WKU 1966 to Elite 8 - 58 Years After Victim of Worst Call Ever

 

As you can see in the last minute of this game video and the photo above, in 1966 Western Kentucky was the victim of the worst call in March Madness history. In our Value Add Basketball Game tonight they became the 4th team to make it to our Elite 8.

In the actual 1966 season Greg Smith (jumping in the photo above) won the jump ball by a few feet to set up the game-winner against Michigan that would have let them advance to the Elite 8. As the Hilltoppers headed to the hoop for the win, a referee came out if nowhere to call a foul on Smith - saying he committed a foul while he was up in the air. Unbelievable.

A win would have made WKU 26-2 and forced Kentucky finally play the in-state opponent. Obviously we do not know what would have happened, but when they finally did get to play Kentucky a few years later they drubbed them 107-83.

WKU (1966) 74, Xavier (2023) 65

Teams that caught a bad break on a call or injury are the most fun to play in simulated games like Value Add Basketball Game.

And the Hilltoppers advanced to the Elite 8 by dominating the boards 40-30 to keep a steady leas and use one of the best defenses in the game (a team -5 in addition to Clem Haskins having the beat steal range in the game - 11-16 and 31 all.

Here are the scoresheets and set up, and then the upgraded bracket with them advancing.

Pos	19-seed Xavier 2023	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Hts	Season Actual
1-PG	Adam Kunkel	8	1	1	3	4	2	1	0	5	6'2	15.9 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 4.1 Ast
2-SG	Souley Boum	10	2	2	0	0	1	2	0	5	6'0	10.3 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.5 Ast
3-SF	Colby Jones	26	2	8	4	4	10	1	0	2	6'4	13.0 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 2.0 Ast
4-PF	Jerome Hunter	4	0	1	2	2	6	0	2	2	6'6	10.5 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 3.5 Ast
5-C	Jack Nunge	11	1	4	0	0	7	0	2	2	6'9	8.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast
1-PG	Desmond Claude	2	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	2	6'8	4.3 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 0.4 Ast
2-SG	Zach Freemantle	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	1	6'5	4.6 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 1.4 Ast
3-SF	Kyky Tandy	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'3	4.6 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.5 Ast
	Totals	65	6	19	9	10	30	6	5	20
Pos	3-seed WKU 1966	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Hts	Season Actual
1-PG	Dwight Smith	12	1	3	3	6	4	1	0	4	6'5	10.1 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 4.7 Ast
2-SG	Clem Haskins	15	2	2	5	9	7	4	0	2	6'6	6.7 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 4.7 Ast
3-SF	Wayne Chapman	8	0	3	2	3	9	2	0	4	6'8	9.3 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.7 Ast
4-PF	Greg Smith	10	0	5	0	0	9	0	2	3	6'5	16.2 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.3 Ast
5-C	Steve Cunningham	27	1	11	2	3	9	1	3	2	6'9	17.2 Pts, 7.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast
1-PG	Butch Kaufman	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'2	2.1 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
	Totals	74	4	25	12	21	40	8	5	16