Idaho State’s greatest athletic achievement was captured in big, bold and black type by a Los Angeles Times headline:
“Big Sky falls on Bruins.”
The Bengals’ upset of UCLA checks in at No. 2 on the Big Sky’s 50 Greatest Men’s Moments list.
On March 17, 1977, ISU freshman guard Ernie Wheeler, oblivious to the din inside Provo’s Marriott Center, calmly buried four free throws in the final 51 seconds to seal an almost unimaginable 76-75 upset of storied UCLA in NCAA West Regional.
Idaho State had beaten a UCLA team that featured eight players, including Wooden Award winner Marques Johnson, who would be drafted by NBA teams.
Not only did ISU’s victory halt an unprecedented run of 10 consecutive Final Fours, it forever put the final nail in the aura of UCLA’s invincibility. Between 1964 and 1975, the Bruins would win 10 national championships.
Yet, in 1975, UCLA had barely beaten Montana, 67-64, en route to its 10th and last NCAA title during the glorious run of legendary coach John Wooden. By 1977, the Bruins were coached by Gene Bartow and they would not win another NCAA title until 1995.
"We had lost the year before to Indiana in the Final Four," Johnson told the L.A. Times in 2007. "And after the Idaho State game I realized something: Idaho State just had a really good team. They believed they could beat us because they were good."
Idaho State coach Jim Killingsworth had his team believing it could beat the Bruins. Killingsworth coached at Idaho State for six seasons and won three Big Sky Conference titles, including 1977 when ISU finished 24-5. He compiled an overall mark in Pocatello of 110-54.
Killingsworth, who would go on to turn the TCU program around, began as a successful junior college coach, taking the California Junior College championship in 1968. He knew how to win.
"The whole team was confident we could play with them and beat them,” said Idaho State’s 7-foot center Steve Hayes. “We were nervous. We were Idaho State and they were UCLA. We were excited to play against them. After the first few minutes of getting out on the court, we realized we could compete with them and we started settling down quite a bit. I remember Killingsworth emphasizing that we could beat them. He prepared us for their game plan.”
The Bengals weren’t the only people feeling confident. The mother of Jeff Cook, a forward on the ISU team who would go on to play nearly a decade in the NBA, stopped off in Las Vegas on her way to the game from California and put down an even-money bet on the Bengals.
UCLA was favored by 14.
In winning, ISU, which featured four future draftees of its own, became the only Big Sky team to ever reach the Elite 8 on the NCAA Tournament.
The dream of a Final Four of its own lasted one more half, before fatigue and lack of depth caught up to the Bengals, who eventually lost two days later to UNLV, 107-90. Idaho State reached the Sweet 16 by beating Long Beach State 83-72.
The moment, however, remains clear.
"I have great memories of Idaho State,” said Hayes, who finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds. “Of course the fondest memory is the fact we beat UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. They were the epitome of college basketball at that point in time. It was an exciting time. I played in the NBA, but really the win over UCLA is the most memorable game of my career.”
As with all great upsets, there was a coming together of just the right ingredients, including the No. 2 ranked Bruins’ focus on who they believed would be their next opponent – UNLV.
Idaho State matched up well with the Bruins, who had no answer for Hayes, a native of tiny Aberdeen, Idaho, and his high-arching sky hook.
"We were looking ahead," Johnson said. "Idaho State? We didn't know a whole lot about them. They were never on TV.”
Johnson finished the game with 21 points, but 19 of them came in the first half. ISU, which trailed at the half, adjusted its defense and Johnson was not an influence in the second half.
David Greenwood scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for UCLA, which also featured Roy Hamilton, Brad Holland and Kiki Vandeweghe.
Meanwhile, Idaho State, which featured Hayes, Cook and 6-foot-5 point guard Ed Thompson, controlled the game’s tempo.
Cook would finish with eight points and 14 rebounds, while Thompson added 14 points with five assists. Forward Greg Griffin also scored 12 points, while Brand Robinson, ISU’s deadly outside shooter, contributed eight points off the bench.
UCLA only pressed late as the Bengals built an 8-point cushion with minutes remaining.
By then, the unbelievers in the Marriott Center, including the Utah Ute fans who had just seen their team lose to UNLV, became ISU fans.
“In the second half, more and more people began pulling for us,” said former ISU sports information director Glenn Alford. “The last 10 minutes was like a home game.”
As UCLA pressed and fouled, ISU, which shot just 41 percent from the field, cemented the outcome with a pressure-packed 20-of-25 from the free throw line.
“I was able to get a DVD copy of the telecast of the game,” Hayes said. “I watched it with some friends who remembered the game. It was fun to sit and watch and see what my memories were compared to what happened. It actually did happen.”
It was the day the Big Sky fell on UCLA.
