The RoundHouse | 11/11/2022 6:32:00 AM
Xavier McDaniel played 36 minutes, twice returning after cramps sent him to the bench, in an exhibition game. No one wanted to sit during this game, regardless of its relative unimportance to the rest of that 1982-83 season.
"He would cramp up, they would take him out," said Mike Kennedy, radio voice of the Wichita State basketball team. "In what seemed like a few seconds, he was literally sprinting to the scorer's table, pounding on the table 'Let me back in there. Get me in there.'"
That game on Nov. 11, 1982 at Levitt Arena turned into the rare exhibition that mattered. The opponent, the timing, the athletes combined to create a special night at the arena for those who watched, in person or on the Shocker Sports Superchannel broadcast.
Wichita State defeated the Soviet National team 81-80 in front of 9,105 fans.
"I was so tired after that game," McDaniel said. "I just know they were big as hell. We played above our heads that day."
Why did that game matter?
Kennedy calls it one of two exhibition games he remembers during a career as voice of the Shockers that continues to this day – the other a 1986 loss to a Yugoslavian team featuring future NBA stars Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic.
Beyond the presence of the Soviets and all that meant in 1982, it served as the coming out party for McDaniel and the 1982-83 Wichita State team. The 12-game tour by the Soviets also gave American fans a look at center Arvydas Sabonis, early in a hall of fame career.
As the Cold War raged on between the United States and the Soviet Union, the crowd observed a moment of silence for Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who died the day before the game. In addition to the geo-political rivalry, the countries fought for Olympic basketball supremacy and the Soviet Union's controversial 1972 Olympic victory over the United States remained a point of contention.
Wichita State played without star forward Antoine Carr, sidelined by a stress fracture in his right leg.
The Soviets boasted two 7-footers on the roster – Sabonis and Aleksander Belostenny. Sabonis, a few weeks short of 18, was already regarded as one of the world's top players. He later starred for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Soviets defeated Pepperdine, Oregon, Fresno State and Washington State before falling to Wichita State. Later in the tour, they defeated Iowa, Indiana, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Purdue and Virginia defeated the Soviets.
"We knew it was Russia and the stakes were high," said Shocker guard Aubrey Sherrod.
McDaniel made one of two foul shots with 28 seconds to play for the win. A Soviet shot in the final seconds bounced off the rim and the clock expired as the Shockers chased the rebound.
"We went into the game not fearing them," Sherrod said. "The style of play – it was up and down. We were a very athletic team, too."
The Shockers trailed much of the game and fell behind 70-63 with 7:12 to play. They took a 77-74 lead, sparked by two Sherrod jumpers, a layup and a tip-in by McDaniel. Cramps benched McDaniel for the first time with 9:52 to play and again with 3:57 remaining.
His jumper, on an assist by Sherrod, tied it at 80 with 1:41 to play.
"Antoine didn't play, and to beat that Russian team without him in the lineup was pretty significant," Kennedy said. "That exhibition game with the Soviet National team was maybe where we first saw the X-Man and who he was going to be. That tenacity."
McDaniel finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. As a freshman the previous season, he started twice and averaged 13.5 minutes a game. The departure of Cliff Levingston, Jay Jackson, Greg Dreiling, Tony Martin and others opened many questions about the 1982-83 team.
Karl Papke
McDaniel's performance told fans he might be ready for a starring role. He averaged 18.8 points and a nation-leading 14.4 rebounds that season.
"We knew X," Sherrod said. "We knew his intelligence on the court. We knew we had somebody special."
The Shockers outrebounded the bigger Soviets 43-40. Coach Gene Smithson used his team's agility to counter the height.
"I thought we out-quicked them to the boards," he said after the game. "We wanted to try to get their bigger players into the transition game at both ends of the court. We used the pressure defense most of the game."
The win over the Soviets gave that group proof it could compete and started them on their way to a 25-3 record and a Missouri Valley Conference title.
"We knew we had a very good team," Sherrod said. "We knew we would get better with Antoine."
Sherrod scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. Freshman guard Bernard Jackson came off the bench to score 11 second-half points. Forward Karl Papke added nine points and seven assists in 35 minutes and center Zarko Durisic contributed 10 points.
The game was played under international rules. While the MVC adopted the three-pointer for that season as an experiment, it was not used in this game.
"Us winning that game, that took us to a new level," McDaniel said. "We had a big task. I knew I was up for the challenge. I think the whole team was."
International basketball is no longer the mystery it was in the 1980s. Fans can follow and watch games all over the world. In 1982, the short-handed Shockers played the best of the world and gave fans a look at the game in a different light.
It was quite a challenge and quite a memorable night at Levitt Arena, regardless of its absence from the win-loss column.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
