Brown: History Connects College Basketball

A Year After Losing in Iowa City, UNC Playing for National Title

Iowa forward Keegan Murray, left, reacts after drawing a foul while tipping a basket in from teammate Iowa center Luka Garza (55) during a NCAA non-conference men's basketball game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against North Carolina, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

My love for college basketball goes beyond a perfectly executed play or a clutch defensive stop.

It’s the history of the game attracts me, and the fact that many times you don’t appreciate what you’re seeing until much later.

The best example I can think of happened in the ninth game of Iowa’s 1965-66 season. The Hawkeyes, 8-0 and ranked fourth in the country, got beat by Texas Western in the finals of the Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas, 86-68.

Iowa went without a field goal for a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the opening half and trailed by 21 points at halftime.

“We came down here thinking our high national ranking would carry us through, and it didn’t,” Iowa Coach Ralph Miller said. “And it was obvious to me we have been building up to this defeat.”

The headline in the El Paso Times the next morning read, “Texas Western Shocks Iowa in Sun Meet final.”

“Texas Western’s basketball Miners swarmed on Memorial Gymnasium floor, swept the Hawkeyes of Iowa University off their feet with an impervious defense and razor sharp shooting as they took an 86-68 victory and rushed to the championship of the Southwestern Sun Carnival Basketball Tournament Thursday night,” the story read.

Little did Miller know that his team became a footnote to history. Three months later, Coach Don Haskins’ team beat Kentucky for the NCAA title in College Park, Maryland. It was the first time a team with an all-black starting five had won the title.

Over the years, many of those Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) players said the victory over Iowa gave them a huge shot of confidence going forward.

I thought of that 1965 game as I watched North Carolina edge Duke in an epic national semifinal Saturday night, 81-77.

I thought back to a game played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Dec. 8, 2020. No. 3 Iowa defeated No. 16 North Carolina, 93-80, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

I was at that game in Iowa City that night. I never dreamed the Tar Heels would be playing for a national championship a season later in New Orleans. And I never thought that Hawkeye freshman Keegan Murray, who had his first big moment as a college player in that game, would be in New Orleans as one of five finalists for the Naismith Award that goes to the player of the year in college basketball.

The Tar Heels had Garrison Brooks, the preseason ACC player of the year, in the lineup. And Coach Roy Williams had great size in 6-10 Armando Bacot, 6-10 Day’Ron Sharpe and 7-1 Walker Kessler. R.J. Davis, Caleb Love and Leaky Black were the keys to the guardcourt.

Jordan Bohannon led Iowa to victory that night, scoring 24 points and making seven 3-pointers in 16 attempts. Frederick made five of seven triples and added 21 points. Garza had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Keegan Murray scored three points and played just over 6 minutes. But they were three important points. Iowa was leading, 72-68, with 7:52 remaining when Murray rebounded a Garza miss, scored and was fouled by Brooks. It was his fourth foul of the game. Murray made the free throw for a conventional three–point play. The Tar Heels never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Brooks finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Bacot had four points and 11 rebounds. Sharpe added 13 points, Davis 12 and Love 11.

That game reflects the nomadic nature of the sport today. Williams retired after the season and was replaced by his assistant, Hubert Davis. Brooks transferred to Mississippi State. Kessler transferred to Auburn. Sharpe entered the NBA Draft and was the 29th player selected by the Brooklyn Nets. Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp skipped his final season and was drafted by San Antonio in the second round.. CJ Fredrick transfered to Kentucky. Jack Nunge transferred to Xavier.

Murray’s Iowa career is also over after he earned consensus all-America honors by averaging 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds for a 26-win team in 2021-22. He also won the Karl Malone Award that goes to the nation’s top power forward. He’s also a finalist for the Wooden Award.

On Saturday, Love was brilliant and finished with 28 points against Duke. Davis added 18 and Bacot had 11 points and 21 rebounds. The Tar Heels, a disappointing 18-11 last season, move into Monday’s title game against Kansas with a 29-9 record.

And Murray’s clutch three-point play in 2020 was just a taste of what was to come.