Lester Rowe still smiles whenever he recalls the atmosphere at the WVU Coliseum before, during and after West Virginia’s 87-78 victory over No. 1-ranked UNLV on Feb. 27, 1983.
“It was nuts,” he said.
Four hours before the game during the team’s shoot-around the entire student section was full. Each shot made by a WVU player was cheered as if it were the winning basket in the NCAA finals. Students started camping out Friday morning – two full days beforehand – in order to get seats for the game.
UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian was well aware of what was going on because he heard them the night before while his team tried to get some sleep at the Holiday Inn just down the street from the Coliseum. The Shark didn’t get much sleep that night because the noise up the street never stopped.
Before the game during warm-ups, a groggy and concerned Tarkanian already had a towel draped over his shoulder ready for chewing when he walked over to greet West Virginia coach Gale Catlett.
“Gale, how in the hell did you ever talk me into coming here?” Tarkanian asked.
Catlett just smiled. He knew UNLV was about to get ambushed.
“The big buzz at the time from the pundits was there was no way we could run with UNLV because that was their type of game,” Rowe recalled. “We were like, are you kidding? We’d love to get into a running match with these guys because this is the way we played and practiced every day.”
West Virginia guard Greg Jones played some terrific games at the Coliseum, his 38-point performance against Virginia Tech with part of Renardo Brown’s front tooth lodged in his head is one his teammates quickly recall – “Renardo got into the wrong press, they crashed into each other, and Renardo gets up off the floor and half of his tooth is stuck in Greg’s forehead,” Rowe said – but none exceeded what Jones did against UNLV in front of a national television audience.
The guard poured in 32 points, several coming from behind the 3-point line; he set up his teammates with laser-like passes, made steals and showed the country what a tremendous all-around player he was.
“He put on a performance that game,” Rowe recalled. “He was unbelievable. He couldn’t miss – he was just all over the place.”
Rowe had no doubt in his mind West Virginia was going to win that game simply because of where it was being played.
“You put that hostile environment in there and you put a bunch of competitive guys out on the floor and you’ve got some magic going in that building,” Rowe said. “Look at what Coach Huggins is doing right now. He doesn’t have the most talent in the world, but he has guys that will compete and you have rabid fans sitting in there ? that’s a great combination.”
Rowe says the way the Coliseum is situated in the mountains (some have referred to it as a giant clam rising out of the countryside), the lack of lighting (since fixed), the crooked rims (so say some Pitt players), the Mountaineer shooting off the musket during pre-game introductions and the depth from the baskets to the seats adds to the aura and the mystique of the place. It’s just a strange, eerie and sometimes downright weird place for opposing teams to play.
“Those are good things,” Rowe laughed.
Maryland’s Gary Williams, who owns a pair of Final Four appearances and a national championship in 2002, is 0-3 in the arena and has not brought the Terrapins back to Morgantown since losing to the Mountaineers, 86-72, in 1992. This is what Williams had to say about the Coliseum in an interview for Inside Sports, which in 1991 ranked the 10 toughest places to play in college basketball.
“I don’t know what it is about that place,” he said. “It’s not a loud crowd nor a particularly hostile one, but sometimes there are just places out there where it’s hard to get comfortable. There’s that guy with the rifle, shooting indoors – that’s really strange. It’s just a funny atmosphere. In a lot of ways it’s the reverse of Cameron; it disturbs you because it’s half-filled. We never get rolling. You get the sensation of rattling around in there.”
The legendary Adolph Rupp, who bargained, cajoled and then buffaloed his fifth-ranked Kentucky team to a 106-103 victory over the Mountaineers here in 1971, made a point of commenting on the Coliseum atmosphere after the game. Rupp, of course, was gracious in victory.
“Talk about a bunch of loud guys,” he said. “I thought the building would come apart at the seams.”
A decade later, Tarkanian was asked about his one trip to Morgantown.
“The thing was, the crowd was incredible,” Tarkanian said in 1995. “But they were fired up because of how highly ranked we were.”
Temple’s John Chaney coached 14 times in the facility, his Owls winning five times from 1983-95. In 1995, Chaney rated the Coliseum and the Palestra as his two favorite venues to coach in.
“When I first went in there it was extremely noisy, especially with Daniel Boone running around with his gun,” said Chaney. “He used to come around and shoot the gun right behind your ear, right around the visitor’s bench.
“But I think later on they got good and kind and put him on the other side,” he added.
West Virginia has won 78% of its games at the Coliseum and whenever a team comes in here and wins, it is always a victory that is well-earned.
“No. 1 it’s a hostile environment because if we only had 6,000 people in there they made it sound like it was 20,000 in there,” Rowe explained. “Then, No. 2, you had a bunch of competitive guys that just did not want to lose.
“If we lost a game, that team beat us.”
40 Memorable Moments in WVU Coliseum History
Dec. 1, 1970 – West Virginia defeats Colgate 113-92 in the first ever game played at the Coliseum
Dec. 7, 1970 – Legendary Adolph Rupp makes an appearance, his fifth-ranked Wildcat team being stretched to the limit in a 106-103 victory.
Feb. 20, 1971 – Notre Dame All-American Austin Carr wins his shootout with West Virginia’s Wil Robinson, outscoring the WVU guard 47-30 to help the 14th-ranked Irish to a 107-98 victory.
Feb. 24, 1971 – Wil Robinson pours in a career-high 45 points in a 101-89 win over Penn State.
March 3, 1971 – Larry Harris scores the winning basket in West Virginia’s 66-64 win over Pitt.
Dec. 6, 1971 – In an early season battle of 7-footers, West Virginia’s Mike Heitz got the best of NC State’s Tom Burleson in an 87-75 Mountaineer victory.
