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    Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Timeline

    Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Timeline



    Below is a brief timeline of events at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.




    BEARD-EAVES-MEMORIAL COLISEUM BASKETBALL TIMELINE

     
         		 Jan. 11, 1969
    Auburn men defeat LSU and Pete Maravich, 90-71, in the first game ever played at Memorial Coliseum. A crowd of 11,166 is in attendance for the arena's opener. Senior forward Wally Tinker (33) scored the first-ever basket in arena history with a 7-foot jumper from the right baseline. Maravich attempted the first shot in the Coliseum and missed before Auburn took the ball down the court and Tinker scored the first basket. Maravich scored 46 points, the most ever by an opponent in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum history.
     
    		Feb. 22, 1969
    Memorial Coliseum is officially dedicated at halftime of Auburn's 85-75 victory over Vanderbilt. The coliseum is named in honor of Auburn alumni who died fighting for the United States.
     
     
    		Mar.
    1,
    1969

    		 First televised game in Coliseum history as Auburn defeats Tennessee 71-60 on the SEC Basketball Game of the Week.
     
    		Nov. 10, 1969 Doubleheader: Globetrotters played in the first game followed by the Atlanta Hawks defeating the Chicago Bulls, 133-132, in a regular season NBA game. Lou Hudson tied a franchise record scoring game-high 57 points for the Hawks. Bill Bridges made a layup with just two seconds remaining to give the Hawks their seventh straight victory and open up their Western Division lead to three games over runnerup San Francisco. Hudson hit on 25 of 34 field goal attempts and seven of eight free throws to tie the club record set by Bob Pettit in 1961 when the team operated out of St. Louis.
     
    		Feb. 14, 1970
    Auburn's John Mengelt scores a school-record and arena record 60 points in the Tigers' 121-78 win over Alabama. Mengelt hit 23-of-44 field goals, both facility records.
     
    		Mar.
    6-7, 1970
    The first official Southeastern Conference wrestling tournament is held, as Louisiana State won the team title, with Auburn finishing second. Auburn's Steve Brown (177 lb class) and Tom Gambill (190 class) each won SEC titles at their respective weight class.
     
    		Mar. 25-27, 1971
    The 41st NCAA Wrestling Championships are hosted at the coliseum, making it only the second championship athletic event of national stature to be held in the South at the time. Oklahoma State claims the team title.
     
    		Jan. 11, 1974
    Under first-year head coach Susan Nunnelly, the Auburn women defeat Alabama, 69-31, in the first women's game played at Memorial Coliseum.
     
    		Mar.
    6,
    1978
    Mike Mitchell leaves Auburn as the Tigers all-time leading scorer with 2,123 points and second all-time leading rebounder with 996 rebounds. He was named second-team All-American as a senior averaging 24.9 points and 8.9 rebounds.
     
    		Jan. 13, 1984
    Chuck Person had 25 points and 9 rebounds while Charles Barkley added 21 points and 10 boards as Auburn thrashed No. 1 Kentucky (#1 in the UPI poll, #2 by AP) 82-63. The win propelled Auburn (10-3, 4-0) to take over sole possession of first place in the SEC. It was the Wildcats' worst defeat in nearly 10 years and was the second highest viewed college basketball game on cable television at the time.
     
    		Feb. 22, 1986
    Chuck Person becomes Auburn's all-time scoring leader, surpassing Mike Mitchell's 2,123 points, in his Senior Night win over Ole Miss. Person had become the all-time scoring leader early in the game as the Tigers raced to a 19 point first half lead. The Rebels came back, and it was tied at 73 before Person slammed home a one-handed dunk on a rebound with two seconds remaining to cap a 31-point performance. It was his last basket in the Coliseum for the two-time All-American who went on to finish his Auburn career with 2311 points, a school record that still stands today.
     
    		Jan. 14, 1987
    Third-ranked Auburn upset No. 2 Tennessee, 75-69, in front of a season-high crowd of 5,089. Vickie Orr led Auburn with 17 points and nine rebounds in the win that moved the Tigers into second in the AP poll.
     
    		Feb. 18, 1987
    Diann McNeil scores 26 points to lead Auburn to a 111-67 win over Vanderbilt. The 111 points mark the most scored by Auburn over an SEC opponent.
     
    		Feb. 10, 1988
    Auburn's Memorial Coliseum is renamed Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in honor of Coach Eaves. Coach Eaves led the Tigers for 14 seasons (1949-50 to 1962-63) and coached Auburn to its first SEC Conference championship in 1960.
     
    		Jan.
    7,
    1989

    The No. 3 Auburn women defeat top-ranked Tennessee, 67-59, for its first win ever over a No. 1-ranked team, in front of a then-Coliseum women's record crowd of 7,150 (a record that would stand for 20 years). The Tigers would hold the nation's No. 1 spot the following week.
     
