Greatest Billiken Game You've Been To

[joe_davola]

Doesn't seem to be too much to talk about lately so thought I'd throw this topic out there. I would say my favorite Billiken game of all time that I've been to was in Atlanta in '98 when we defeated UMASS in Round 1 of the NCAA tourney with Larry the Legend. I'll never forget his dunk to seal the game. I would have to say that as a Billiken fan, I've never been happier than that moment that they won that game (and the few hours afterwards).

[davidnark]

I have two:

-At home against SIU in December 1993, when they had to remove the banners from the upper deck corners to accommodate the massive walk-up crowd that didn't seem to go away for about five years.

-When we upset top 10 Kansas by double-digits in the late 90's at the Savvis Center

[kevinfootes]

I have two:

-At home against SIU in December 1993, when they had to remove the banners from the upper deck corners to accommodate the massive walk-up crowd that didn't seem to go away for about five years.

-When we upset top 10 Kansas by double-digits in the late 90's at the Savvis Center

Kansas was terrific, as was the big Louisville win. While it was a loss, the '80s 65-62 loss to Georgia Tech was a big night. While losing doesn't count for much, that was a big game against a big opponent.

[thetorch]

I have several

- My first game I can remember going to an exhibition against a team from Turkey in the mid 80s.

- Marque perry over #2 Louisville

- The NIT final four in 89 and 90. Going to NYC to watch the team was a big treat as a 9 year old kid.

- The NCAA in 98 against UMass and Kentucky

[joe_davola]

I have two:

-At home against SIU in December 1993, when they had to remove the banners from the upper deck corners to accommodate the massive walk-up crowd that didn't seem to go away for about five years.

-When we upset top 10 Kansas by double-digits in the late 90's at the Savvis Center

That Kansas game was awesome. I believe that was the game where Love had the fast break at the end for the dunk if I'm not mistaken. Savvis was rocking that game.

[GoBills]

Some good ones listed here. I was at the conference tourney when the Bills beat the Bearcats, who I think were #1 and then turned around a couple days later and beat DePaul to win the whole thing. There were a lot of great games in front of packed houses during the Claggett and Highmark show. Going way back, I saw Lewis McKinney drop over 30 in a win over Memphis State and I think this was a year after Memphis State made the Final Four. Lewis McKinney was a heck of a ballplayer.

[kmbilliken]

the siu game Orlando Stewart took over and beat them, driving down the court for the game winner with time running out.

[One Man Dynasty]

1) Perry beats #2 Louisville

2) Bills down 20 to Houston with 9 minutes, and down by 9 with 45 seconds and force an overtime win on a tip in by senior phillip hunt

3) Ian's tip-in with 0.1 seconds to beat Missouri State

4) drejaj for 3 to beat iowa in the nit at the buzzer

...Great memories, i love the bills!

[Iggy]

I thought of that Houston comeback too...and thought about how many 'true-blue' Billiken fans missed the entire comeback because they had to leave early to beat the crowd out of the parking garage. That was a tremendous comeback.

Seeing the Bills cut-down the nets in Memphis, however, is probably my favorite moment.

How about that buzzer beater to beat Iowa in the NIT.

[billiken_roy]

my three favorites are in reverse order,

3. beating mi$$ouri at the dome. there were probably more than half mi$$ouri fans at the game and just to look at their miserable faces after the game was priceless.

2. i too remember beating siu at that midnight game at the old keil with the fantastic circus shot by orlando stewart. that game was amazing.

1. no doubt beating cincy in memphis is the best. and for those that still say we only won because martin broke his leg setting his illegal pick. bull. we were winning at the time and that weekend justin love was not to be denied. there were about 25 of us fans at that game, of course by two nights later there were a thousand billiken fans, and every one was saying they were there for the cincy game as well.

[Taj79]

I don't remember the year, but it was at old Kiel with at least Bonner on the roster --- may have included Douglas and Gray but I don't really recall --- we beat Hersey Hawkins and a highly ranked Bradley team. The old Kiel was about 2/3s full and we were down by nine or so with five minutes to go and I think we shut Bradley out the rest of the way for the comeback win. There may have been bigger wins and losses (my second favorite was in person at the Baltimore Arena when Claggs and company lost to Tim Duncan in the NCAAs) but that Bradley game always stuck with me in terms of atmosphere and what a home campus arena could mean in terms of ten thousand or so Billiken fans making it a pit and a home court advantage.

[Box and Won]

there were about 25 of us fans at that game, of course by two nights later there were a thousand billiken fans, and every one was saying they were there for the cincy game as well.

Another little known fact: attendance for the Blues' Monday Night Miracle game was somewhere near 60,000.

