Kentucky does something no other college team did -- beat Magic Johnson in the post season. The '78 Wildcat team is underappreciated. Everyone complained they weren't cheerful enough. But this UK team got the job done, against pressure of great expectations. Joe Hall won the title in the shadow of the coaching legend who preceded him, something no other college coach has ever done. That's another underappreciated accomplishment.
Kyle Macy's upperclassman-like leadership as a first year sophomore point guard having transfered in from Purdue and sitting out the 76-77 season, coupled with Macy's icewater in his veins freethrow shooting down the stretch was, IMO, the biggest factor in Kentucky defeating this really talented and atheletic Michigan State squad. Great basketball game.
You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words! If you haven't seen it, I have the UK-Duke 78 National Championship game also, and it's better quality than the other 1 or 2 uploads out there: th-cam.com/video/m0zXXUvFIUQ/w-d-xo.html
That NBC pre-game. I watched this when I was a junior at another basketball-crazed Midwest university and wanted nothing more than to have a job like Bryant Gumbel's. Traveling around the country introducing college hoop tournament drama.
I remember this game so well I was in 5th grade and the dunk had just been reintroduced to high school and college. I would see local teams like Syracuse and Iona. But Kelser and Magic were like nothing I’d ever seen. I became a MSU fan after watching this game...
What made this team unbeatable in the tournament was the guard play claytor and Macy kept their focus well definitely against Arkansas where they never faced such a great backcort before they were nice
This was the first year that the NCAA(and NBC) split the region finals between Saturday and Sunday. Before that for a couple of years NBC had three regional final windows and did a regional broadcast in the middle window. At one tine before that all four regional finals w ere played in two windows and NBC did regional broadcasts of those games.
Thanks for posting this game. I have been a Kentucky basketball fan nearly all of my life. I have watched most of their NCAA tournament games since 1971 and I believe this was most tense game I ever saw. It seemed every play was crucial. UK seemed to have no answers for the Michigan State zone in the first half. But right before the half you could see Hall and his assistants frantically drawing up something to use. It turned out to be a screen at the top of the circle for Macy to get open. It worked as he hit some key shots and some even more huge free throws down the stretch. I have all of UK's games in the 1978 tournament on DVD but its still nice to see them on TH-cam.
Thanks for the comment! Someone gave me a DVD of this game, and I’ve loaded the Duke game from that year as you may have seen. If you have the rest of the Kentucky tournament games on DVD, could you put them on your channel?
That whole situation with Norton wasn’t his fault. He beat Jimmy Young to become the #1 contender and then Spinks beat Ali. Spinks didn’t want to fight Norton so he could have a big money rematch with Ali. During negotiations for a Spinks Norton fight Norton was offered a ridiculously low purse of $200 000. He felt insulted by the offer but took it since it was as a title fight. The Spinks team expected him to reject the offer which meant a fight with Ali could happen with nothing in between. Since Norton took the offer they had to fight or vacate the WBC title. They chose to vacate the WBC title And the WBC retroactively made the Norton Young fight a title fight And awarded the title to Norton. Norton lost the title to Larry Holmes in his First title defense in June in a classic bout.
MrMashman93 You’re welcome, and thanks for the kind words! I hope to obtain that Arkansas game. Thank the person also that provided this to me for uploading (I did create the intro with the sound effects). Check out my upload of the Duke 1978 game here (it’s better quality than the other one out there): th-cam.com/video/m0zXXUvFIUQ/w-d-xo.html
I had the honor of meeting Joe b hall in like 2018. I do heating and air and me and my brother was at this guy's house it turned out was Joe b son in law. We're there working on the ac I go in the basement I see someone who I was like man that's Joe b hall. I go back outside and tell my brother he's like no way so we both go in and my brother was shocked. We talked to him and got pictures with him. I'll never forget that day in my life. Another cool story I was on call and had a service call and talked to a guy on the phone his ac was out in a rental house he had I go out fix the ac the lady said u do know who the owner is right, I said no she said it's al snow the former wrestler. I called him back to let him know I fixed the ac and I was a big fan of his and he was very gracious and called me the man for fixing the ac lol
@@chrisf963 Thanks for commenting! Those stories are great! This must have been in Louisville, correct? I know OVW is based there & Snow runs it, but I don’t watch “rasslin’” any more. Also, I remember years ago seeing an article where Joe B. was wearing a UL hat at a UL baseball or softball game. It was because his son in law or nephew/niece or grandkid or something played for the Cards. It was very ironic, and the reporter indicated he smiled & chuckled when asked about it, but he was supporting family! I wish I could have met Joe and gotten him to autograph my copy of the old book, “Big Blue Machine,” written by longtime UK SID Russell Rice.
