Rick Mount loved shooting in "The Barn."

He also loved beating the Gophers. No doubt "The Rocket," the nickname Mount carried for his amazing jump shot and ability to score enjoyed last night's win in Minneapolis.

Mount, who remains the Boilermakers all-time leading scorer with 2,323 points despite it begin 39 years since he has worn a Purdue uniform, still recalls the two experiences of playing at Minneota.

"First of all, it was a great place to shoot the basketball," Mount said yesterday via phone from his home in Lebanon, Ind. "The floor, because it was elevated, had great spring to it."

Mount was a two-time All-American in 1969 and '70. In his junior year, he led Purdue to its only national title game appearance against UCLA in '69, and recalls the Williams Arena (aka "The Barn") floor and the old Lambert Fieldhouse court as the two best in terms of providing lift on the jump shot. Mount played at Lambert as a freshman in 1966-67.

When Purdue met Minnesota 40 years ago Sunday, it was after an 18-day layoff. It's hard to imagine in today's world that the Boilermakers took nearly three weeks off from playing games due to final exams. In those days, the Purdue academic calendar had finals after the Christmas break.

Mount poured in a cool 34 points as Purdue rolled to a 102-79 win. Herman Gilliam added 23. The margin of victory, which Coach George King called "amazing" after the game, was surprising considering Purdue was whistled for 31 fouls to just 13 for the hosts, and were out-shot at the free throw line 47-15.

The Boilermakers, which had a fast-breaking team like no one else in college basketball, simply ran past the Gophers in the second half. Scoring was not a foreign concept to Purdue that year as it broke the century mark six times while leading the nation in scoring with a 94.8 ppg after the regular season, and either was mental toughness.

"When we came back from Hawaii (over the holidays) we weren't going to lose to just anybody," Mount remembered. "As a team we didn't like each other too much before we spent a couple weeks together on the road in Arizona and Hawaii. After that, we really came together."

And that extra practice time during the 18-day layoff didn't hurt things either.

"We were hungry to beat somebody when Minnesota came around," Mount said.

The following year when Mount returned to "The Barn," he awoke the morning of the game to read in the local paper that Gopher guards Ollie Shannon and Eric Hill were claiming to be the best guards in the Big Ten. Hill, an Indianapolis Brebeuf product, should have know better than to light Mount's torch.

This time Mount poured in a cool 42 as the Boilermakers rolled to a 108-94 win. As Mount went to the bench in the closing minutes of the game, the blonde bomber couldn't resist reminding Shannon and Hill of their place in the Big Ten's pecking order of backcourt players.

"Yea, I told them I was better than both of them combined," Mount said with a laugh. "After the game they both came after me but (assistant coach Joe) Sexson did a nice job of stepping in so that things didn't escalate.

But Minnesota coach Bill Fitch, who served 25 years as a head coach of five different NBA teams including an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1981, didn't forget the incident either. Eleven days later he would pull a stunt in West Lafayette that long-time Boilermaker fans haven't forgotten.

Entering Mount's final college game, which just happened to be against Minnesota, he needed just 13 points to set the all-time league scoring record. Purdue was enjoying a 17-6 season to date, but the 1969-70 season marked the last time the Big Ten only sent one team to the postseason.

So no matter what happened against the Gophers, Purdue was staying home.

With no shot clock, Fitch decided to hold the ball. The game ended with Purdue on top 48-44, and Mount did eclipse the record held by with a 20-point outing. His point total bettered Don Schlundt who played four seasons for IU in the 1950s, while Mount played just three because freshman didn't become eligible again until the 1972-73 season.

"Our fans weren't too happy with that deal, I remember that," Mount said. "Fitch didn't realize that all I really cared about was winning. To be honest, I really wasn't too worried about setting the record.

"Still, when I look back at teams that made by blood boil a bit, Minnesota was near the top of my list."

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