Armory Fieldhouse is an on-campus facility located at the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
. It was built in 1954 to replace the old Schmidlapp Gymnasium, and originally was used as the home for the Bearcats men's basketball team, who opened the building with a 97–65 win over
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
on December 18, 1954.
It was the home of the team for their two
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
titles in 1961 and 1962, as well as the site where UC great
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...
broke the NCAA career scoring record on February 6, 1960, versus
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. From December 6, 1957, the first home game of the season, to December 7, 1963, when they lost to Kansas, the team went undefeated in the building, a streak of 72 games. During that time, they won every home game played at the Cincinnati Gardens, for an overall streak of 90 straight home wins.
The team's final game at the arena was February 14, 1976, a 60–45 win over
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...
. From 1976 until the opening of the
Shoemaker Center (now Fifth Third Arena) in 1989, the team played all their home games off-campus at the
Riverfront Coliseum and
Cincinnati Gardens
Cincinnati Gardens was an indoor arena located in Cincinnati, Ohio, that opened in 1949. The 25,000 square foot (2,300 m2) brick and limestone building at 2250 Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill had an entrance that was decorated with six three-dimensio ...
. The building was remodeled in the 1980s to become a recreation center for the campus. It is located directly to the north of the
Fifth Third Arena, located in (and formerly known as) the Shoemaker Center.
Notable concerts
The
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
played there on April 3, 1970.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
performed there on 3/8/73, just 7 days after ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...
'' was released, though they had already performed the album at the Cincinnati Music Hall on 4/23/72.
External links
2005-06 Men's Basketball Guide at UCBearcats.com
Cincinnati Bearcats basketball venues
Defunct college basketball venues in the United States
Sports venues in Cincinnati
Sports venues completed in 1954
1954 establishments in Ohio
Basketball venues in Ohio
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