So too will Indiana's 1981 national championship, which came just a few hours after President Reagan had been shot in Washington; the Lamar Odom near-halfcourt heave to give Rhode Island the 1999 Atlantic 10 championship over Temple; the 1997 A-10 championship won by Saint Joseph's on the way to the Sweet 16; Lynn Greer's late-game heroics to get Temple home in the A-10 semis in 2001 on the way to John Chaney's final A-10 title and last Elite Eight appearance.
You think college hoops in this town, you think Palestra. But the Spectrum absolutely hosted the best game. People remember the Laettner shot, but Duke's 104-103 overtime win against Kentucky was so good for so long that it really needed a perfect ending. And it got one from a player who did not miss a shot or a free throw all game.
The Spectrum hosted its first Big 5 game in 1977 after all City Series games were played at the Palestra for 22 years. Remember the regrettable half-round robin. For 4 of those 8 years in the 1990s, all the City Series games were played at the Spectrum, as a compromise. It was underwhelming. College basketball and the Spectrum were not. It had moments, games, players, coaches and teams that nobody will ever forget.
Only in Philly
John Gallagher (father of the former St. Joe's player and current Penn assistant) arrived at the Palestra last Wednesday for the Penn-La Salle game. He was about 10 minutes late. When he went to will call, he was told there was no ticket for him. He said he'd buy one, but the understanding people at the ticket booth gave him one.
He went to his very nice seat and noticed St. Joe's was playing Duquesne. He figured it was the first game of a doubleheader. He called his wife Joan to see where she was sitting.
She was sitting in the stands at Gola Arena, where Penn was playing La Salle.