    		Mar. 25, 1989

    The Auburn women defeat 12th-ranked Ole Miss, 77-51, in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Final Four in Tacoma, Wash.
     
    		Feb.
    2,
    1991

    The Auburn women defeat Alabama, 77-48, to win their 63rd consecutive home game, setting a new NCAA record. The streak would increase to 68 games.
     
    		Dec. 11, 1991

    Auburn's men score a coliseum record for points in a game in a 141-116 victory over Troy, including 78 points in the first half. A total of nine coliseum single-game records were established.
     
    		Feb. 15, 1992
    C.C. Hayden hits 16-of-22 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line en route to scoring a women's Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum record 39 points in Auburn's 94-49 win over Florida.
     
    		Feb. 17, 1993

    Lauretta Freeman scores 30 points and pulls down 21 rebounds as the Auburn women make its ESPN debut in a 93-67 win over Alabama.
     
    		Mar.
    3,
    1993

    A Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum record crowd of 12,620 watch the Auburn men defeat Alabama 78-70.
     
    		Mar.
    6,
    1993

    Auburn fans rush the court after Wesley Person's 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in Auburn's 81-80 win over No. 13 Arkansas, the first time in history fans rushed the court in the Coliseum.
     
    		Jan. 15, 1994


    		In honor of former Auburn Athletics Director Jeff Beard, who guided the athletic department from 1952-71, the coliseum is officially re-named Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Beard is known as the father of Auburn's modern day athletic program. He oversaw the rebuilding of a weak department into what is one of the strongest athletic programs in the nation today.
    When he was named athletic director in 1951, the department was almost non-existent. The facilities, what there were, were dilapidated and out of date. The department was in financial ruin, and had it not been for the good graces of local banks, the department might have ceased to exist.
    Beard borrowed money to pay coaches' salaries and keep the department afloat, then set about building an athletic program that would make Auburn proud. When he retired in 1972, the Auburn athletic department was a model for others to follow. It was fiscally sound, its facilities were among the nation's finest and its student-athletes had won virtually every major honor, from NCAA post-graduate scholarships to Heisman Trophies to Olympic Gold Medals.  
    		Jan. 14, 1995
    The Auburn men defeat defending national champion and No. 4 ranked Arkansas, 104-90, in the program's first win ever against a defending national champion in six tries. The Tigers shot an incredible Coliseum record 69.8 percent from the field.
    		Jan.
    3,
    1996     		Auburn alum Ruthie Bolton scored 15 points as the 1996 United States Women's National team downed No. 25 Auburn, 98-46, in an exhibition game. The 1996 U.S. team, considered perhaps the best collection of women's basketball players ever assembled, went a perfect 52-0 versus collegiate and international competition en route to the gold medal at the Centennial Summer Olympic games in Atlanta.
     
    		Jan. 18, 1998

    The Auburn men hand Alabama its worst loss in school history, 94-40, in what is also the program record for largest margin of victory in an SEC game.
     
    		Feb. 17, 1999
    The No. 3 Auburn men clinch its first SEC regular season championship since 1960 with an 81-63 victory over Vanderbilt. The win gave Auburn its first perfect season at the coliseum, finishing 1998-99 with a 15-0 mark at home.
     
    		Feb. 19, 2000 The No. 11 Auburn men defeat Ole Miss 75-72 to win a men's Coliseum record 30 straight home games. The streak began with a 77-62 win over Southern Miss in the NIT First Round and last home game of the 1997-98 season.
     
    		Jan.
    6,
    2001

    John Mengelt (1969-71) is the first player in school history to have his basketball jersey retired as his #15 is raised to the rafters at BEMC. Mengelt was an All-SEC and All-American player during his AU career.
     
    		Feb. 21, 2001

    The Legend of Reggie Sharp will live forever in Auburn lore as the Tiger senior took the in-bounds pass with 4.4 seconds left, weaved through traffic and banked-in his 36-foot shot at the buzzer to give Auburn a dramatic 72-69 overtime victory over No. 14 Alabama. Bedlam erupted as fans stormed the court.
     
    		Feb. 25, 2001

    		Vickie Orr (1985-89), Ruthie Bolton (1985-89) and Carolyn Jones (1988-91) all have their jerseys retired. Orr (#50) was a three-time All-American and All-SEC selection, and was the SEC Player of the Year in 1988, and an Olympic gold medalist in 1992. Bolton (#25) was also a part of 10 U.S. National Teams and was a gold medalist at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Jones (#21) was a two-time All-American and was the first player ever to earn SEC Player of the Year honors in back-to-back years (1990 and 1991) and played with Orr in the 1992 Olympics.
     
