" 47 years ago today, Tennessee beat Temple, 11-6, in a college basketball game that ESPN later deemed the worst sporting event of the 20th century.

What happened: Owls coach Don Casey, who later coached the Clippers and Nets, determined that the only way to beat the Volunteers was to hold the ball and run out the clock.

And with the shot clock still 12 years from being installed at the college level, there was nothing to prevent him from doing it.

One local newspaper reported that Temple held the ball for 32 of the 40 minutes. And yet, Tennessee still managed to come away with the win.

What they said: "Tennessee had a great team," Casey told Basketball Digest in 2003. "We thought this was going to give us the best chance to win."

"So we took two guys and put them out by the 28-foot line, had them standing about five feet part, and we had them pass the ball back and forth."

"This was uncharted territory. We didn't know exactly what we were doing."

By the numbers: The Volunteers led 7-5 at halftime. Neither team made a field goal in the second half, but Tennessee made four free throws to Temple's one." Axios

Reminds me of that OSU v Stanford game in 1980: OSU won 18-16.

The coach must have watched the 1956 game Cal v uSF's great team where Cal's C Joe Hagler held the ball for 10 minutes in an effort to pull uSF's great C Bill Russell out from under the basket.

It didn't work and uSF won 33-24. The rules of the game were then changed.

Re; Hagler. While he held the ball, he confessed later that he had to go to the bathroom really, really bad.

helltopay1 said:

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Re; Hagler. While he held the ball, he confessed later that he had to go to the bathroom really, really bad.

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So did the 4,000 fans in attendance.

MSaviolives said:

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Reminds me of that OSU v Stanford game in 1980: OSU won 18-16.

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I seem to remember Cal teams under Kuchen trying that a couple of times. Not a fan of it, of course, but I sort of enjoyed those games, as something different. Wouldn't want to have to see it more than twice, though.

I can remember practicing the four corners stall in high school (1969),but I don't think we ever used it. I also remember we scored over 90 points in a game twice, without the 3-point shot or a shot clock. There were a lot of fast breaks; as our center was clearing the defensive rebound the guards had already released and were down the court and he would heave long leading passes. And in one of the games the other team had 6 players foul out.

Our high school coach, Jerry Phillips (SH in San Francisco), loved the four corners with the lead in the 4th quarter. His regular offense wasn't much faster. I actually enjoyed games where the underdog tried this tactic. I will say I lost my taste for the four corners with the lead (especially with the better team) in 1978. SH had the lead in the 4th quarter in almost every league game and didn't make the playoffs due to not being able to execute the four corners...and make foul shots.

Larno said:

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I can remember practicing the four corners stall in high school (1969),but I don't think we ever used it. I also remember we scored over 90 points in a game twice, without the 3-point shot or a shot clock. There were a lot of fast breaks; as our center was clearing the defensive rebound the guards had already released and were down the court and he would heave long leading passes. And in one of the games the other team had 6 players foul out.

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We practiced it too in '69.....and we (Stagg High School) scored 116 against Merced High without shot clock or 3pt arc and 8 minute quarters.....Can't say how many times we went over 90 though, possibly only that once but I don't remember...

bearmanpg said:

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Larno said:

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I can remember practicing the four corners stall in high school (1969),but I don't think we ever used it. I also remember we scored over 90 points in a game twice, without the 3-point shot or a shot clock. There were a lot of fast breaks; as our center was clearing the defensive rebound the guards had already released and were down the court and he would heave long leading passes. And in one of the games the other team had 6 players foul out.

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We practiced it too in '69.....and we (Stagg High School) scored 116 against Merced High without shot clock or 3pt arc and 8 minute quarters.....Can't say how many times we went over 90 though, possibly only that once but I don't remember...

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Interesting. I played for Turlock High that year, though not a starter. We scored over 90 points against Merced also, the game that had six players foul out. No thanks to me, in the last 90 seconds of the first half I guarded their best player and managed to hold him to only 8 points while fouling him three times. We also scored over 90 against Tracy in a tournament; they were really bad. We ended up in second or third, the best record in years for Turlock, and of course you were undefeated in league in '68 - '69. After 50 years I still remember some of the games (from my vantage point on the bench). And when I say "we" won the games I use the term loosely for myself as my contributions were pretty minimal. Still, I enjoyed being on the team. If you don't mind, judging by your "handle" and Cal connection would you be (and I won't reveal your name) the guard from Stagg who went to Cal and played ball there with my good friend from Turlock Bob Johnson?

Larno said:

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bearmanpg said:

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Larno said:

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I can remember practicing the four corners stall in high school (1969),but I don't think we ever used it. I also remember we scored over 90 points in a game twice, without the 3-point shot or a shot clock. There were a lot of fast breaks; as our center was clearing the defensive rebound the guards had already released and were down the court and he would heave long leading passes. And in one of the games the other team had 6 players foul out.

