GAME OF THE CENTURY
The nationally televised rematch on January 20, 1968, is well-chronicled. Both entered the mid-season contest undefeated: top-ranked UCLA and number 2 Houston (in the Associated Press poll). No title was on the line, only bragging rights for the regular season.
For the UCLA Bruins, it was a painful, prickling loss. For Lew Alcindor, it was a bedeviling nightmare. The 7’2” All-American sustained a corneal scratch against the University of California leading up to the contest, requiring him to miss the next two games. He had the option to sit this out, but played despite having vertical double vision. The junior stalwart shot a dismal 4/18 from the field for 15 points. In summary, he visualized two hoops and two Hayes that evening.
It was the only college game in which Lew would shoot less than 50%.
In stark contrast, Hayes incinerated the nets, shooting 17/25 for 39 points (including 29 by halftime and two free throws late in the game to lock up the victory). Houston won the titanic battle by a score of 71-69. A portion of 52,000 fans flooded the Astrodome floor, toting Hayes off the court as a hero. Immediately, the Cougars took the number one ranking from UCLA after breaking their 47-game win streak. Hayes continued to squawk incessantly about his vanquished rival. Alcindor—embarrassed and incensed—took a copy of a Sports Illustrated cover with the caption “BIG EEEE OVER BIG LEW”, which featured Hayes shooting over him during the two-point win, and posted it in his locker for the remainder of the season.
Based on his performance that night, Hayes all but secured the 1968 College Player of the Year award, and Guy Lewis was named Coach of the Year. The Houston big man had spectacular numbers, averaging 36.8 points and 18.9 rebounds. Nevertheless, bias within the sports pages was not challenging to decipher. Read any textbook, periodical, or publication on the Black athlete in the 60s and 70s, and commonly, the following descriptive words will appear: surly (menacing or arrogant), uppity (haughty or high-and-mighty), and moody (a head case warranting certified DSM psychiatric analysis). Elvin was brash and complicated but generally well-liked as a collegian (later despised and deemed self-centered by his second pro season). Alcindor, outspoken, active and unapologetically Black during those tempestuous times, was dubbed with all three descriptors and worse.
Post-season awards, however, were little consolation for what was looming on the horizon. Each team ran the table and stormed into the NCAA tournament that year. Inevitably, they met again at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in the 1968 NCAA semifinals.
Hayes reflected on his credo decades later: “My plan was to get Alcindor [Kareem] in a one-on-one situation. His star was so high and bright in the sky that he was held up as unbeatable. He was all-everything, and I wanted to take his star down and put mine up there. Before that game, we were friends, but after that [1968] Houston game, we never really talked again. We could play on the same [NBA] All-Star team and never talk to each other. When I played with Washington, and he played with L.A., I never shook his hand. That game created such a competitive nature.” [5]
Legendary Moments: Houston Men’s Basketball – Game of the Century (Jan. 20, …
Elvin continued his sentiments on whether Alcindor’s eye lesion was a factor on that fateful evening at the Astrodome. Neither he nor the other Houston players believed he was seriously hurt, even though the injury was legitimate. Hayes said, “Every time Alcindor went up to shoot, [6’9” forward] Ken Spain and I were coming over the top of the key and blocking his shot. Maybe that [impacted] his eye, you know? I’m glad he played, and I’m glad they gave him an excuse, but we still won the basketball game.” [5]
NEVER POKE THE BRUINS
The moment of verity came not in the Astrodome but in the rubber match in Los Angeles at the 1968 Final Four. Attrition and ailments were not an element in the equation. True to form, Elvin insisted, “[UCLA] couldn’t play us as close now as they did then. If we played ‘em again, we’d beat ‘em worse, and it wouldn’t matter if it were on their own floor.” [2]
Metaphorically, the “Big E” was endorsing checks that his ass could not cash. The surcharge for him and the Houston Cougars was exorbitant, and payday would come on March 22, 1968. Utilizing a diamond-and-one defense with one player (6’5” forward Lynn Shackelford) face-guarding Hayes, the UCLA Bruins gave them a thorough lacing, winning in a rout, 101-69. At one point, the Bruins led by 44 points. Elvin could only manage a paltry 10 points on 3/10 shooting. Not a single Houston starter shot better than 39% from the field. Conversely, for the defending champs, balanced scoring was Coach John Wooden’s order for the day, which worked perfectly. UCLA got 19 points each from Alcindor, Mike Lynn and Lucius Allen (who would win an NBA title alongside Alcindor in 1971 with Milwaukee), along with 17 points from Lynn Shackelford, and 14 points from Mike Warren (who by 1981 was starring in Hill Street Blues).