[Pistol]

In chronological order, best SLU games I've been to in person:

1997: Beating Illinois at the Dome by 6 (I could put in a ton of other Hughes performances from this season, too)

1998: Watching from the nosebleeds in the sold-out Kiel Center as we upset the Kansas Jayhawks (and spending half the game making fun of Jeff Boschee's bald head)

1999: Beating Mizzou at the Dome by 3 (all three of those Mizzou games were awesome and incredibly close, but I have to go with the win over the 2-point loss on Stokes' lucky shot when they were #2)

2001: Beating Washington by 1 on Varner's 3 from the corner with his whole family in town for the only time that season

2003: Marque's winning shot to upset #2 Louisville, 59-58

2003: Winning at Cincinnati for the first time since 1989, 58-55

2004: The miracle comeback vs. Houston on senior night, going to OT on Phil Hunt's tip-in on Fisher's missed 3 (although the rest of that game was terrible, the last few minutes are the best example of why you never leave a game early)

2004: Drejaj's 3 from the corner to beat Iowa by 1 in the NIT at Family Arena after the clock operator's error and free timeout

2008: First game I saw at Chaifetz, the 53-50 win over BC (not the greatest game ever, but I won't forget it)

I know this is best "game" and not best "games" but it's hard to pick one. Maybe Mizzou at the Dome because I was 100% into the game from start to finish and the crowd was awesome.

[Box and Won]

The KU game was awesome. Somehow, four drunken louts from KU ended up sitting in the seats immediately to my left. Whenever KU would do anything positive, they'd yell, "That's Big XII basketball, baby!" in our direction.

I'm not sure why my buddy and I didn't beat the ###### out of those guys, but anyway...

When Troy twisted the dagger at the end of the game, we finally had a good opportunity to respond with, "That's C-USA basketball, mother f-*!@#&$!" They felt shame.

[BLIKNS]

93-94,the Bills had just moved into the national rankings,I think they we #18,played UMKC in KC.Municipal Auditorium is a great place to watch a game.Large group came over,some people gave the kids plastic spoons,and the place was mostly Bill fans..

The Legend`s season again brought the Bills to KC,got seats in the second row,got to see up close just how big Heinrich really was,and how special Larry was.

Those two really stood out,and was why i hated to see the UMKC series end.

[lefty]

93-94,the Bills had just moved into the national rankings,I think they we #18,played UMKC in KC.Municipal Auditorium is a great place to watch a game.Large group came over,some people gave the kids plastic spoons,and the place was mostly Bill fans..

The Legend`s season again brought the Bills to KC,got seats in the second row,got to see up close just how big Heinrich really was,and how special Larry was.

Those two really stood out,and was why i hated to see the UMKC series end.

What did you think of UMKC losing at home to SIU-Edwardsville?

[billikenfan05]

I missed many good games you all have mentioned. L'ville and Missouri State. I watched missouri state on tv though. My favorite though has to be the Iowa comeback and buzzer beater at the Family Arena.

[BLIKNS]

What did you think of UMKC losing at home to SIU-Edwardsville?

We`ve moved to Florida so haven`t followed the Roos,but that had to hurt.Still think they should have hired DT,but didn`t.

[AB34]

I'm going with the '98 game versus Grambling . . . great effort in the middle of a real tough non-conference schedule.

Just kidding.

I'm going with the UMass game as well. I sat with Crazy Joe and erupted when Hughes flew in for the dunk. Plus, we got the bonus of staring at Ashley Judd from about 60 feet during the Kentucky-SC State game. Immediately after this game, most Bills fans said, "We're going to get creamed on Sunday, but this was a blast. We'll be lucky to keep it to 30." And hour later, the deficit was 20. Four more beers after that it was 10. And by midnight, we were going to the Sweet Sixteen.

The KU game in KC was fun. No one expected us to compete and we hung in there. Then Heinirch stuffed himself on a wide open dunk and I knew it was over.

[Iggy]

None of us were probably actually "there". But we need a mention of the 20 point halftime deficit comeback over New Mexico and Luc Longely to advance to NYC. I listened to in on KMOX in my rental car in Little Rock. That was crazy!

[kwyjibo]

None of us were probably actually "there". But we need a mention of the 20 point halftime deficit comeback over New Mexico and Luc Longely to advance to NYC. I listened to in on KMOX in my rental car in Little Rock. That was crazy!

That was the 1989 game right? I was at the 1990 NIT semi-final game when Bonner (and Mel Robinson) battled the boards against Longley for victory. It was a close but comfortable win for the Billikens but it was pretty exciting for me.

[GMan Alum]

I was at almost all the home games already listed, but I have two others: Losing to Notre Dame and Austin Carr in December '70 at the old Arena. Incredible game with Harry Rogers and Jimmy Irving almost willing the Bills to a win, but Carr hit a shot with just a couple seconds left to make it 68-67. Jesse "The Ghost" Leonard just missed a shot from the corner at the buzzer. #2 was another loss, this one to SIU in December '73, but what made the day great was that the 2nd game of the doubleheader was UCLA vs. NC State. UCLA was reigning champs, but NC State was also undefeated the year before, but was on probation so they couldn't play in the NCAA tourney. This was a neutral site game set up by Larry Albus. UCLA won, but the best part was that I (and a couple friends) got to spend the entire evening with the UCLA cheerleaders. For the only time in my life I was a BMOC!! Oh man, they were gorgeous!

