The two teams brawled late in the first half, and Indiana State’s bench got involved in the wild melee. All eight Sycamore reserves (including Eddie Bird, brother of the school’s most famous hoops star) were ejected, as well as the two players from both sides who instigated the fighting. That left Indiana State to play the entire second half with just four players. Wichita State coach Eddie Fogler told his team to take it inside instead of settling for jumpers, and while that allowed the Sycamores to hang around–in fact, they got as close as four points–ultimately two players fouled out, leaving two on the floor to try to defend five. (That’s a “2- zone”, or a “line” defense.) The Shockers won the game 84-69.
Actually, if you click that link and scroll up, you’ll see that the 5-on-2 mismatch wasn’t the craziest development in college hoops on Feb. 24, 1989. That honor went to Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke team using a zone (!) against North Carolina State. Although, if Ben Howland can be forced to rely on a 2-3 zone at UCLA, perhaps anything is possible.
