1978–79 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. Their head coach was Bobby Knight, who was in his 8th year. The team played its home games in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.

1978–79 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record22–12 (10–8 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainMike Woodson
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Michigan State 13 5   .722 26 6   .813
No. 15 Purdue 13 5   .722 27 8   .771
No. 20 Iowa 13 5   .722 20 8   .714
Ohio State 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
Indiana 10 8   .556 22 12   .647
Michigan 8 10   .444 15 12   .556
Illinois 7 11   .389 19 11   .633
Wisconsin 6 12   .333 12 15   .444
Minnesota 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
Northwestern 2 16   .111 6 21   .222
Rankings from AP Poll

The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an overall record of 22–12 and a conference record of 10–8, finishing 5th in the Big Ten Conference. Coming off an NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance, Indiana missed out on an invitation to the 1979 NCAA Tournament. Instead, IU was invited to participate in the 1979 NIT, where Bobby Knight and the Hoosiers advanced to the championship game and won their first NIT title.[1]

Roster

edit
No. Name Position Ht. Year Hometown
20 Steve Reish G 6–2 Fr. Union City, Indiana
23 Don Cox G/F 6–6 So. Indianapolis, Indiana
24 Randy Wittman G/F 6–6 Fr. Indianapolis, Indiana
25 Tommy Baker G 6–2 So. Jeffersonville, Indiana
30 Ted Kitchel F 6–8 Fr. Galveston, Indiana
31 Scott Eells F 6–9 Sr. Hoopeston, Illinois
32 Landon Turner F/C 6–10 Fr. Indianapolis, Indiana
33 Eric Kirchner F 6–7 So. Edelstein, Illinois
34 Steve Risley F 6–8 So. Indianapolis, Indiana
40 Glen Grunwald F 6–9 Jr. Franklin Park, Illinois
41 Butch Carter G 6–5 Jr. Middletown, Ohio
42 Mike Woodson F 6–5 Jr. Indianapolis, Indiana
43 Jim Roberson C 6–9 Sr. Rochester, New York
44 Phil Isenbarger F 6–8 So. Muncie, Indiana
45 Ray Tolbert F/C 6–9 So. Anderson, Indiana

Schedule/Results

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
11/24/1978*
No. 10 vs. Pepperdine
Sea Wolf Classic
L 58–59  0–1
Buckner Fieldhouse 
Anchorage, AK
11/25/1978*
No. 10 vs. Texas A&M
Sea Wolf Classic
L 49–54  0–2
Buckner Fieldhouse 
Anchorage, AK
11/26/1978*
No. 10 vs. Penn State
Sea Wolf Classic
W 86–65  1–2
Buckner Fieldhouse 
Anchorage, AK
12/2/1978*
No. 20 Morehead State W 80–37  2–2
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
12/6/1978*
vs. No. 20 Georgetown L 54–60  2–3
Capital Centre 
Landover, Maryland
12/9/1978*
vs. Bradley W 80–64  3–3
Market Square Arena 
Indianapolis
12/16/1978*
No. 6 Kentucky
Indiana–Kentucky rivalry
W 68–67 OT 4–3
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
12/18/1978*
Davidson
Indiana Classic
W 101–64  5–3
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
12/19/1978*
Washington
Indiana Classic
W 73–56  6–3
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
12/27/1978*
vs. Washington
Far West Classic Quarterfinals
W 71–57  7–3
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
12/28/1978*
at Oregon
Far West Classic Semifinals
W 68–60  8–3
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
12/30/1978*
vs. Michigan State
Far West Classic Championship
L 57–74  8–4
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
1/4/1979
No. 4 Illinois
Rivalry
L 61–65  8–5 (0–1)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
1/6/1979
Purdue
Rivalry
W 63–54  9–5 (1–1)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
1/11/1979
at Minnesota L 63–80  9–6 (1–2)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis
1/13/1979
at Iowa L 61–90  9–7 (1–3)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, Iowa
1/18/1979
at No. 6 Michigan State L 58–82  9–8 (1–4)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, Michigan
1/20/1979
Northwestern W 74–45  10–8 (2–4)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
1/25/1979
Wisconsin W 82–61  11–8 (3–4)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
1/27/1979
at No. 10 Ohio State L 63–66 OT 11–9 (3–5)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, Ohio
2/1/1979
Michigan W 68–62  12–9 (4–5)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
2/3/1979
No. 7 Ohio State W 70–62  13–9 (5–5)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
2/8/1979
at Northwestern W 82–57  14–9 (6–5)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, Illinois
2/10/1979
at Michigan L 59–60  14–10 (6–6)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, Michigan
2/15/1979
No. 8 Michigan State L 47–59  14–11 (6–7)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
2/17/1979
at Wisconsin W 68–62 OT 15–11 (7–7)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, Wisconsin
2/22/1979
No. 12 Iowa W 64–62  16–11 (8–7)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
2/24/1979
Minnesota W 71–46  17–11 (9–7)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
3/1/1979
at No. 19 Purdue
Rivalry
L 48–55  17–12 (9–8)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, Indiana
3/3/1979
at Illinois
Rivalry
W 72–60  18–12 (10–8)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, Illinois
NIT
3/8/1979*
at Texas Tech
First Round
W 78–59  19–12 (10–8)
Lubbock Municipal Coliseum 
Lubbock, Texas
3/12/1979*
Alcorn State
Second Round
W 73–69  20–12 (10–8)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
3/19/1979*
vs. Ohio State
Semifinals
W 64–55  21–12 (10–8)
Madison Square Garden 
New York City
3/21/1979*
vs. No. 15 Purdue
Championship
W 53–52  22–12 (10–8)
Madison Square Garden 
New York City
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Notes

edit
  • During the NIT, Indiana and Ohio State both received byes during the quarterfinals and advanced directly to the semifinals.

Awards and honors

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Indiana Basketball Men's Database". IndyStar. Retrieved November 16, 2015.