Next, UCLA defeated North Carolina 78-55 for its second consecutive NCAA title. Alcindor had set the tone as the focal point of the milieu in which Bruins basketball thrived. Houston also fell short in the national third-place final, losing to Ohio State 89-85. Hayes closed his college career with a 34-point/16-rebound performance.
Former Houston guard Chaney reflected on the loss decades later. “An overlooked fact, in Chaney’s eyes, was that Houston was without starting guard George Reynolds, a transfer ruled ineligible before the season’s final game because of his junior college academic record. ‘Someone had done some research–I think it might have been from [the UCLA] side,’ Chaney said.” Besides that, the Cougars had gone Hollywood. Hayes and Theodis Lee appeared on The Joey Bishop Show days before the game, and center Ken Spain went on The Dating Game as the players soaked up the California scene. ‘That really hurt us,’ Chaney said. ‘We were a team that was very pleased with the year we had. We got carried away and lost our focus. We learned a big lesson. I did, and I know Elvin did. We got full of ourselves.” [6]
OLLIE, OTIS & THAT ’70s SHOW
After Hayes and Chaney’s departure, the Cougars remained competitive. Unfortunately, it would be long before the program returned to being a legitimate contender. Still, loads of talent came through the “H-Town” institution in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s. One was a junior college transfer, Rucker Park legend Ollie Taylor. An excellent all-around player, he was also well known for his 46-inch vertical leap, which he utilized to posterize countless foes.
Ollie was not a high school star at the well-populated (10,000 students) DeWitt Clinton in the Bronx (NYC). Making the team—and sitting on the bench—was an honor. One of the players seated beside him, collecting splinters, was a future NBA Hall of Famer named Nate “Tiny” Archibald. Ollie scored 4 points in high school but took full advantage of his next opportunity.
“He began his college career at San Jacinto Junior College, where he set National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) records for points in a season (1409 in 1967-68; 30.7 ppg) and a career (2456; 26.2 ppg). He led San Jacinto to a 44-2 record and a national title in 1967-68, setting the school’s single-game scoring record that season with a 53-point outburst. Taylor was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 1994 (other members include Bob McAdoo, Spencer Haywood, Artis Gilmore, Larry Johnson, and Shawn Marion). Taylor spent the last two seasons of his college career at the University of Houston. In 1969-70, his senior season, Taylor averaged 24.4 ppg and 11.5 rebounds as the Cougars went 25-5 and made it to the Sweet 16. Taylor was named a Helms Foundation All-American. Taylor averaged 22.0 ppg and 10.3 rpg in 56 games at Houston.” [7]
Ollie Taylor transitioned one day before this year’s championship game between Houston and the University of Florida. He succumbed to illness and was laid to rest in Pearland, Texas.
Former coach Guy Lewis, speaking years ago, told Sporting News, “Ollie Taylor out-jumped Alcindor (UCLA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) at the start of the (1969) game. He was 6-2 and played the post for me. One of the best post players I ever had.” That is high praise when one considers that Lewis coached Hall of Famers Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler (a college forward who shifted to guard in the NBA). Taylor was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers but elected to sign with his hometown New York Nets of the ABA.” [7]
From the 1970-71 season through 1979-80, the Cougars won over 20 games five times and made four NCAA tournament appearances. During the 1976-77 season, Houston went 29-8 (placing second to Arkansas in the Southwest Conference) and was the runner-up to St. Bonaventure in the NIT (National Invitational Tournament).
Other notable Cougars during the 1970s interlude included Dwight Davis, Lou Dunbar, Dwight Jones, and the backcourt phenom Otis Birdsong.
1. Dwight Davis starred at Worthing High in Houston before flourishing as a power forward at the University of Houston. The Cleveland Cavs selected Davis as a first-round pick (3rd overall), and he made the 1972-73 NBA All-Rookie Team.
2. “Sweet” Lou Dunbar: another wonder from Louisiana (their first Black player to be named Mr. Basketball), he arrived in Texas and put up prolific scoring totals, averaging over 22 points per game for his Cougar career. Chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers but played overseas and eventually became a much-celebrated Harlem Globetrotter (along with former Houston star Theodis Lee).
3. Dwight Jones: Another native of Houston (Wheatley High), his hoop skills at the center position led him to the university, the ’72 Olympics (as their leading scorer, he was allegedly provoked into an altercation and subsequent ejection in the final vs. USSR), a first-round NBA draft pick (Atlanta), and a cameo on Soul Train as a member of the Lakers during his ten-year career.
4. Otis Birdsong, arguably the best of the 1970s bunch, was recruited out of Florida. He starred at Houston as a shooting guard, averaging 30 points per contest as a senior and becoming a first-team All-American. In his 12-season career in the NBA, Otis became a four-time All-Star and an All-Pro (1981).