Feb. 26, 1972 – Wil Robinson hits for 41 including the game-winning basket to lead WVU to a 78-77 win over Manhattan in a regionally televised game.
March 4, 1972 – Wil Robinson scores 42 in his final Coliseum appearance to help West Virginia defeat Pitt 104-90. Robinson broke Jerry West’s season scoring average record in that game.
Dec. 1, 1973 – WVU employed an all-black starting lineup against Pitt for the first time in school history in an 82-78 win over Pitt. Starting that night for Sonny Moran were Levi Phillips, Eartha Faust, Jerome Anderson, Larry Carr and Warren Baker.
Jan. 27, 1975 – The Mountaineers had a chance to knock off 19th-ranked Rutgers, but a late traveling call on West Virginia enabled Steve Hefele to sink a 25-footer from the corner to give the Scarlet Knights an 86-84 win.
March 7, 1975 – West Virginia, with just seven players available, upset Pitt 75-73 in the opening round of the ECAC tournament behind Stan Boskovich’s 24 points.
March 8, 1975 – Georgetown’s Derrick Jackson running jump shot with two seconds left lifted Georgetown a 63-62 victory over West Virginia in the ECAC tournament championship game, giving coach John Thompson his first NCAA tournament appearance.
March 5, 1976 – George Washington’s 99-97 victory over West Virginia in the opening round of the 1976 ECAC tournament was briefly interrupted by a brawl that led to the ejections of two players.
Jan. 29, 1977 – Bob Huggins scored 16 points – all in the second half – to help West Virginia to a70-65 victory over Duke.
Feb. 19, 1977 – West Virginia knocked off nationally ranked Notre Dame 81-68 before more than 13,000 at the Coliseum.
Dec. 6, 1978 – After several years of lobbying, Marshall finally managed to get on West Virginia’s basketball schedule. West Virginia survived, 79-73, four days after losing a tough game to Ohio State.
Jan. 20, 1979 – The Gale Catlett era got a big boost with this exciting 93-92 win over Pitt in front of more than 11,000. Six players fouled out and a total of 61 fouls were called on both teams.
March 16, 1981 – Vic Herbert’s basket from the corner sent the game into overtime before West Virginia was able to knock off Temple, 77-76, in an NIT second-round game at the Coliseum.
Feb. 24, 1982 – The largest crowd in Coliseum history (16,704) saw West Virginia defeat Pitt 82-77 in a spirited and competitive basketball game.
Feb. 27, 1983 – Greg Jones scored 32 points to lead West Virginia to an 87-78 victory over top-ranked UNLV in a game televised nationally on CBS.
March 9, 1984 – Dale Blaney sank a 13-foot jump shot with four seconds left to help West Virginia defeat 15th-ranked Temple, 67-65, in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals.
Dec. 9, 1989 – Guard Tracy Shelton lit up the nets for 36 points in West Virginia’s 97-93 double-overtime victory over 22nd-ranked Pitt.
Feb. 23, 1991 – Temple coach John Chaney was ejected before halftime as his Owls lost, 91-66, to the Mountaineers before more than 12,000.
Jan. 27, 1995 – West Virginia led No. 1-ranked Massachusetts by 18 points with four minutes left before losing, 97-94, in overtime.
Dec. 2, 1995 – Allen Iverson and Victor Page scored 22 points each to lead sixth-ranked Georgetown to an 86-83 overtime victory over West Virginia in the first-ever Big East game at the Coliseum.
Jan. 16, 1996 – It took West Virginia a month in conference play to record its first-ever Big East win before it came against 12th-ranked Syracuse at the Coliseum, 90-78.
Jan. 5, 1998 – West Virginia outlasted Georgetown, 81-70, in the first-ever ESPN Big Monday game at the Coliseum.
Feb. 11, 1998 – Dickie V, the ESPN crew and 15,000 more were on hand to watch West Virginia defeat sixth-ranked Connecticut behind Greg Jones’ 18-point effort coming off the bench.
2000 – All games were moved to Charleston, Wheeling and Fairmont with the closure of the Coliseum for asbestos abatement.
Feb. 20, 2001 – Chris Moss scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead West Virginia to an exciting, 107-100 double-overtime victory over Villanova.
Dec. 17, 2003 – Joe Herber’s half-court shot at the buzzer gave West Virginia a 77-74 victory over IUPUI.
Feb. 5, 2005 – West Virginia needed overtime to defeat 16th-ranked Pitt, 83-78, to snap a five-game losing streak to the Panthers.
Nov. 26, 2005 – West Virginia lost, 71-68, in overtime to LSU on the day Jerry West officially had his number retired.
Jan. 14, 2006 – The Mountaineers made a school-record 20 3s, including eight from guard Mike Gansey, to knock off Marquette, 104-85.
Feb. 27, 2006 – Kevin Pittsnogle scored 26 on senior night to lead West Virginia to a 67-62 victory over eighth-ranked Pitt.
Feb. 10, 2007 – Alex Ruoff scored 18 and Ted Talkington came off the bench to make a pair of key baskets to lead West Virginia to a 70-65 win over second-ranked UCLA.
Nov. 16, 2007 – The Bob Huggins era got off to a rousing start with an 81-53 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
Feb. 13, 2009 – Da’Sean Butler scored a career-high 43 points to lead West Virginia to a 93-72 victory over 13th-ranked Villanova.
Dec. 29, 2010 – Da’Sean Butler’s 3 at the buzzer gave West Virginia a 63-62 win over Marquette before nearly 13,000. It was one of six game-deciding shots for Butler in 2010.
Jan. 23, 2010 – On the day Hot Rod Hundley’s number was retired, West Virginia overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat 21st-ranked Ohio State 71-65 behind Da’Sean Butler’s 21 points.
By John Antonik
For MSNsportsNET.com
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ja/01/25/11