    		Mar.
    3,
    2001
    Charles Barkley (1982-84) has his #34 jersey retired. Named one of the NBA's 50 All-Time Greatest, Barkley was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, SEC Player of the Decade (1980's), All-American and SEC Player of the Year in 1984.
     
    		Jan. 22, 2004
    Head Coach Joe Ciampi records career victory 599 as the AU women defeat rival Alabama, 70-61. The Tigers would follow up the game with a 71-44 win at Arkansas, giving Ciampi his 600th career win.
     
    		Feb. 15, 2004
    Joe Ciampi wins his 294th and final Coliseum victory, the most by any Auburn men's or women's coach, in the Tigers' 69-58 win over South Carolina. Ciampi finished with a 294-49 record in his 25 years in BEMC.
     
    		Feb.
    3,
    2005
    Marita Payne becomes first Auburn basketball player, male or female, to record a triple double as she tallied 15 points, a school-record 13 blocks and 12 rebounds in Auburn's 62-51 win over Arkansas.
     
    		Apr. 21-23, 2005

    		 Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum plays host to its first NCAA Division I Women's Gymnastics Championships. The University of Georgia won the team title, while Tasha Schwikert of UCLA was the all-around champion.
     
    		Feb. 18, 2006
    Brothers Wesley (1991-94) and Chuck Person (1983-86) have their #11 and #45 jerseys, respectively, retired. Wesley was a 1994 All-American, three-time All-SEC pick and the school's No.3 all-time scorer. Chuck was a two-time All-American in 1985 and '86 and three-time All-SEC selection and is AU's all-time leading scorer.
     
    		Mar.
    4,
    2006
    Three-time All-SEC pick, Rex Frederick (1957-59), has his #32 jersey retired.
     
    		Dec.
    5,
    2008
    Auburn sets a women's school record, scoring 119 points in a 119-54 victory over Sam Houston State. Whitney Boddie becomes the second AU player ever, male or female, to record a triple-double with 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
     
    		Jan. 25, 2009
    In front of a women's Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum record crowd of 12,067, the No. 6 Auburn women defeat No. 10 Tennessee, 82-68, as they improved to 20-0.
     
    		Mar.
    1,
    2009
    The Auburn women defeat Arkansas, 94-57, to claim their first SEC regular-season title in 20 years. It is the last of their five SEC regular-season titles to be clinched at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
     
    		Feb.
    28,
    2010

    Alley Smalley makes final field goal.    		 In the final women's basketball game played at the Coliseum, the Tigers upset No. 16 Kentucky, 65-53. The women closed the facility with a 349-72 (.741) all-time record. Alley Smalley made the last field goal with 1:00 remaining in the game, while Jordan Greenleaf recorded the final point by a woman in the Coliseum with a free throw with 26 seconds remaining.
     
    		Mar.
    3,
    2010


    Ceremonial Final Shot: Made by Wally Tinker on his first attempt in the postgame ceremony (Wally Tinker made the first basket in the first game in the Coliseum vs. LSU on Jan. 11, 1969)    		 Auburn defeated Mississippi State, 89-80, in the final men's game at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The women closed the facility with a 393-182 (.683) all-time record. Frankie Sullivan's free throw with 24 seconds remaining was the final point scored in the facility, while MSU's Dee Bost recorded the final field goal with 44 seconds left. Wally Tinker, the first to make a basket in the Coliseum's first game in Auburn's 90-71 victory over LSU on Jan. 11, 1969, banked-in the ceremonial final shot in the postgame ceremonies. The 1968-69 Auburn team cut down one of the nets while former coach Sonny Smith, former women's coach Joe Ciampi, former players Wesley Person, Doc Robinson, Gerald White, Lance Weems, along with Keith Bagwell (AU's Director of Facilities who has not missed a men's home game since 1960) and Athletic Director Jay Jacobs cut down the other net.

    Final Point: Frankie Sullivan (AU) good free throw attempt with 24 seconds remaining
    Final Shot: Kenny Gabriel (AU) missed 3-point attempt with 18 seconds remaining
    Final Rebound: Mississippi State Defensive Team Rebound with 18 seconds remaining
    Final Auburn Rebound: Tay Waller (AU) off Jarvis Varnado (MSU) missed dunk with 31 seconds remaining
    Final Made Field Goal: Dee Bost (MSU) with 44 seconds remaining
    Final AU Made Field Goal: Tay Waller (AU) made 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining
    Final Made 3-point Field Goal: Kodi Augustus (MSU) made 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining
    Final Foul: Barry Stewart (MSU) with 24 seconds remaining
    Final Sub: Frankie Sullivan (AU) in, Earnest Ross (AU) out with 14 seconds left

     
    		Mar.
    5,
    2010
    The final sporting event in Beard-Eaves-Memorial history was the Auburn gymnastics team victory over Denver, 196.225-194.650, in front of 2,957 fans.
     

