The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
McFadden, CSU made Sweet history in ’86
Vikings followed up historic win over Indiana by knocking off St. Joseph’s to make Sweet 16
On the day after Cleveland State shocked the college basketball world by beating Indiana in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament, CSU coach Kevin Mackey and freshman guard Ken “Mouse” McFadden were of like minds.
The No. 13 seed Vikings gathered for practice in Syracuse, N.Y. on March 15, 1986. The next day, they were to face No. 9 seed St. Joseph’s in the second round at the Carrier Dome.
It was a classic “trap game” scenario for the Vikings. They had shocked the college basketball world with their 8379 win over legendary coach Bobby Knight and the Hoosiers.
The CSU players and Mackey were getting national media attention. Everywhere they went in public, the microphones and cameras followed. Could the CSU players maintain their edge?
“Of course I was concerned,” Mackey said during a recent telephone interview from his home in Indianapolis. “Our kids were human. They hadn’t been through anything like this before. It’s easy to succumb to all the attention.”
McFadden, the flashy, lefthanded guard from New York City with the catchy nickname and 13.7 points-per-game scoring average, said he and his teammates were not blinded by the bright lights as they gathered for that practice.
“The mindset was the same,” said McFadden, now 54 and working for Cuyahoga County. “We did not want to be one and done. No way we were going to beat Indiana and then lose to St. Joe’s. That would have meant we weren’t that good and were lucky to beat Indiana.”
St. Joseph’s was a Philadelphia school with a rich men’s basketball tradition that included 13 previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Led by senior forward Maurice Martin (17.8 points) and burly sophomore center Rodney Blake (13.5 points, 7.1 rebounds), the Hawks had claimed the Atlantic 10 regular-season and postseason tournament titles.
In the first round of the
NCAA Tournament, also at the Carrier Dome, St. Joseph’s mounted a late rally fueled by Martin and Blake to beat standout senior forward Johnny Newman and the Richmond Spiders, 6059.
Mackey was a former Boston College assistant who’d come to Cleveland State three years earlier. He knew all about St. Joe’s hoops heritage and the Hawk, the distinctive mascot whose “wings” are in constant motion during all athletic contests.
Clinton Smith today is 56 and running a youth basketball program at Fowlers Mill Christian Church in Geauga County. Then, he was a 6-foot-6 power forward at CSU who was a force at both ends of the floor.
Smith remembers Mackey pushing all the right buttons between the end of the Indiana game and tip-off of the St. Joseph’s
game.
“Mackey was at this best in those situations,” Smith said. “He knew what to say and how to say it. We knew St. Joe’s was a good team. So were we. We beat Indiana. We beat DePaul. We beat (former NBA player) Kevin Duckworth. We weren’t afraid of anybody.”
CSU, 28-3 going into the game against St. Joseph’s had notched a road win at DePaul during the regular season.
In Association of MidContinent Universities play, the Vikings swept two regular-season games from Eastern Illinois and Duckworth, a 6-10 center and future two-time NBA All-Star. The Vikings also beat Eastern Illinois in the championship game of the AMCU postseason tournament.
McFadden remembers Mackey challenging Smith to neutralize Martin, a gifted scorer who would go on to be selected by the
Denver Nuggets with the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 1986 NBA Draft
“With the way Mackey had Clinton positioned mentally, I loved our chances,” McFadden said.
McFadden and Smith both came up big in a hardfought, 75-69 victory that propelled the Vikings to the “Sweet Sixteen” and an East Region semifinal contest against Navy and AllAmerica center David Robinson.
Finishing with 23 points, McFadden kept the Vikings afloat during a sluggish first half when CSU struggled against the Hawks’ 2-3 zone defense. In the second half, McFadden made key baskets as the Vikings pulled away in the final three minutes.
“Mouse was blessed with great confidence in himself.,” Mackey said “We got him the ball and he got it in the basket. He was great
that game.”
Smith finished with 16 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and limited Martin to 15 points. Following smartly on his 27-point performance against Indiana, junior forward Clinton Ransey added 17 points and eight rebounds.
“We played better against St. Joe’s than we did against Indiana. We were focused the whole time,” McFadden said.
St. Joseph’s coach Jim Boyle heaped praise on Mackey and the Vikings in his post-game news conference.
“It was a matter of us just getting beat by a better team,” Boyle said. “Cleveland State is very capable of winning in this tournament again.”
Mackey made sure his players cut down the nets at both baskets. Ever the Boston Irishman, he also made reference in his post-game comments to the next day
being St. Patrick’s Day.
“It will be a high holy day tomorrow,” Mackey said, smiling. “There’ll be some green beer flowing in Cleveland.”
The following morning, the Vikings flew back to Cleveland. Four days in Syracuse and two games at the Carrier Dome drastically altered the trajectory of the CSU men’s basketball program.
“It changed the hearts and minds of people in the country who didn’t know about us,” McFadden said. “Our fan base in Cleveland knew all about us. They knew if the game was fair, we can beat anybody.”
Mackey added: “When we left Syracuse, everybody knew my guys were BTA — better than advertised.”
The next test of CSU’s talent and resolve would come against Robinson and Navy on March 20, 1986 at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford N.J.