Topic: Oldtimers recollections: "Johnny Reb" game at the Fieldhouse

[parshall2marshall]

As basketball season looms I wanted to ask about this game, an apparent Herd victory against Ole Miss. Was it in '69-70 or '70-71 ? Was it a MUMIT game ?

I know our recently dearly departed TRS (Tom) would have been there, as well as TG formerly from the Nation and earlier Herd boards. I was a senior in HS in 70-71 in the Pacific NW.

Neumann passed away several years ago. Seems played several seasons in the ABA after averaging 40.1 PPG as soph in college. Remember no 3-point line back then in college.

I guess when he played in Huntington his game was extremely frustrated by the Herd, and the story I heard was that his head was continually bobbing in frustration and that some fans thought he was spitting on the court but in actually was saying the S-word over and over instead. Always has been tough to win on the road in college basketball.

Just wanted to reach out to fellow oldtimers who might have been in attendance now almost 55 years ago for their recollections of this game.

https://olemisssports.com/news/2019/4/24/mens-basketball-ole-miss-basketball-legend-johnny-neumann-passes-away

[yogiherd]

Im pretty sure it was Russell Lee's junior year. Russell scored a lot points in that game but Johnny Reb might have been  the high scorer.  I think he took a dozen or more shots and Lee had a higher FG percentage. I think Lee was close to forty points.

[MLBULL]

I was there for Ole Miss. Lee was pulled with 2:30 left in the game and PA roared Russell Lee has set a MMI record 41 points. At that point Neumann had 29 points but he proceeded to score14 points after Lee?s departure and finished with 43 besting Lee?s 41.Great Marshall victory and the fieldhouse was loud.

[marshallmark]

119-98 Marshall (geez, those were the days!).

Ironically, MU wasn't that good that year (1970-71) finishing only 16-10.  Stewart Way's son told me one time that his father couldn't cope with the emotions of being a head coach at MU right after losing so many friends in the crash, and that's why he switched places with Carl Tacy for '71-'72.  1971-72 had, basically, the same core team as the year before but added two key components - Randy Noll, a transfer from Kentucky who could stretch defenses away from Russell and who was a rebounding machine, and Bill James, a JC transfer who was by far the fastest player on the team.  Those additions created a perfect storm to allow MU to climb as high as #8 in the AP poll before finishing as #12.