Merle McClung played basketball in the shadow of Bill Bradley. While Bradley was becoming something of a demigod at Princeton, the 6-5 McClung was calmly breaking every existing Harvard scoring record, winning All-Ivy and All-East status.

But McClung was not Bradley. People didn't really stay up nights wondering whether old Merle would be a Senator or a governor in twenty years, or how well he'd do against Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

McClung was an excellent college basketball player, however, and on the night of February 7, 1964, he was a better basketball player than Bill Bradley.

It was the first Friday of the new term. There were mixers at two Houses, Phil Ochs was in town, and there was a big hockey game across the river. But Bill Bradley was at the IAB, and 1600 people--the largest basketball crowd in two decades--jammed into the place to watch him tear the Crimson apart. To say the least, they were surprised.

Besides McClung--who would set a new single-season scoring mark in 1964--Harvard had a good basketball team that season. Coach Floyd Wilson had a hot-shot sophomore gunner named Keith Sedlacek, two good big men in Barry Williams and captain Bob Inman. Leo Scully, a 6-1 junior playmaker kept the machine running smoothly.

Crimson Set For Upset

The quintet would go on to have its first winning record in several years, but still was far from an Ivy power, finishing fifth. On that cold Friday night in February, however, the Crimson was set for an upset.

From the start, it was Harvard's ball game. Scully and Sedlacek--ball-hawking and running like madmen--drove in for layups. McClung hit a jump shot, then quickly followed with two tip-ins underneath. The Crimson led 10-3, and Princeton looked sick.

By halftime, Harvard had played almost perfect basketball, and was practically out of reach, with a 44-31 lead.

But the Harvard fans were cautions. They remembered how two weeks before, Cornell had run away from Princeton in the first half, only to have Bradley come back with 37 points to pace a Tiger victory. Scully, who had held the living legend to 13 points, just couldn't last.

Four minutes later, Harvard led by 17 points, and the dream somehow seemed possible. Bradley was throttled by the Harvard defense, and his teammates provided little visible support.

Princeton had one good stretch, early in the fourth quarter. Trailing 66-49, the Tigers outscored Harvard 8-2 in a two-minute span to trail by nine with plenty of time to go.

Bradley drove through for one of those twisting, pumping layups that only All Americans are capable of making, but he was called for charging. Harvard got the ball and the momentum. The Crimson opened up a 78-60 advantage, before both coaches cleared their benches. The final score--88 to 82--made the game sound close. It wasn't.

Sedlacek High Scorer

Sedlacek finished as the high scorer with 31 points--connecting on 13 of 16 shots from the field. McClung had 30 to match Bradley's total. The Crimson shot 62 per cent from the floor.

Princeton went undefeated through its remaining Ivy League games, while Harvard settled down to enjoy its usual late-season slump.

The only real excitement of the season was long past. That had come five weeks earlier, in a crowded, noisy IAB, when 1600 people watched McClung and Sedlacek destroy a legend, and pull off the biggest upset in Harvard's 67-year basketball history.