Funny. If MSU had won they probably win it all and Magic turns pro and plays for the Kansas City Kings. Bird-Magic rivalry probably never happens and maybe the Kings don't move.
@@patrickdaly5068 from Michigan. Remember reading that in an SI article when he did turn pro after they won it in 79. I remember State was up by 5 at half then having some bad turnovers and Kyle Macy hitting every free throw after Kentucky got the lead in this game. 5th grade.
And with Larry Bird the Pacers talked with him. They told him point blank if he came out(he was eligible for the draft as the NBA had a rule then that made you eligible if your original class had graduated even if you had one year of eligibility left which Bird did) they would take him #1 overall. Bird said he was going to go back to school so Indiana traded the #1 overall pick to Portland. In those days the Pacers were having money issues and had nearly gone out of business being saved only due to a telethon where fans gave enough money to save the franchise.
John Paulson Interesting! The Pacers would have only been in the NBA for what, 4 or 5 years at that point? I still hate that the Kentucky Colonels didn’t become an NBA team after the ABA merged with them.
charles woodhouse Macy was a great FT shooter! He shot something like 90%. Notre Dame’s scouting report inexplicably said to foul Macy that year and they paid the price. He torched them.
In regards to the previous five seasons for seeding the Big Ten had an 18-8 NCAA tournament record from 1973-1977 with three Final Four appearances (Indiana in 1973 and 1976 plus Michigan in 1976) while the SEC was 8-9 with one Final Four appearance (Kentucky 1975) Kentucky also made two regional appearances(1973 where IU beat them 72-65 and 1975 with the Famous 92-90 upset) The Big Ten had a team in the Regional Finals every year from 1973-1977(IU in 1973, Michigan in 1974 losing to Marquette 72-70, IU in 1975, both IU and Michigan in 1976. IU beat Marquette 65-56 while Michigan beat Missouri 95-88 and Michigan in 1977 lost to UNCC 75-68.) An interesting fact about Michigan in 1977. In the Sweet 16 they beat Detroit 86-81. That Titan team was coached by Dick Vitale who had a really good run as Titan head coach. His run with the Pistons wasn’t so good.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, the Big 10 was definitely strong in bball in the 70s, and UK and IU had quite the rivalry. Also, years ago Dickie V. was broadcasting a game, and they showed a video of him dancing with his Detroit team when they won either their conference or an NCAA tourney game, and he was wearing those old plaid pants. It was great.
@@patrickdaly5068 After 1977 the Big 10 had a regional finalist from 1978-81. Michigan St in 1978 and 1979. Iowa and Purdue in 1980 and Indiana in 1981. Only Michigan St in 1978 failed to make the Final Four. And of course there were the two national championships in 1979 and 1981.
@@patrickdaly5068 , Hey Patrick, lifelong born and raised Wildcat fan. Been looking for a replay of that Kentucky vs. Arkansas semi-final game from 78', but still unsuccessful to this day. Does a replay of it exist? That Arkansas team with Sydney Moncrief, Marvin Delph, & Ron Brewer was awfully tough also. If they had beaten the Cats in the semi's, I personally believe they would've beaten Duke in the final, and they did beat Notre Dame for 3rd place in the consolation game. If possible, could you let me know, just a simple yes or no would do, if that game can be found anywhere? Thanks, and regards to you.
Folks paid $50 bucks a ticket for this game, outlandish in those days. But was worth it though to see UK win and advance to the FF. I didn't know that MSU was the "top seed" of the ME Regional.
The way the NCAA seeded teams in 1978 was to put the automatic qualifiers in one pod and the at large teams(non champs and independents) in another pod. and seed them 1-4. Seeding was done in part on how each team's league had done over the previous five seasons and since the Big 10 had a little more success than the SEC over the previous five seasons Michigan St. got the one seed for auto bids. Of course five auto bid winners had to go in with the at large teams as there were 21 auto bids in 1978 and only 11 at large bids. In 1979 when the field expanded and they seeded 1-10 conference results again played into seeding. 1980 was the first time teams were seeded on their own rather than by previous league results.
Hi Patrick - we're working on a film project about this team and game and this may be one of the only copies that exists. We'd like to tell you more about it - can you reach out to us.
@@mgers75 I’m not sure, but we had no ESPN or internet then. Granted, Lebron was on the cover of SI in high school too. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@patrickdaly5068 noticed that when Larry went to Boston & Magic went to the Lakers. Problem was is that when 🎩 Magic went to Los Angeles, somebody already was wearing jersey #33! Hmmm?
@@oscarfairley6600 BIG RESPECT! from legend to legend. Kareem worn #33 at POWER MEMORIAL, UCLA, BUCKS & LAKERS. Consistency & dedication. Kareem only lost: 1 GAME!! in college. Greatest collegiate ever.
The players told the Herald-Leader all about it, but then stonewalled, refusing to verify their stories to NCAA investigators. But it'a all true. Boosters who were personal friends of Joe Hall handed cash to players after games. And some players were given game tickets, which they autographed and resold. One player told the Herald Leader he made about $8,000 from the scheme.
The NCAA put Kentucky on probation and gave them a reprimand as the penalty for that affair. Nothing severe BUT the fact that Kentucky was already on probation when the 1988-89 scandal broke is what made Kentucky eligible for the NCAA death penalty which they almost got. If the school hadn’t done what they did in response to the scandal Kentucky becomes the 2nd division 1 school to have a sport shut down due to the death penalty.
How many times did Gowdy call Greg Kelser "Gene Kelser"? lol Billy Packer said the name correctly several times until Gowdy finally picked up on it. Even the best make mistakes.
Jack McEntee This game was such a defensive grind. It was the total opposite when the Cats beat Duke for the natty. BTW, if Magic hadn’t taken the last shot too early, and from 40 feet, they might have had a chance. They won it all the next year in that legendary Bird/Magic game though.
Kentucky does something no other college team did -- beat Magic Johnson in the post season. The '78 Wildcat team is underappreciated. Everyone complained they weren't cheerful enough. But this UK team got the job done, against pressure of great expectations. Joe Hall won the title in the shadow of the coaching legend who preceded him, something no other college coach has ever done. That's another underappreciated accomplishment.
This uk team doesn't get it's props they very built perfect from the 5 to 1 position they were nice
Kyle Macy's upperclassman-like leadership as a first year sophomore point guard having transfered in from Purdue and sitting out the 76-77 season, coupled with Macy's icewater in his veins freethrow shooting down the stretch was, IMO, the biggest factor in Kentucky defeating this really talented and atheletic Michigan State squad. Great basketball game.
It was huge, for sure! I remember watching his first game as a Cat. He looked terrific that night.
Love hearing Curt Gowdy call a UK game. Thanks for posting this game. Big win for UK to get to the FF.
You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words! If you haven't seen it, I have the UK-Duke 78 National Championship game also, and it's better quality than the other 1 or 2 uploads out there: th-cam.com/video/m0zXXUvFIUQ/w-d-xo.html
That NBC pre-game. I watched this when I was a junior at another basketball-crazed Midwest university and wanted nothing more than to have a job like Bryant Gumbel's. Traveling around the country introducing college hoop tournament drama.
I thought he was a great sportscaster! I remember him doing their Sunday NFL pregame also. Thanks for commenting!
I remember this game so well I was in 5th grade and the dunk had just been reintroduced to high school and college. I would see local teams like Syracuse and Iona. But Kelser and Magic were like nothing I’d ever seen. I became a MSU fan after watching this game...
