Besides being in the olde "Fieldhouse" back in 1968 I have been in some fieldhouse style (not to be confused with farmhouse style saison brew houses
) basketball facilities back in the day in different areas of the country. They all had a wide open, hi-ceiling feel as if they had been build as a hanger or military storage building. With people filling the seats it felt large even with a small but filled to capacity crowd. Some of these places were state run institutions.
When I first stepped into the UD Fieldhouse (not for a game) it seemed large but not too large. It definitely shrunk when filled to overflowing for BB games and very intimate. For visiting teams it must have been very intimidating .... and it was.