LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — If there was one basketball game Louisville basketball fans ask Milt Wagner about, he said it was the 1986 game against Memphis State when Wagner iced the victory with two free throws in the final second.
Funny, but I thought it would be the final game of Wagner’s splendid five-year Cardinal career. The one where he, Billy Thompson, Pervis Ellison, Denny Crum and U of L defeated Mike Krzyzewski and Duke for the 1986 national title in Dallas.
We’re all wrong.
Ask Milt.
That’s what I did Thursday, the 37th anniversary of the game that created, and then retired, The Dream Game tag.
Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 in overtime at the Mideast Regional final of the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
For the first 40 minutes, the Cardinals vs. Wildcats was Ali vs. Frazier, Borg vs. Connors, Affirmed vs. Alydar.
In overtime, it was Mike Tyson vs. Barney Fife, a Louisville layup line.
“Coach Crum always said, ‘They don’t want to play us,’ “ Wagner said. “They had to play us that day.
“That’s still my favorite game, even more than the Duke championship game. It was Kentucky. That’s the game we wanted.”
NCAA Tournament remembrance stories are the rage these days, especially on what was supposed to be Sweet Sixteen weekend. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the novel coronavirus two weeks ago on March 12.
That was the same day that Wagner’s grandson, D.J., was on the team bus with his Camden High School teammates for a New Jersey state tournament game. The bus left the school and then turned around to return home. New Jersey will not complete its boys’ tournament for the first time since 1943.
Wagner, who lives in Louisville and works as a representative for a local printing company, had plans to travel New Jersey for the state championship game March 15. Camden had won 25 straight. They were ranked first in New Jersey, on track to deliver the school’s first state title since 2000.
D.J. Wagner averaged 18.5 points as a freshman. Milt played junior varsity as a freshman.
Milt said one recruiting service ranked him the top player in the Class of 2023 as well as the No. 20 high school player of any grade.
“He can do it all,” Wagner said. “He has that deep, easy shooting range like me and he can get to the hole like his Dad (former NBA first-round pick DaJuan Wagner, who played for John Calipari at Memphis).
“He’s got a high IQ, he’s 6-3 with a size 14 shoe. He might end up 6-5, 6-6 or 6-7. He’s got long arms and big hands.”
Now, like most players, D.J. cannot report to the gym. Most workout facilities have been closed because of COVID-19. D.J.’s state tournament was canceled. His AAU schedule could be the next scratch.
Maybe he can load one of the YouTube videos that replay the Dream Game, the one with Gary Bender on play-by-play and Billy Packer handling analysis for CBS. Milt Wagner has watched it many times.
“In the first half, we were in trouble,” Wagner said. “Kentucky played really well. (Jim) Master was hot.
“He made some tough shots and I lost him on defense too many times. Rodney (McCray, his senior teammate) still gives me trouble about that.”
Kentucky surged to a 23-10 lead. The Cardinals missed 16 of their first 20 shots. By halftime, UK led, 37-30. Louisville could not defend Master or Melvin Turpin, UK’s silo-sized center.
“Coach Crum told us at halftime that we were going to stick with our press and in the second half we would wear them down,” Wagner said.
Denny Crum knew basketball. His team rallied mightily and went ahead less than nine minutes into the second half on a basket by Gordon. In fact, the Cardinals actually led, 58-53 before Kentucky rallied to tie the game at 60.
The final 17 seconds were epic. U of L center Charlies Jones blocked a layup by UK guard Dick Minniefield. Gordon drove and scored. Master tied the game with a 12 footer in the final second.
“I might have lost him on that one, too,” Wagner said.
The overtime is the five-minute clip that D.J. Wagner should watch — and not simply because Louisville scored the first 14 points and turned Kentucky over four times.
Watch the first possession. Louisville won the tip. The Cardinals passed the ball 20 times and burned 66 seconds (no shot clock then) before Gordon made a 10-footer from the left side.
Cue the route.
The Cards made jumpers, steals, layups, free throws and dunks. Over the final 25 minutes U of L shot 81.5 percent making 22 of 27.
“Coach Crum was right,” Wagner said. “Kentucky got tired and got lazy with the ball. We got a lot of dunks and layups. In the first half their passes were crisp. In the second half they were soft. You couldn’t throw soft passes against our press.”
No, you couldn’t. The Cardinals advanced to the Final Four for the second consecutive season and third time in four years.
They were beaten by Houston in another classic game in the national semifinals played at altitude at The Pit at Albuquerque, N.M. Wagner stayed with the program through 1986 when the Cardinals won the school’s national title.
“I think our 1983 team (which finished 32-4) was the best team I played on,” Wagner said.
“We had Lancaster, Charles, Rod and Scooter (McCray), just a great veteran team with (freshmen) Billy (Thompson) and Jeff (Hall) off the bench.
“The only thing we were missing was depth. I think if the Final Four wasn’t played in Albuquerque, we could have won the national championship.”
We’ll never know.
But they did win the Dream Game, a victory Milt Wagner celebrates more than any other.
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