Celebrating the 40th Anniversary Of A Trip To The 1979 NCAA Championship Game Led by Boston Celtic star and three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Larry Bird, Indiana State completed a dream season in 1978-79, finishing the year with a 33-1 record and a trio to the championship game of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. The public was shown an early glimpse of what was ahead when, on November 20, the touring Soviet National team came to Hulman Center where ISU stunned them, 83-79, to become one of only four college teams to beat them that season.
in the country. The perfect slate seemed in jeopardy on Feb. 1 when the 18-0 Sycamores trailed at New Mexico State, 83-81, with three seconds remaining and the Aggies at the free throw line. The free throw was missed, however and rebounded by Brad Miley who passed the ball on to Bob Heaton. Heaton launched a 50-foot desperation shot which banked through the net to send the game into overtime and earned still another ISU victory. As miraculous as Heaton’s shot itself was -- which was worth just two points prior to the 3-point line -- it is equally impressive that the team won despite the earlier fouling out of both Larry Bird and Carl Nicks. It would not be the Heaton’s last heroic shot of the season. The top seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional was awarded to ISU, and the Sycamores promptly disposed of Virginia Tech and Oklahoma before facing Arkansas with a berth into the Final Four on the line. Inside Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum, with the game tied at 71, the right-handed Heaton was the hero again with a last second left-handed shot in the paint to send the Sycamores to Salt Lake City and a meet with DePaul. ISU defeated the Blue Demons, 76-74, to set up the most-watched college basketball game in history -- In-
ISU sailed through the regular season to finish 29-0, including a perfect 16-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and earned the top ranking
