being the difference
Rube Schulz, Terry Rand and Russ Wittberger played in Marquette’s first postseason NCAA tournament game.
campus replay A MEMORY BY RUSS WITTBERGER, JOUR ’55
Only the most avid basketball fans will remember the first game Marquette played in the postseason NCAA tournament. The recent passing of Terry Rand, Bus Ad ’56, brought a flood of memories of that game in 1955. Terry and I were teammates for two seasons, 1953–54 and 1954–55. In the preseason, we both started on Coach Jack Nagle’s new 1-3-1 offense, with Terry at the high post at the free-throw line and me at low post underneath. But three weeks before the opener, I got pneumonia. Rube Schulz moved onto the starting lineup, a spot he kept for the rest of the season. It started with a loss on the road to Michigan State, followed by 22 consecutive wins, a record that held until the Al McGuire years. Toward the end of the streak, we were selected to play in the Midwest sectional of the NCAA tournament. We had to play a qualifying round against Miami, winner of the Mid-American Conference. If we won the game in Lexington, Ky., we would advance to the final 16 in Evanston, Ill. I vividly recall the Miami game. Miami held a 39–29 lead at halftime and led by as much as 13 in the second half. But Marquette came on with less than a minute to play, and the score was 72–69 when Don
Bugalski was fouled. Bugalski was to make the first free throw and miss the second to give us a chance for a tying rebound basket. He made the first shot. He missed the second shot and the ball was knocked out of bounds by a Miami player. That left Marquette with possession and 15 seconds on the game clock. We set up an out-of-bounds play that hadn’t been used that season. While the three big men — Rand, Schulz and I — created a diversion across the free-throw line, Bugalski inbounded the ball to one of our sharpest long-range shooters, Pat O’Keefe. When O’Keefe got the ball, he wasn’t open. He looked at the three giants at the free-throw line for help. He threw the ball to Rand, who had never taken a shot from a 20–foot distance. Rand let it fly. Schulz and I crashed to the basket for a possible tip-in. I don’t think either of us dreamed Rand’s shot would go in, but it did. We were tied at 72. In the five-minute overtime, Rand went wild, scoring 12 points and bringing his total for the game to a record 37 points. His 16 field goals set a new record. Marquette won 90–79. Rand also broke two school records — both of them were mine. I forgave him. And three days later, Marquette defeated No. 2 Kentucky and finished in the Elite Eight. m
Russ Wittberger played four seasons at Marquette (1951–55). At his graduation, he was the highest scorer in university history. He also set a record for most rebounds.
Marquette Magazine
11