Texas Western 50th annivesary tribute game sold out

On March 19, 2016, 50 years will have passed since Texas Western beat Kentucky in the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Five decades later, the game continues to be one of the most significant in all of sports.

Coach Don “The Bear” Haskins started five black players, which had never happened up to that point, and the Miners went on to beat the all-white, heavily favored, Wildcats, 72-65, in College Park, Md.

Texas Western would not only become the unlikely national champion, but Haskins’ decision helped break down the racial barriers that plagued collegiate sports.

The Miner’s road to the title was immortalized in Disney’s “Glory Road,” which featured a cameo by Haskins. He plays a surly gas station attendant.

For the 50th anniversary, the University of Texas at El Paso is paying tribute to that ’66 Miners team. The university hosted a panel discussion with the surviving members of that 1966 team.

The celebration continued when the Miners play Western Kentucky Saturday at the Don Haskins Center. Before tipoff, the current starting Miners were introduced alongside on the member of the team. The game was sold out, according the ticket center.

Haskins died in 2008. Bobby Joe Hill, who scored 20 points in that title game, died in 2002.