They were great. It was UK’s year n 78, but there were some close calls in March.
Omg!! Oh how much I remember these commercials. Classic!
Yeah, I like it when commercials are left in these old games and such! Local ones are cool to see even if it’s not my hometown.
Two champs of 78 and 79 good times
What made this team unbeatable in the tournament was the guard play claytor and Macy kept their focus well definitely against Arkansas where they never faced such a great backcort before they were nice
This was the first year that the NCAA(and NBC) split the region finals between Saturday and Sunday. Before that for a couple of years NBC had three regional final windows and did a regional broadcast in the middle window. At one tine before that all four regional finals w ere played in two windows and NBC did regional broadcasts of those games.
The was basically the tournament final IIRC. Closest game UK had, and to the team that would win it all in ‘79
Thanks for posting this game. I have been a Kentucky basketball fan nearly all of my life. I have watched most of their NCAA tournament games since 1971 and I believe this was most tense game I ever saw. It seemed every play was crucial. UK seemed to have no answers for the Michigan State zone in the first half. But right before the half you could see Hall and his assistants frantically drawing up something to use. It turned out to be a screen at the top of the circle for Macy to get open. It worked as he hit some key shots and some even more huge free throws down the stretch. I have all of UK's games in the 1978 tournament on DVD but its still nice to see them on TH-cam.
Thanks for the comment! Someone gave me a DVD of this game, and I’ve loaded the Duke game from that year as you may have seen. If you have the rest of the Kentucky tournament games on DVD, could you put them on your channel?
@@patrickdaly5068 I really don't know how to do that. I am at best technically challenged.
3 future NBA first round picks and two high 2nd round picks in the starting line ups.
Ken Norton was just named the WBC heavyweight champion. George Forman, "Hold my hamburger, I'll be back in a couple of minutes".
“Hold my grill!”
That whole situation with Norton wasn’t his fault. He beat Jimmy Young to become the #1 contender and then Spinks beat Ali. Spinks didn’t want to fight Norton so he could have a big money rematch with Ali.
During negotiations for a Spinks Norton fight Norton was offered a ridiculously low purse of $200 000. He felt insulted by the offer but took it since it was as a title fight. The Spinks team expected him to reject the offer which meant a fight with Ali could happen with nothing in between. Since Norton took the offer they had to fight or vacate the WBC title. They chose to vacate the WBC title
And the WBC retroactively made the Norton Young fight a title fight
And awarded the title to Norton. Norton lost the title to Larry Holmes in his
First title defense in June in a classic bout.
Now can you get the 1978 final four game against Arkansas. Thank you for this. GO CATS!!!!
MrMashman93 You’re welcome, and thanks for the kind words! I hope to obtain that Arkansas game. Thank the person also that provided this to me for uploading (I did create the intro with the sound effects). Check out my upload of the Duke 1978 game here (it’s better quality than the other one out there): th-cam.com/video/m0zXXUvFIUQ/w-d-xo.html
I had the honor of meeting Joe b hall in like 2018. I do heating and air and me and my brother was at this guy's house it turned out was Joe b son in law. We're there working on the ac I go in the basement I see someone who I was like man that's Joe b hall. I go back outside and tell my brother he's like no way so we both go in and my brother was shocked. We talked to him and got pictures with him. I'll never forget that day in my life. Another cool story I was on call and had a service call and talked to a guy on the phone his ac was out in a rental house he had I go out fix the ac the lady said u do know who the owner is right, I said no she said it's al snow the former wrestler. I called him back to let him know I fixed the ac and I was a big fan of his and he was very gracious and called me the man for fixing the ac lol
@@chrisf963 Thanks for commenting! Those stories are great! This must have been in Louisville, correct? I know OVW is based there & Snow runs it, but I don’t watch “rasslin’” any more. Also, I remember years ago seeing an article where Joe B. was wearing a UL hat at a UL baseball or softball game. It was because his son in law or nephew/niece or grandkid or something played for the Cards. It was very ironic, and the reporter indicated he smiled & chuckled when asked about it, but he was supporting family! I wish I could have met Joe and gotten him to autograph my copy of the old book, “Big Blue Machine,” written by longtime UK SID Russell Rice.
