My most "memorable" game at The Barn. We were very good and so was Ohio State.Williams was always packed then and Musselman always made sure fans were into it from the start with the pre-game "Sweet Georgia Brown" routine. It wasn't needed that night as everyone sensed the importance of the game. If we beat Ohio State, it was like we had a chance to win the Big Ten, finally get to the NCAA tournament, and who knew what might happen. We were pretty damn good.
The game was physical and tight, but I don't remember it as dirty. I read about the elbow thrown by Witte at halftime but didn't see anything. The second half was tight and physical again and gradually you sensed that the Gophers were going to lose. Lots of booing whenever the call went against us.
Late in the game, everyone knew we were beat. I know the fans were frustrated and I imagine the players were also. Witte had an easy open basket and was clobbered by a pretty blatant cheap shot by a couple of players. Remember a ref immediately signaling the technical and ejection. Taylor and Clyde Turner, who always seemed like one of the most laid-back players on the team, had knocked down Witte. Witte was down and starting to get up. Taylor pulled him up and then did knee him Witte went back down. Everyone was stunned and, all of a sudden, Behagen is stomping Witte and all hell broke lose. I don't recall any Ohio State players actually fighting. I do remember several running from people. Fans did come onto the floor. Most vivid memory in the moments after the foul was Dave Winfield literally chasing some Ohio State player. It's lucky he didn't catch him, otherwise Winfield would have had a whole different image. Most Ohio State players looked shocked and terrified. The crowd was just howling. An Ohio State guard, I think like Alan Hornacek, was the only OS player who looked like he wanted to fight.
I know I was howling watching it all. Damn it! They beat us! It was those refs! It was frick'n arrogant Ohio State! That f'n Luke Witte especially was easy to hate. There was a feeling of rich and privileged beating our beloved junk yard dogs. It was on the way home that I started to really realize what had happened. First, was the realization that this was most likely the season gone. Then Ray came on and he was totally ashamed and beside himself over what he had seen. I had to admit to myself there was no way to rationalize what I had seen.
Pretty hard to avoid the racial implications, especially given the times. I'm not saying if any of that played into what the Gophers did. But it certainly played into the perceptions of the country. I think, more than anything, Musselman was just so damn intense that his players fed off that and wanted that game so badly that the frustration took over when it became apparent the Gophers had lost.