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We practiced it too in '69.....and we (Stagg High School) scored 116 against Merced High without shot clock or 3pt arc and 8 minute quarters.....Can't say how many times we went over 90 though, possibly only that once but I don't remember...

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Interesting. I played for Turlock High that year, though not a starter. We scored over 90 points against Merced also, the game that had six players foul out. No thanks to me, in the last 90 seconds of the first half I guarded their best player and managed to hold him to only 8 points while fouling him three times. We also scored over 90 against Tracy in a tournament; they were really bad. We ended up in second or third, the best record in years for Turlock, and of course you were undefeated in league in '68 - '69. After 50 years I still remember some of the games (from my vantage point on the bench). And when I say "we" won the games I use the term loosely for myself as my contributions were pretty minimal. Still, I enjoyed being on the team. If you don't mind, judging by your "handle" and Cal connection would you be (and I won't reveal your name) the guard from Stagg who went to Cal and played ball there with my good friend from Turlock Bob Johnson?

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No, but I see Eric L. often and he talks about Bob and how good he was....I remember Bob....he was a hell of a player.....I remember, as a junior, at Stagg vs Turlock, I got in the game in the third quarter and was guarding Johnson...I knew he was going to try to shoot over me the first time he touched the ball so I sold out everything to block his shot and I got it...if that would have been a fake, I would have looked awfully stupid....lol....funny the things you remember....I didn't go to Cal but my son did (he didn't play) therefore my infatuation with Cal BB.....I think you guys finished third behind us and Franklin (they were really good that year too)

Yep. At the time there was a rule that defenses had to approach the offense and couldn't just sit next to the basket. So UCLA's guards would reluctantly go all the way out to the corner and freshmen KJ and Chris Washington would blow by them and lay the ball up - making the basket and drawing the foul. Yet we still lost! Ugh

bearmanpg said:

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Larno said:

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bearmanpg said:

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Larno said:

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I can remember practicing the four corners stall in high school (1969),but I don't think we ever used it. I also remember we scored over 90 points in a game twice, without the 3-point shot or a shot clock. There were a lot of fast breaks; as our center was clearing the defensive rebound the guards had already released and were down the court and he would heave long leading passes. And in one of the games the other team had 6 players foul out.

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We practiced it too in '69.....and we (Stagg High School) scored 116 against Merced High without shot clock or 3pt arc and 8 minute quarters.....Can't say how many times we went over 90 though, possibly only that once but I don't remember...

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Interesting. I played for Turlock High that year, though not a starter. We scored over 90 points against Merced also, the game that had six players foul out. No thanks to me, in the last 90 seconds of the first half I guarded their best player and managed to hold him to only 8 points while fouling him three times. We also scored over 90 against Tracy in a tournament; they were really bad. We ended up in second or third, the best record in years for Turlock, and of course you were undefeated in league in '68 - '69. After 50 years I still remember some of the games (from my vantage point on the bench). And when I say "we" won the games I use the term loosely for myself as my contributions were pretty minimal. Still, I enjoyed being on the team. If you don't mind, judging by your "handle" and Cal connection would you be (and I won't reveal your name) the guard from Stagg who went to Cal and played ball there with my good friend from Turlock Bob Johnson?

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No, but I see Eric L. often and he talks about Bob and how good he was....I remember Bob....he was a hell of a player.....I remember, as a junior, at Stagg vs Turlock, I got in the game in the third quarter and was guarding Johnson...I knew he was going to try to shoot over me the first time he touched the ball so I sold out everything to block his shot and I got it...if that would have been a fake, I would have looked awfully stupid....lol....funny the things you remember....I didn't go to Cal but my son did (he didn't play) therefore my infatuation with Cal BB.....I think you guys finished third behind us and Franklin (they were really good that year too)

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Yes, Bob was always the best in whatever sport when we were growing up. I see him at reunions and occasionally at football games. Franklin was good that year and we surprised them at home and beat them. We lost at that little Stockton Jr. High bandbox they played in, and then got upset by Lodi which put us in third. Interesting that you should have a shot blocking story. If you'll remember Edison had a great team the previous year, with John Gianelli, but my senior year they lost everyone and were bad. Their best player was Prentice McCray and in a home game I blocked his shot too, swatted it into the stands. Don't know how I got the elevation on that. He was a great athlete and played in the NFL. I have got a lot of mileage out of that story over the years in the context of my career being so mediocre that that was the highlight. All in good fun. As I am typing this his Patriots football card is tacked to my wall, a gift from a friend in honor of the story.