Cal state had a 6 5 6 6 Greg Bunch, great talent. Moncreif was a beast. Was 6 3 . In the nba was all d team 8 9 times in career.
Funny. If MSU had won they probably win it all and Magic turns pro and plays for the Kansas City Kings. Bird-Magic rivalry probably never happens and maybe the Kings don't move.
charles woodhouse I haven’t thought of that! Good point. Of course, I also wouldn’t have remembered who had the first pick that year. Haha.
@@patrickdaly5068 from Michigan. Remember reading that in an SI article when he did turn pro after they won it in 79. I remember State was up by 5 at half then having some bad turnovers and Kyle Macy hitting every free throw after Kentucky got the lead in this game. 5th grade.
And with Larry Bird the Pacers talked with him. They told him point blank if he came out(he was eligible for the draft as the NBA had a rule then that made you eligible if your original class had graduated even if you had one year of eligibility left which Bird did) they would take him #1 overall. Bird said he was going to go back to school so Indiana traded the #1 overall pick to Portland. In those days the Pacers were having money issues and had nearly gone out of business being saved only due to a telethon where fans gave enough money to save the franchise.
John Paulson Interesting! The Pacers would have only been in the NBA for what, 4 or 5 years at that point? I still hate that the Kentucky Colonels didn’t become an NBA team after the ABA merged with them.
charles woodhouse Macy was a great FT shooter! He shot something like 90%. Notre Dame’s scouting report inexplicably said to foul Macy that year and they paid the price. He torched them.
In regards to the previous five seasons for seeding the Big Ten had an 18-8 NCAA tournament record from 1973-1977 with three Final Four appearances (Indiana in 1973 and 1976 plus Michigan in 1976) while the SEC was 8-9 with one Final Four appearance (Kentucky 1975) Kentucky also made two regional appearances(1973 where IU beat them 72-65 and 1975 with the Famous 92-90 upset) The Big Ten had a team in the Regional Finals every year from 1973-1977(IU in 1973, Michigan in 1974 losing to Marquette 72-70, IU in 1975, both IU and Michigan in 1976. IU beat Marquette 65-56 while Michigan beat Missouri 95-88 and Michigan in 1977 lost to UNCC 75-68.) An interesting fact about Michigan in 1977. In the Sweet 16 they beat Detroit 86-81. That Titan team was coached by Dick Vitale who had a really good run as Titan head coach. His run with the Pistons wasn’t so good.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, the Big 10 was definitely strong in bball in the 70s, and UK and IU had quite the rivalry. Also, years ago Dickie V. was broadcasting a game, and they showed a video of him dancing with his Detroit team when they won either their conference or an NCAA tourney game, and he was wearing those old plaid pants. It was great.
@@patrickdaly5068 After 1977 the Big 10 had a regional finalist from 1978-81. Michigan St in 1978 and 1979. Iowa and Purdue in 1980 and Indiana in 1981. Only Michigan St in 1978 failed to make the Final Four. And of course there were the two national championships in 1979 and 1981.
Wow Freshman sensation Earvin Johnson 1978
He was something. That game against Bird and the Sycamores the next year was great.
Was there........... Sold some of my tickets to UK fan..........go flyers !!!!!!!
The wild commercials are better than the actual game!
RustedTelevisione You’re right! I actually prefer to see the vintage commercials in these old games, but they’re deleted from most uploads it seems.
BTW, my dad had one of those Mercury Zephyrs!
@@patrickdaly5068 , Hey Patrick, lifelong born and raised Wildcat fan. Been looking for a replay of that Kentucky vs. Arkansas semi-final game from 78', but still unsuccessful to this day. Does a replay of it exist? That Arkansas team with Sydney Moncrief, Marvin Delph, & Ron Brewer was awfully tough also. If they had beaten the Cats in the semi's, I personally believe they would've beaten Duke in the final, and they did beat Notre Dame for 3rd place in the consolation game. If possible, could you let me know, just a simple yes or no would do, if that game can be found anywhere? Thanks, and regards to you.