[DeSmetBilliken]

Most of the games I'm going to mention have been brought up by several people already, but there is one that I don't believe has been brought, possibly because it was a little more significant to me.

-The Louisville game in '03 when we came back from 7 down with 2 minutes remaining and Marque Perry hit the winner in the last couple of seconds. I still say that was textbook rushing the court by the Blue Crew/rest of the students. I've watched the video of the game several times and you see the first students at mid-court right about 5 seconds after Reece Gaines' shot missed. Keep in mind they had to knock over/go around a table while rushing the court.

-The KU game at Kiel in '98. We just schooled them in every way, as we held a double digit lead for a good part of the game. When JLove put the exclamation point on the win with his dunk at the buzzer, I just went nuts.

-The Mizzou game at the Dome in '99. All my life I had heard about how Mizzou wouldn't play us, and the game was not only finally happening, but we won. It was just a great feeling.

-The Illinois game in '97. Don't remember it being a very pretty game to watch, but it was still cool to see us playing in front of such a big crowd against one of the two big name state schools around here. And we won too.

-The Iowa game in the NIT at the Family Arena. A good portion of the game wasn't pretty, but we were able to come back from a decent sized deficit and take our only lead on Drejaj's three at the buzzer.

-Don't remember much about the '06 games against Missouri State, other than Ian's tip-in at the buzzer and that Dwayne Polk held Blake Ahearn scoreless when I was sure Soderberg was going to have Lisch guard him.

-I'll throw in a combo of "We were so close games over the years", because even though they ended up the wrong way for us, they gave us some fun times during the games. Those were the '01 game against Mizzou, the '05 game against Gonzaga, the '03 game against Arizona, and even last year's game against Xavier.

Here's the last one I'll add to my list that I don't believe made anyone else's list; the 2004 C-USA Tournament second round game against Memphis. The tournament was in Cincy, and while some of you who go to the tournaments might stay for the rest of the tournament anyway, the Band goes home the morning after SLU tournament is over. That year, Memphis had a solid team and had just recently entered the Top 25, so there was a strong chance that we'd lose and we'd be boarding the bus the next morning to go back to St. Louis. The game was on a Thursday night, and we were hearing that additional Band members (including Mike our director) would be coming in for the Friday night game if we made it. Plus, a win meant 2 more days of meal money. Anyway, we won, so it was a real exciting moment that we had survived another day in the tournament. The reward turned out to be a blowout at the hands of Cincinnati the next night, but it was still a fun moment.

[Cowboy]

-i know it says game, but i am not able to pick just one

-Arena Days (biased in part because i loved the Arena/Checkerdome/Arena, if you treated those barteneders right you could get a great drink!!!)

-don't remember the opponent, slu won and they did not many that year, but my grade school played before the game and we got to meet the team

-vs cinny, spoon vs huggins, they were ranked, sold out, great atmosphere

-sr night for highmark/claggett/waldman etc (i think) right after the game spoon grabs the pa mike (from the guy that used to say 3 point basket by -e-r-w-i-n c-l-a-g-g-e-t-t, loved that guy) and told the crowd to give the players another ovation as groups like them don't come along too often

Kiel Auditorium Days

-vs X with Bonner vs Strong, this was a couple of games, the battles they had were fierce

-really any game there as it was such a neat bldg

Kiel/Savvis/Scotttrade

-vs Lvlle when they were #2, that was good

-cusa tourney after jeff harris' last game he came around and shook the hand of everyone in the place, that was cool

-vs memphis with penny, i think it was a sat afternoon game and they should have killed us but we won (or at least that is what i remember)

-with romar we beat someone ranked and i remember being there late and watching him and his wife (beautiful) and kids walking off the floor, that was cool

Family Arena

-nit vs iowa and the no charge call

Chaifetz

-these are just beginning

-there are certainly some i am forgetting and some where i mis-remembered

[TheChosenOne]

-The Louisville game in '03 when we came back from 7 down with 2 minutes remaining and Marque Perry hit the winner in the last couple of seconds. I still say that was textbook rushing the court by the Blue Crew/rest of the students. I've watched the video of the game several times and you see the first students at mid-court right about 5 seconds after Reece Gaines' shot missed. Keep in mind they had to knock over/go around a table while rushing the court.

-The Iowa game in the NIT at the Family Arena. A good portion of the game wasn't pretty, but we were able to come back from a decent sized deficit and take our only lead on Drejaj's three at the buzzer.

I would have to go with these two games. I was not really much of a SLU fan growing up in St. Louis, but these two games were during my time at the university. That Louisville game was just an incredible game on a big time stage and then Drejaj beating the buzzer at the Family Arena was a lot of fun as well.