74, to top the Wildcats for the first time in school history. The win helped move the Commodores into the national rankings for the first time in school history. Vanderbilt was tied for 20th with N.C. State in the Jan. 23 rankings. Harriet Brumfield scored 19 points and had 20 rebounds. Barbara Brackman scored 16 points and had five rebounds.

“Our only losses have come at the hands of nationally-ranked teams and we’re very proud of our record” Vanderbilt Head Coach Phil Lee said. “We may be in the top 20 for the first time this week, but above all we continue to take big steps forward in gaining respect for our program.”

Vanderbilt made a school-record 71.4 percent of its field goals as the Commodores defeated Tennessee 85-82. Vanderbilt was led by center Brett Burrow, who made 9-of-10 field goal attempts and scored 27 points. Vanderbilt made 25-of-31 free throws and Phil Cox added 23 points.

Hall of Famer Michael Jordan made an appearance in front of a sold-out crowd at Memorial Gym for an exhibition game in 1986. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Atlanta Hawks 122-112. Read More

Vanderbilt snapped a 13-game losing streak to Kentucky with a dominating, 83-66, win over the ninth-ranked Wildcats. Kentucky native Scott Draud had 22 points and Barry Goheen had 17 as Vanderbilt shot 13-of-20 from beyond the arc. All-American Will Perdue scored 17 and Barry Booker had 14. The win was C.M. Newton’s first against Kentucky in seven years of trying as Vanderbilt’s head coach.

Vanderbilt’s Barry Goheen is fouled with two seconds left and makes both free throws in a one-and-one and lifts Vanderbilt to a 71-69 win over Ole Miss.

In one of the best individual performances in school history, Wendy Scholtens scored 36 points and grabbed a school-record tying 22 rebounds as Vanderbilt defeated David Lipscomb, 95-68.

Vanderbilt defeated New Orleans 88-65 to advance to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Semifinals. The Commodores would go on and win the NIT that season.

Vanderbilt beats No. 9 Louisville 90-88 as Indiana transfer Chris Lawson grabs a rebound off a missed shot by Billy McCaffrey and scores the game-winning basket.

Vanderbilt beats No. 8 Arkansas 102-89 behind Billy McCaffrey’s 28 points Bruce Elder’s 14 rebounds. Arkansas Head Coach Nolan Richardson received two technicals in second half. Also in double figures were Ronnie McMahon and Kevin Anglin, Chris Lawson and Bruce Elder.

The winningest team in school history took the court one final time at Memorial Gym, defeating Ole Miss 77-62. Team would finish 30-3 and win the SEC Tournament and advance to the school’s only Final Four. Sophomore Mara Cunningham led all scorers with 16 points and junior Julie Powell had 15. Heidi Gillingham had 14 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore guard Rhonda Blades chipped in with seven points. Shelley Jarrard dealt out eight assists and senior Misty Lamb had five assists.

Playing as the No. 2 seed in the East Region, Vanderbilt advanced to a Sweet 16 for the third straight season with a 98-72 rout of Minnesota. Vanderbilt had opened the NCAA Tournament with a 95-85 victory over Grambling State.

Vanderbilt rallied from a six-point deficit to defeat No. 5 Virginia, 72-65. Sheri Sam led the way for Vanderbilt, and reached the 1,000-point plateau in the game.

Na’Sheema Hillmon scored six of Vanderbilt’s 10 points in overtime to lift the Commodores to an 80-77 victory over Purdue. Hillmon helped Vanderbilt overcome a five-point overtime deficit.

Sheri Sam tied what was then a school record by pouring in 39 points in Vanderbilt’s 100-83 victory over Harvard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt beat No. 5 Tennessee 85-72 as Anthony Williams scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Dan Langhi finished with 17 points and James Strong scored 15 points.

Vanderbilt Head Coach Jim Foster became the all-time winningest coach with an 89-58 win over Western Kentucky. His 208th win put him in front of Phil Lee (1981-91).

Playing as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt defeated Oakland, 63-38.

Vanderbilt earned its first win over a top 5 team since beating No. 1 Kentucky in 1993 when the Commodores knocked off No. 4 Alabama, 70-69.

Russell Lakey, a 22-percent three-point shooter, made a 25-foot three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in the game and five on the shot clock to stretch VU’s lead to 66-61 and Alabama could not overcome the deficit.

After a three-pointer by Alabama’s Mo Williams with 13.3, Scott Hundley had trouble getting the ball inbounds and was granted a controversial timeout.

Hundley then went to the free-throw line and made two free throws to extend VU’s lead to four. Alabama’s Kenny Walker then scored with 4.4 seconds left and then intentionally fouled VU’s Corey Smith, who made both free throws to seal it at 70-66.

“I was happy for Russ because he’s been struggling shooting the ball,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “His three was the biggest basket of the game.”

Vanderbilt upset No. 5 Kentucky 66-60. Matt Freije led Vanderbilt with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

A layup by Corey Smith beat the buzzer and lifted Vanderbilt to a 65-63 victory over Wichita State. With 0.7 seconds remaining, Jason Holwerda threw a pass the length of the floor to Smith who laid it in. Wichita State’s Jamar Howard scored with 0.7 seconds remaining on an offensive rebound before Smith’s layup. Vanderbilt’s Mario Moore made nine three-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points. Watch Highlights | Read More

Mario Moore made a 30-footer at the buzzer to lift Vanderbilt to a stunning victory over Oregon, 76-75. Moore’s basket came after Oregon’s Aaron Brooks gave the Ducks a 75-73 lead with 3.3 seconds to play. Derrick Byars led Vanderbilt with 20 points. Watch Shot | Read More

Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb became the fastest coach to reach 200 wins at Vanderbilt with the Commodores’ 81-68 win over Southern Illinois. Read More

For the first time in school history, ESPN’s College GameDay show came to Vanderbilt as the Commodores prepared to face No. 1 Kentucky. The national ESPN broadcast put Vanderbilt in the national spotlight with a live two-hour broadcast Saturday morning. The show, which was in its eighth season of broadcasting from different campus sites, featured host Rece Davis and analysts Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps. The Commodores lost the game 69-63, but were the recipients of outstanding exposure. Read More

Christina Foggie banked in a three-pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime against Florida as the Commodores defeated the Gators, 75-69.

Foggie’s shot came after she had picked up her dribble, but she was able to get enough separation for a desperation heave that hit off the backboard, the rim and then the backboard again before falling in. Watch Shot

“I didn’t even know (Foggie) was going to get it off,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb said. “It was a lucky shot.”

“To be honest, I completely just threw it up and it hit every part– the backboard, the rim a few times,” Foggie said.Credit: Nashville Banner, Tennessean, Dynamite! 75 Years of Vanderbilt Basketball (Roy M. Neel), DVD: 50 Years of Memorial Magic