The Ohio State Game

I don't remember any game being as highly anticipated as the time we hosted #2 Ohio State in the Nielsen Fieldhouse. The place filled up so quickly that by the time the marching band arrived to take its place, there was no room left. Somehow they managed to squeeze themselves into the student section. The crowd, officially announced at 5,910, exceeded capacity.

They all came to see the great Jerry Lucas. He was a sophomore then, I believe, and the Buckeyes were simply unstoppable with him in the middle. I don't think he'd lost a game since he was in High School.

Now we weren't exactly chopped liver; we happened to be a top-10 team as well. And we were excited about a sophomore of our own who cracked the starting lineup a week earlier -- Billy McGill.

So the stage was set. The crowd ... the noise ... the atmosphere ... before we knew it, we were fifteen minutes into the game and we held a 40-26 lead. But then the jitters were over and both teams got down to business. I almost didn't think we should try to run with the Bucks; but we decided to try -- and am I glad we did! Lucas and McGill battled back and forth all night and neither one could clearly outplay the other. Lucas finished the game with 32p/17r; McGill finished with 31p/17r.

Billy McGill (12) shoots his patented hook shot;
Jerry Lucas (11) can only watch in awe.

Our 14-point lead didn't last long. Ohio State went on a 20-6 run to cut our lead to two and set the stage for an intense second half. We managed to maintain our lead, but could never get it back to a comfortable margin. In addition to Lucas, the Buckeyes had a guard named Larry Siegfried who couldn't seem to miss a shot and who finished with a couple dozen points. Thank goodness for Gary Chestang and Allen Holmes who made major contributions for our side! Chestang had 22 points; Sweet Al finished with 21.

In the end, we played better than we thought possible. We had to in order to beat the Buckeyes that night. The final score was Utah 97, Ohio State 92. The 189 total points set a Fieldhouse record. Suffice to say, the crowd was rewarded with an amazing performance from both teams and a landmark win, which not only set the tone for the 1959-60 season -- but introduced the great Billy McGill to the world.