Crosstown Hoops

When the Cincinnati Garden opened in 1949 it was a fast break for college basketball. The second opening night at the Garden saw the first game on the Garden's hardwood and the UC Bearcats defeat the Butler Bulldogs 49-44. That game was followed the next evening by the Garden debut of the Xavier Musketeers.  A  crowd of 13,200 watched unranked Xavier (12-8) take on the Wildcats of Kentucky (23-1).  Coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp, the Wildcats were the number one ranked team in the nation.  Xavier kept the game competitive, down just two points at half-time, but the Wildcats pulled away in the second half and won handily, 50-41.  Bill Cady was the leading scorer for the Musketeers with 17 points. Two weeks later both hometown teams were back at the Garden for the Crosstown Shootout.  UC prevailed 57-46 in the first of 42 classics at the Gardens.

The UC Bearcats made the Garden their home court from 1949 to 1954.  They racked up 41 wins and 17 losses by the time they left the Garden in December 1954 for Armory Fieldhouse, their new on-campus home. Decades later they returned to the Gardens for two more seasons (1987-1989) during the construction of Shoemaker Center. Although those two years under coach Tony Yates were mediocre (26 -29,) the Bearcat's fared better at the Gardens with 17 wins and 12 losses.  

In 1982 it became obvious to Xavier University officials that 4,200 seat Schmidt Fieldhouse did not have the capacity to support the long-term needs of the basketball program. With the reopened Gardens available and located less than three miles from campus, the solution was evident.  Xavier's president, Father Charles Currie and Xavier's head coach, Bob Staak, negotiated an arrangement with Garden's owner, Jerry Robinson for Xavier to play league games at the Garden's starting in 1983/84. It was just before the arrival of Jeff Fogelson, Xavier's new athletic director who forged a lasting relationship with the Gardens and was integral to the long-term success of Xavier basketball.

The Cincinnati Gardens holds a special place in Xavier Basketball history. The venue was a catalyst that helped propel basketball program to record heights. Over their 17 years at the Garden's fans were entertained by talented players like Lenny Brown, Michael Davenport, Brian Grant, Tyrone Hill, Byron Larkin, Ralph Lee, James Posey, Derek Strong, Jamal Walker and many more.  Pete Gillen and Skip Prosser coached the Musketeers to national acclaim with ten post season appearances in the NCAA tournament. Xavier's record at the Gardens stands at an impressive 215-25 including a 55-3 run during the last four seasons at the Gardens.  Xavier left the Cincinnati Gardens in 2000 for Cintas Center, their new on-campus home. 

Games Remembered:  

'64 Crosstown Shootout 03/04/1964   Steve Thomas scored a record 45 points for Xavier, but as he drove toward the basket in the final five seconds of the game for a shot to tie the score, he was called for travelling. UC won 94-92. 

'67 Crosstown Shootout 03/03/1967   UC won in overtime 79 to 69.   It was one of the ugliest games in series history. There were 57 fouls, plus an overtime brawl involving Xavier's Joe Pangrazio and UC's Raleigh Wynn that ended with Pangrazio grabbing a crutch from the stands and throwing it at Wynn.  Both players were ejected, and two spectators were injured as fans pelted the court with cups, coins and other debris. "The Crutch Game of 1967" is remembered as the most outrageous incident in the rivalry's history. 

National Invitational Tournament 03/15/1984.   There were plenty of big wins for the Musketeers at the Gardens, but few were as exciting as the 60-57 overtime win over Ohio State.  The 9,715 fans in the stands were pumped-up and the Gardens was rocking.  Xavier's Jeff Jenkins had a career high 30 points including 14 of 14 from the line.   It was a mega upset and a watershed event for Xavier's basketball program.

'90 Crosstown Shootout 1/31/1990. 25th ranked Xavier came from six points down in the final 53 seconds of overtime to spoil the Shootout debut of UC coach Bob Huggins, winning 90 to 88 on a Jamal Walker 3-pointer with seven seconds left.  It was set up by a controversial call when with 17 seconds left, XU was awarded the ball after XU's Michael Davenport knocked the ball from UC's Lou Banks out of bounds; officials ruled it was off Banks. Afterward, Huggins and then-athletic director Rick Taylor chased referee Ken Faulkner off the court.

'94 Crosstown Shootout 01/19/1994  UC Coach Bob Huggins refused to shake Xavier coach, Pete Gillen’s hand after Xavier’s 82-76 overtime defeat of the No. 19 Bearcats in what has become known as the "No Handshake Game."  It  was the first Shootout where both teams were ranked. The game was filled with heated exchanges between the benches and after the buzzer TV cameras caught Huggins refusing to shake hands with Pete Gillen. The resulting uproar had the city buzzing for days.
  