    BEARD-EAVES-MEMORIAL COLISEUM
    CONCERTS, COMEDIANS, SPEAKERS & BROADWAY SHOWS

    Listed below is a partial list of the concerts, broadway shows, comedians and speakers that appeared at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum from 1969-2010.

     
         		 Nov. 14, 1969
    The Rolling Stones perform two shows in one night at the coliseum as part of their American Tour that was comprised of 16 cities in one month.
     
         		 Oct.
    8,
    1971

    		 Blood, Sweat & Tears ($4 tickets)
     
         		 Oct. 21, 1971

    Broadway production Jesus Christ Superstar
     
         		 Oct. 22, 1971

    		 Ike & Tina Turner ($3/$4/$5 tickets)
     
         		 Nov. 16, 1971
    The Carpenters ($3/$4/$5 tickets)
         		 Nov. 20, 1971

    		 Count Basie
     
         		 Feb. 12, 1972
    The Allman Brothers Band ($3/$4/$5 tickets)
     
         		 Mar. 31, 1972

    The Beach Boys ($3/$4/$5 tickets)
     
         		 Apr. 25, 1972

    		Rod Stewart
     
         		 Sept. 22, 1972

    Senator Edward Kennedy
     
         		 Oct.
    5,
    1972
    Issac Hayes
     
         		 Oct. 27, 1972
    The Supremes & The Temptations ($3/$4/$5 tickets)
     
         		 Mar. 31, 1973
    Santana
     
         		 Oct. 18, 1973
    Elton John
     
         		 Oct. 22, 1973

    America ($3/$5 tickets)
         		 Nov. 13, 1973

    		Crosby & Nash ($4/$6 tickets)
     
         		 Mar.
    5,
    1974

    The King, Elvis Presley performs before a crowd of 13,239, while wearing an orange starburst suit. Presley closes the show by performing "Can't Help Falling In Love."
     
         		 Apr. 11, 1974

    		The Beach Boys
     
         		 May
    9,
    1974

    		 The Doobie Brothers ($4/$5 tickets)
     
         		 Oct. 25, 1974

    Comedian Bob Hope
         		 Apr.
    3,
    1975

    		John Denver ($6/$7 tickets)
     
         		 Oct. 23, 1975

    Bachman Turner Overdrive
     
         		 Nov.
    7,
    1975

    		 Dionne Warwick
     
         		 Nov. 18, 1975

    Chicago
     
         		 Feb. 9, 1976

    		Jerry Jeff Walker
     
         		 Mar.
    4,
    1976

    		Maynard Ferguson
     
         		 Apr. 30, 1976
    James Taylor
     
         		 May
    11, 1976
    Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ($4/$5/$6 tickets). Concert was played to the "back of the house."
     
         		 Nov.
    4,
    1977

    		Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge ($7/$8 tickets)
     
         		 Apr. 15, 1977

    		 Olivia Newton-John ($6/$7 tickets)
     
         		 Apr. 28, 1977
    Neil Diamond ($7/$8 tickets)
     
         		 Oct. 20, 1978
    The Commodores
     
         		 Feb. 13, 1979

    		 Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter ($6/$7 tickets)
     
         		 Jan. 30, 1979

    		 Broadway show "The Wiz"
     
         		 Feb.
    7,
    1979
    The Oak Ridge Boys
     
         		 Oct.
    5,
    1979

    		 Barbara Mandrell and The Statler Brothers
     
         		 Feb.
    1,
    1980
    The Eagles
     
         		 Apr. 14, 1980

    		Heart ($7.50/$8.50 tickets)
     
         		 Nov.
    7,
    1980
    Charlie Daniels Band
     
         		 May
    6,
    1981
    Hall & Oates
     
         		 Nov.
    1,
    1981

    		 The Commodores ($8.50/$9.50 tickets)
     
         		 Mar.
    2,
    1982

    		James Taylor ($9 tickets)
     
         		 Apr.
    4,
    1982

    President Gerald Ford
     
         		 Nov. 11, 1982

    		 The Beach Boys
     
         		 Dec.
    8,
    1985
    Tina Turner
     
         		 Nov.
    7,
    1986

    Jimmy Buffett
     
         		 Nov. 23, 1987
    REM plays a 29-song show as part of their Document Tour.
     
         		 Dec.
    4,
    1987

    		 Whitney Houston ($16 tickets)
     
         		 Mar.
    3,
    1988
    Comedian Dana Carvey
     
         		 April 14, 1989

    		 Comedian George Carlin
     
         		 1990s
    2000s
    Ludacris
     
    Reba McEntire
     
    John Michael Montgomery
     
    Willie Nelson
     
    Dierks Bentley
     
    Better Than Ezra
     
    Third Eye Blind
     
    Widespread Panic
     

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