‘The Game of the Century’
College basketball was changed forever when UCLA visited the Astrodome
T hey billed UCLA’s visit to the Astrodome to play the University of Houston 50 years ago today as “The Game of the Century.”
» Both teams were undefeated: UCLA had run up a 47-game winning streak over two seasons and was ranked No. 1 in the country. UH, also undefeated at 14-0, was ranked No. 2.
» The teams had some history together: The teams had met in the semifinals of the previous season. UCLA had won 73-58 and went on to earn its third national basketball championship in four seasons.
» The game featured the nation’s best players: UCLA’s Lew Alcindor and Houston’s Elvin Hayes were in the early stages of careers that would lead each of them to the Basketball Hall of Fame. (You probably know Alcindor by the name to which he changed in 1971: Kareem AbdulJabbar.)
» It was the first basketball game to be played in the new Astrodome: Never mind the fact that the “Eighth Wonder of the World” really wasn’t built for hoops: The seats were way too far away from the court — essentially, atop second base. There wasn’t even a portable floor in the area: The court had to be trucked in from Los Angeles.
» The crowd: 52,693 fans were there that night — more than three times larger than any that had watched a college basketball game before, anywhere. » First national broadcast: No regular-season college basketball game had ever before been broadcast nationally. The TVS network, headed by Chicago White Sox Presdient Eddie Einhor, paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights to the game. He signed up 120 stations around the country willing to pre-empt their regular Saturday evening programming for college hoops. UCLA’s regular play-by-play man, Dick Enberg, would call the game and Hall of Famer Bob Pettit would handle the color commentary.
Despite all these distractions, thankfully, the game itself didn’t disappoint. With two minutes to go, the score was tied at 69. Houston’s Hayes sank two free throws for his 38th and 39th points of the night.
As the Bruins brought the ball up the court for their final possession, All-America guard Mike Warren accidentally deflected a pass aimed for Lynn Shackelford out of bounds. Shackelford, who had been left unguarded in the corner, was UCLA’s best perimeter shooter.
A mix of spectators and Cougar players lifted UH coach Guy Lewis onto their shoulders and paraded him around the court.
But, as the Chronicle’s Dale Robertson wrote in a 2016 piece about the game, the Bruins couldn’t have regretted the trip. Each school received $125,000, some four times the NCAA Tournament payout of $31,781 that spring.
UCLA got its revenge in a Final Four rematch two months later, romping 101-69 en route to another national title.