The Purdue Boilermakers and the Indiana Hoosiers will meet for the 220th time on Friday night for a Big 10 showdown at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN, and the Boilers hold a 127-92 edge in the ongoing rivalry.
However, one game arguably stands out as being the most memorable and discussed contest over all the rest, and the final score or who won has never been the main talking point when recalling the specifics.
On Feb. 23, 1985, at Assembly Hall on the Indiana campus, Purdue defeated the Hoosiers, 72-63. But, all anyone remembers the most is what happened five minutes into the game.
Over his storied and infamous 29-year tenure as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, Bob Knight was no stranger to controversy and scorn for his antics on the sideline, locker room, and press conference dais. Here is just a thumbnail sketch of a few of Knight’s more egregious, albeit bizarre, transgressions, some before 1985, some after, as the top man in Bloomington:
1975 — Upset over two turnovers in a Big Ten game, Knight grabs sophomore Jim Wisman by the jersey and jerks him into his seat.
1981 — Knight gets involved during the Final Four in a shoving match with an LSU fan who said Knight stuffed him in a garbage can at a hotel.
1983 — Knight criticizes Big Ten officiating by standing at midcourt and cursing at Big 10 Commissioner Wayne Duke, who is in the press box. Two days later, Knight assails the referees for the “worst officiating I have seen in 12 years.”
1986 — Receives technical foul for shouting at the officials during a game against Illinois, then kicks a megaphone and admonishes Indiana cheerleaders for disrupting a free-throw attempt by Hoosier legend Steve Alford.
1993 — Is suspended for one game after a sideline tirade in a 101-82 victory over Notre Dame in which he screams at his player son, Pat, and kicks at him. When fans behind the Indiana bench boo, Knight turns and responds with an obscenity.
Needless to say, Knight was a polarizing figure in Indiana; you either loved him or hated him, and there was very little grey area in between. The 1985 incident gave both of those sides ammunition for their causes.
The 1984-85 season held much promise for Bob Knight and his Hoosiers. They were coming off a season that saw them end Michael Jordan’s collegiate career in the 1984 NCAA regionals, and Indiana was ranked in the preseason top ten before the start of the 1984-85 campaign.
However, the Hoosiers were experiencing a disappointing season, one that would eventually lead to a NIT bid, and had lost six of their previous nine games heading into their matchup against Purdue. The frustration of unrequited expectations reached a boiling point on February 23rd.
Angered that his team was whistled for six fouls in the 1985 Purdue/IU game’s first five minutes, Knight was first warned to quiet his disapproval of the referees, then issued a technical foul when he continued to voice his complaints.
That did not stop Knight from displaying further unsportsmanlike behavior.
When Boilermakers guard Steve Reid stepped to the foul line to shoot the technical foul shots, his approach was stopped by something most had never seen before: Bob Knight hurled a chair from his bench area that slid between Reid and the baseline. Knight was issued a second and third technical foul, which earned him the right to spend the rest of the game in the locker room.
Besides garnering millions of online views throughout the years, it allowed Reid to register his “15 minutes of fame.”
“There are times I walk into a meeting or a friend calls to say, ‘I saw you on TV last night,’” Reid told The Associated Press as the 20th anniversary of the game approached. “I know what they’re talking about.”
Two years later when appearing on “The David Letterman Show,” Knight chose to make light of the incident.
“People jump at conclusions automatically with the thing. But the game is going on, and I hear somebody across the floor keep hollering, ‘Coach! Coach! Coach Knight!’ And I get all kinds of suggestions; I try not to pay any attention to it. … Here’s a little old lady across the floor that reminded me of my grandmother. … And I said, ‘Did you want me for something?’ And she just said, ‘If you’re not going to sit down any more today than you have so far, could I have your chair?’”
Say what you will, Bob Knight always had a way of making you not only pay attention, but he invoked emotions and opinions, one way or the other, like no other figure in the Hoosier state had or will in the future. The guy always had a way of keeping the masses entertained.
Most likely, the safe money is on an occurrence like Bob Knight throwing a chair onto the court will NOT transpire on Friday night when the 10th-ranked Boilermakers welcome their hated in-state rivals to their home court. But, fans in attendance or watching Fox’s nationally televised broadcast can only hope to witness something as memorable that would be discussed for decades thereafter.
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