The Site Of One Of Iowa's Stunning NCAA Tournaments Losses Is Gone
It was the site of one of Iowa's biggest NCAA tournament implosions.
On Saturday, the final remnants of The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich., faced their own implosion.
The roof structure and columns of the arena, all that was left standing in the demolition process, came down on Saturday morning.
The arena was the site of Iowa's 64-63 loss to Northwestern State in the first round of the 2006 NCAA tournament.
Jermaine Wallace's fadeaway three-pointer from the left corner with one second to go capped the comeback for Northwestern State, a 14 seed in the tournament.
Iowa led by 17 points with 8 1/2 minutes to go before the Demons rallied.
The Hawkeyes were the No. 3 seed in the South Region and came into the tournament with plenty of momentum. They were 25-8 coming into the game, having finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten regular-season standings. Iowa then bulled through the Big Ten tournament, defeating Ohio State in the championship game.
Iowa was up 18-4 in the opening minutes, and led 54-37 before the Demons came back.
Greg Brunner gave Iowa a 63-61 lead with the first of two free throws, but missed his second, giving Northwestern State a chance to tie or take the lead.
Kerwin Forges missed a three-pointer from the right side. The rebound was headed to the left corner and was tracked down by Wallace, who got off a shot just before Iowa's Adam Haluska could get a hand on it.
"The guy made a great play," Haluska said. "We
should've come up with the loose ball, but we knew this was a team
that wasn't going to go away."
The 23,000-seat venue opened in August, 1988. It served as the home for the Detroit Pistons’ NBA championships in 1989, 1990 and 2004.
