1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game

Longest men's basketball game in NCAA Division I history

Longest NCAA Division I men's basketball game in history

Regular season game

Cincinnati Bearcats	Bradley Braves

(6–1)	(5–2)
75	73
Head coach: Ed Badger	Head coach: Dick Versace

	1st half	2nd half	OT	2OT	3OT	4OT	5OT	6OT	7OT	Total
Cincinnati Bearcats	35	26	2	2	0	2	4	2	2	75
Bradley Braves	40	21	2	2	0	2	4	2	0	73

Date

Monday, December 21, 1981

Venue

Robertson Memorial Field House, Peoria, Illinois

Attendance

7,300

The 1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game is the longest NCAA Division I men's basketball game ever played and tied for the most overtime periods, regardless of NCAA classification, with seven. The University of Cincinnati visited Bradley University on December 21, 1981, and defeated them 75–73 after 75 minutes of game time. Little-used bench player Doug Schloemer scored on a 15-foot jump shot with one second remaining to propel the Bearcats to victory.

At the end of regulation, which was two 20-minute halves, the score was tied at 61 apiece. Both teams played keep-away throughout each overtime period; only once, during the fifth overtime, did a team take more than a two-point lead. In the 35 additional minutes of playing time, Cincinnati only scored 14 more points while Bradley only mustered 12. The shot clock had not yet been introduced in NCAA basketball. Nine players recorded 60 or more minutes of playing time. Two players—Bradley's center Donald Reese and Cincinnati's guard Bobby Austin—each played 73 minutes, jointly setting the NCAA all-time single game minutes played record.

Three other times has an NCAA Division I men's basketball game reached six overtime periods: Niagara defeated Siena 88–81 in 1953, Minnesota defeated Purdue 59–56 in 1955, and most recently Syracuse defeated Connecticut 127–117 in 2009.

References

Welper, Brenden (April 4, 2021). "The longest college basketball game ever: What we know". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved February 12, 2022. "If anybody left, it was probably because they had to get their kids to bed or something like that — being a school night," Snell said of the reported 7,300 in attendance.
^ Eisenberg, Jeff (June 6, 2012). "No. 8 in The Untouchables: Cincinnati and Bradley work overtime". Yahoo Sports. Yahoo!. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
^ Associated Press (December 22, 1981). "Cincy Edged Bradley: Bearcats Win in 7 Overtimes". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 24. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
United Press International (December 22, 1981). "Overtime! Cincinnati Finally Wins Longest College Game in History". TimesDaily. Florence, Alabama. p. 20. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
"Cincinnati 75, at Bradley 73 – 7 OT – 12/21/81". Bradley-Cincinnati CBI Game Notes. Bradley University. March 17, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2014.

v t e Bradley Braves men's basketball
Venues	Peoria YMCA (1902–1909) Hewitt Gymnasium (1909–1925) Peoria Armory (1925–1941) Woodruff High School Gymnasium (1941–1943) Peoria Armory (1945–1949) Robertson Memorial Field House (1949–1982) Carver Arena (1982–present)
Rivalries	Illinois State
Culture & lore	Longest game in Division I history Point-shaving scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Categories: