Conference Big Ten Conference AP No. 3 Assistant coach Dave Bliss | Coaches No. 1 1974–75 record 31–1 (18–0 Big Ten) | |
Head coach Bobby Knight (4th year) | ||
The 1974–75 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. Their head coach was Bobby Knight, who was in his 4th year. The team played its home games in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.
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The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an overall record of 31-1 and a conference record of 18-0, finishing 1st in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers went the entire regular season undefeated, and when combined with the following year (1975–76) they won 37-consecutive Big Ten games. The 1974–75 Hoosiers swept the entire Big Ten by an average of 22.8 points per game. However, in an 83-82 win against Purdue they lost consensus All-American forward Scott May to a broken left arm. With May's injury keeping him to 7 minutes of play, the No. 1 Hoosiers lost to Kentucky 92-90 in the Elite Eight. The Hoosiers were so dominant that four starters – Scott May, Steve Green, Kent Benson and Quinn Buckner – would make the five-man All-Big Ten team.
Regular season
On December 7, 1974, Indiana and Kentucky met in the regular season in Bloomington with a 98-74 Indiana win. Near the end of the game, Indiana coach Bobby Knight went to the Kentucky bench where the official was standing to complain about a call. Before he left, Knight hit Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall in the back of the head. UK's assistant coach Lynn Nance, a former FBI agent who was about 6 feet 5 inches, had to be restrained by Hall from hitting Knight. Hall later said, "It publicly humiliated me."
Knight said the slap to the head was something he has done, "affectionately" to his own players for years. "But maybe someone would not like that", he said. "If Joe didn't like it, I offer an apology. I don't apologize for the intent." ... "Hall and I have been friends for a long time", Knight said. "If he wants to dissolve the friendship, that's up to him." Knight blamed the furor on Hall, noting in his inimitable style, "If it was meant to be malicious, I'd have blasted him into the seats." Indiana finished the regular season unbeaten (31-0).
NCAA Tournament
Following the contentious regular season game, Indiana and Kentucky met in the 1975 Elite Eight in Dayton, Ohio. Coming into that game, the Hoosiers were on a 34-game winning streak, and the number one ranked team in America. Kentucky was ranked number five. However, Indiana had lost star player Scott May to a broken arm in the regular season finale against Purdue. May scored 25 points in the regular season IU-UK meeting, but he managed only 2 points in seven minutes in the tournament game, which he played with a cast on his left arm. IU surged out to an early seven-point lead before UK rallied to tie it at 44 by halftime. Despite Indiana's Kent Benson scoring 33 points (on 13-of-18 shooting) and grabbing 23 rebounds, Kentucky would win by just two points, 92-90. The game made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time.
The loss for Indiana prevented what could have been back-to-back undefeated seasons and national championships as the Hoosiers went on to take the national title in 1976. Bob Knight would later say that this 1974–1975 team was the best he ever coached, even better than the undefeated national champions of 1976. The win put UK in the Final Four in San Diego, where they dropped the NCAA title game in what would be John Wooden's last game.