50 years ago, Gophers game ended in legendary brawl
Fifty years ago, on Jan. 25, 1972, Ohio State was ranked the six best college basketball team in the country, and the Gophers were 10 places behind them, at No. 16. Minnesota’s new coach, Bill Musselman, was an Ohio native, apparently stoking the rivalry between the two teams.
The Buckeyes were at Williams Arena that night on their way to beating Minnesota in what most remembered as an intensely physical game with a series of hard fouls.
But with less than a minute left, and Ohio State up 50-44, things turned ugly. Ohio State center Luke Witte went for a layup and was knocked to the floor. Gopher Corky Taylor approached him, held out a hand to pull him up, then kneed Witte in the groin, knocking him to the floor again.
“There was just a collective gasp from the audience, and then when everybody started fighting after that, it was just, wow,” remembers Frank Pafko, who was attending his first Gopher basketball game as a freshman. He remembers it still.
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Gopher Ron Behagen, who had already fouled out, ran onto the floor and stomped on Witte’s head as he lay on the court, and a massive brawl broke out. It brought fans onto the court as the two teams traded punches — reportedly even including the Gopher mascot. At least one Buckeye player claimed Goldy Gopher punched him during the brawl.
“There was just a melee,” Pafko remembers. “And lots and lots of people on the court.”
The Buckeyes needed a police escort to get back to the locker room and three Ohio State players were hospitalized after the game, which Minnesota athletic director Paul Giel had ended with 30 seconds still on the clock.
Taylor and Behagen were suspended for the season, but the Gophers went on to win the Big Ten championship that year.
Witte told Vice News that Taylor and Clyde Turner, who had inflicted the final foul on him, eventually met in person in 2000, to talk over the game and the lingering feelings between the two teams.