Folks paid $50 bucks a ticket for this game, outlandish in those days. But was worth it though to see UK win and advance to the FF. I didn't know that MSU was the "top seed" of the ME Regional.
The way the NCAA seeded teams in 1978 was to put the automatic qualifiers in one pod and the at large teams(non champs and independents) in another pod. and seed them 1-4. Seeding was done in part on how each team's league had done over the previous five seasons and since the Big 10 had a little more success than the SEC over the previous five seasons Michigan St. got the one seed for auto bids. Of course five auto bid winners had to go in with the at large teams as there were 21 auto bids in 1978 and only 11 at large bids. In 1979 when the field expanded and they seeded 1-10 conference results again played into seeding. 1980 was the first time teams were seeded on their own rather than by previous league results.
@@paulsonj72 Interesting, thanks. Also interesting, much like in '75, that UK was the lower seeded team yet wore home whites in both games.
Hi Patrick - we're working on a film project about this team and game and this may be one of the only copies that exists. We'd like to tell you more about it - can you reach out to us.
Keep in mind I don’t claim to own this video.
Can you get the game when Kentucky played Indiana in the 1975 Regional Final?
rbky04 I can’t get that one, but I have a source who may be able to get me the Houston game with Bowie and Turpin v. Olajuwan. Keep watching!
@@patrickdaly5068 its already up on you tube
@bostonbevo9781 where?
So did everyone know that Magic was a superstar prodigy when he was 15 like Lebron, or was he a guy that exploded on the scene when he got to College?
@@mgers75 I’m not sure, but we had no ESPN or internet then. Granted, Lebron was on the cover of SI in high school too. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Magic's only tournament loss by 3 to a Kentucky team that won the NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
He was unbelievable, no doubt. To this day I believe he and Larry Bird had eyes in the back of their heads.
Dwight Anderson came in 1979.
The Blur!
Baby Bryant.
MAGIC wearing CELTIC GREEN! even got on Larrys' future Celtics #: 33
Haha! I never thought about that.
@@patrickdaly5068 noticed that when Larry went to Boston & Magic went to the Lakers. Problem was is that when 🎩 Magic went to Los Angeles, somebody already was wearing jersey #33! Hmmm?
No way was Magic asking Kareem for his number
@@oscarfairley6600 BIG RESPECT! from legend to legend. Kareem worn #33 at POWER MEMORIAL, UCLA, BUCKS & LAKERS. Consistency & dedication. Kareem only lost: 1 GAME!! in college. Greatest collegiate ever.
@@oscarfairley6600 my error. 2 GAMES! at UCLA.
Beat the defending champs.
Magics worst game : 6 TO, 6 pts
Hall had 26 players who said on the record they had taken payoffs.
mikep6979 Sour grapes. ;-)
In college, it’s either direct cash or gifts through the barter system.
You're lying. Show us a link to "the record".
The players told the Herald-Leader all about it, but then stonewalled, refusing to verify their stories to NCAA investigators. But it'a all true. Boosters who were personal friends of Joe Hall handed cash to players after games. And some players were given game tickets, which they autographed and resold. One player told the Herald Leader he made about $8,000 from the scheme.
The NCAA put Kentucky on probation and gave them a reprimand as the penalty for that affair. Nothing severe BUT the fact that Kentucky was already on probation when the 1988-89 scandal broke is what made Kentucky eligible for the NCAA death penalty which they almost got. If the school hadn’t done what they did in response to the scandal Kentucky becomes the 2nd division 1 school to have a sport shut down due to the death penalty.
yo Gummbel...magic was a 6-9 GUARD
How many times did Gowdy call Greg Kelser "Gene Kelser"? lol Billy Packer said the name correctly several times until Gowdy finally picked up on it. Even the best make mistakes.
Curt Gowdy was the best, and sometimes not the best on the air. He would often rename players and coaches.
Msu should have won.
Jack McEntee This game was such a defensive grind. It was the total opposite when the Cats beat Duke for the natty. BTW, if Magic hadn’t taken the last shot too early, and from 40 feet, they might have had a chance. They won it all the next year in that legendary Bird/Magic game though.