Pettit & LSU Survive Ferocious Walt Frazier Rally, 75-73

With no player taller than 6-foot-4 having been dominated by one of the greatest rebounders of all time (LSU's Bob Pettit, 6-foot-9, 36 points including 11 of 12 from line), Southern Illinois put on a ferocious defensive rally at the end.

Trailing 65-71 with 1:30 to play, Walt Frazier came up with his 6th and 7th steals of the game. On the first one he scored on a dunk, and then he passed to Craig Taylor, only in the game because Dick Garrett had fouled out early trying to guard Pettit, who drained a rare 3-pointer for the 1967 Southern Illinois squad to cut the lead to 71-70. 

LSU's 1953 squad did survive when Benny McArdle score and Southern Illinois turned it over, giving LSU the 75-73 win to advance and face Allen Iverson and Georgetown. 

Please do check out the preview of this game and link to Frazier talking about the 1967 NIT title in a year in which Southern Illinois was not yet considered a major program.
 

Pos	Southern Illinois 1967	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Season Actual
1-PG	Walt Frazier	26	0	11	4	4	5	7	0	2	6'4, 45th best ever
2-SG	Jay Westcott	8	2	1	0	0	4	2	0	1	6'4,5.5 ppg
3-SF	Willie Griffin	8	0	3	2	2	4	0	1	2	6'3,10.8 ppg
4-PF	Dick Garrett	8	0	3	2	2	1	0	2	5	6'3,20.1 ppg
5-C	Chuck Benson	6	0	3	0	0	6	1	2	1	6'4,11.9 ppg
1-PG	Craig Taylor	7	1	2	0	0	2	0	0	3	6'1,3.9 ppg
2-SG	Bobby Jackson	10	0	3	4	6	5	0	0	1	6'0,5.2 ppg
	14 Turnovers	73	3	26	12	14	27	10	5	15
Pos	LSU 1953	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Season Actual
1-PG	Norman Magee	5	0	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	5'11,13.3 ppg
2-SG	Benny McArdle	10	0	4	2	2	2	3	1	1	5'10,8.1 ppg
3-SF	Don Belcher	7	0	3	1	1	6	0	0	5	6'2,12.7 ppg
4-PF	Bob Pettit	36	1	11	11	12	7	1	3	1	6'9,31st best ever
5-C	Ned Clark	6	0	3	0	0	3	0	2	1	6'5,9.7 ppg
1-PG	Kenny Bridges	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'11,1.7 ppg
2-SG	Leslie Jones	5	0	2	1	2	1	0	0	1	6'2,2.5 ppg
3-SF	Don Sebastian	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	5'10,3.2 ppg
4-PF	Bob Freshley	2	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	2	6'6, 2.1 ppg
	15 Turnovers	82	1	28	16	19	28	6	7	15

Unknown Teams Feature All-time Great Players - LSU 1953 v. SIU 1967 NIT Champs

 Please read this great piece on the Southern Illinois NIT title. After this blog was posted, we played out the LSU 1953 vs. Southern Illinois 1967 game with results here.

Our next "great player" tournament game features and SIU 1967 team that is still not listed as a major basketball program, but proved their 24-2 mark against lesser competition was not a fluke as they beat Al McGuire's Marquette for the NIT title. Stats are not recorded for their season, so we had to use the 1968 state for most players and Walt Frazier's stats from his all-star NBA career.

Meanwhile they face another all-time greatp player in Bob Pettit but from another somewhat mysterious team in LSU 1953. On the one had the Tigers went undefeated in the SEC. Today that would surely result in a team ranked No. 1 in the country, but SEC basketball 70 years ago was not what it is today, as LSU did not beat a single ranked team all season - including losing both Final 4 games.

Thats the set up for two somewhat unknown teams but each with one of the greatest players of all time.

Lineups at the start of the game - remember read all coins from left to right for a 1-5 on 8-sided die, then left to right reading only dimes for the 6,7 or 8. Neither team has "8" covered to start the game, so if that comes up roll again but in the second roll a 6-8 is a shot clock turnover.