Xavier vs University of Massachusetts 2/05/1996.  The No. 1 and undefeated Minutemen figured they'd show up and silence a raucous Cincinnati Gardens crowd with a showering of three-point baskets and dunks; as UMass forward Donta Bright put it, "beat them by 10 to 15 points." Instead, Xavier, led by former Loyola coach Skip Prosser, out-hustled, outshot and out-executed UMass throughout most of the game, coming within a hair of the biggest upset in college basketball this season.   "We came to win," said Kevin Carr, who led Xavier with 17 points. "We let it slip through our fingers." 

'99 Crosstown Shootout 12/18/1999.  The No.1-ranked UC Bearcats fell Saturday night, their third defeat in the past four Shootouts and the second that it cost them the top ranking in the wire-service polls. Xavier sophomore, Kevin Frey, snapped a tie score on two foul shots with 30 seconds left, then roared past All-American center Kenyon Martin to score again.  It was  XU 66, UC 64 and the fans at the sold out Gardens stormed the court in celebration.  “We got a chance to do something real special,” Xavier's Darnell Williams said, adding, “We had a chance to shock the world."  For the second time in four years the UC Bearcats are No.1 in the nation and No. 2 in the City of Cincinnati. This was the final Shootout at the Cincinnati Gardens. 

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I saw Xavier led by an ambitious coach, Bob Staak, whip up on Ohio State and then Nebraska in 1984 NIT games. It was the first big step for the XU program and their march toward national prominence as a Division 1 basketball program. In following years, there was the Pete Gillen influence and his workmanlike practices. I once took my dad with me to the Gardens on an assignment at a Xavier practice. Gillen took time out to come over and talk to with us. Gillen told stories about a couple of my exploits involving Xavier basketball to get unique photographs. My dad would later say, “That made him proud.” I won’t soon forget Xavier and UMass, a John Calapari-coached team, ranked No.1 at the time and the OT loss in 1996. In 1999 XU would take down a No. 1 ranked University of Cincinnati team. And the unforgettable pregame moment in the XU lock room with head coach Skip Prosser. In his best “Professor Prosser” tone, Prosser knelt with his team and offered depth and perspective on the game of life. Basketball provided the majority of my memories of the Gardens.  Chris Smith, Hoosier Hardwood
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When I retired from the Army, my first stop was the Xavier ticket office. Xavier moved its basketball games from hazy Schmidt Fieldhouse to the Lysol-smelling Cincinnati Gardens to be big time- along the lines of Madison Square Garden and the Boston Gardens.  Quickly, I learned the route to the Cincinnati Gardens and the new home felt immediately comfortable.  Our tickets were mid court, but high up in the seating area.  It didn't matter. This was our window where we watched Xavier's Basketball program grow to a national level.  Paul Fellinger, Cincinnati Magazine, September 2000 

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"It was so exciting," said Byron Larkin about watching from the stands Xavier's 1984 NIT victory over Ohio State. "The place was electric.  It was loud. That was the first college game I had been to with that type of atmosphere. What I saw was that Xavier could not only compete with Ohio State, it could beat them. I watched Ohio State a lot then. When Xavier won, I said, 'Man, I've got to be part of this."  Eight months later Larkin was wearing a Xavier uniform.
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Pete Gillen, Xavier’s head coach from 1985-1994, remembers fondly wild 115-113 win over No. 25 Loyola Marymount in 1990. “The fact that we beat a Top 25 team, that was nice, but the biggest thing was that it was like a shootout at the OK Corral. Jamal Walker scored a driving floater with about 3 seconds to go and we won that game. That to me was unbelievable,” Gillen said.

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"That chill" left a lasting impression on Musketeers coach Chris Mack, a former XU player.“We would have morning shoot-arounds sometimes on the day of the game. You could see your breath. It would be 45 degrees,” Mack said. “That’s probably what I remember most about the place, how difficult it was to really get loose. I can’t imagine what opposing teams felt like and went through.”

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The first thing Skip Prosser knows about the Cincinnati Gardens is that it smells. Not bad, just old. Old and musty. Years of stale beer and salted peanuts, sweat and mildew, like an old basement packed with people.

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A perk of the Gardens was its configuration, said Jeff Fogelson, Xavier AD, 1984-1998. The acoustics were such that a crowd of about 4,000 heightened the atmosphere and made the 10,100-seat arena feel fuller than it was. Fogelson later asked architects to study that format as they prepared plans for Xavier’s current on-campus home, Cintas Center.


Share your memories of college basketball at the Cincinnati Gardens.  Email: dwittkamp@cinci.rr.com