40 years ago, the 1973-1974 college basketball season produced one of the most incredible,dramatic seasons the sport has ever had. Now, whereas this blog focuses on the SEC, the SEC was indeed a big part of the excitement and uniqueness of this season so this entry will include the entire season and tournament and not just what pertained to the Southeastern Conference. The most important aspect, now probably the most unusual in reflection now with the current format was the fact that only the conference champion (or conference's representative) could participate in the NCAA tournament. Also, there were an inordinate amount of "independents" as many conferences founded on basketball like the Big East and Conference USA had not been established yet.
The 1973-1974 season started out with UCLA and North Carolina State ranked number one and two. Both teams finished the 1972-1973 season unbeaten. UCLA won the national title in '73 making it the Bruins' seventh straight title. NC State went 27-0 in 1972-1973 including winning the ACC regular season title and tournament but was banned from post-season play for recruiting violations. The Bruins' title win over Memphis State was their 75th consectutive victory. UCLA had broken San Francisco's 60 game winning streak during the regular season in an 82-63 win at South Bend vs Notre Dame, where the streak began after a loss in 1971.If the Bruins were going to win their eighth straight title and continue their unbeaten streak, they would have to navigate a very rugged non-conference schedule in addition to a Pac -8 round robin schedule which included Oregon State and Oregon in addition to crosstown rival and Pac 8 bridesmaid Southern California. Among others UCLA would face Maryland, Notre Dame twice and a "made for tv" game in St Louis against NC State. The Terrapins, Irish and Wolfpack were preseason 4th, 8th and 2nd in the preseason polls.
The rest of the top twenty pre-season poll featured a who's who of solid teams at the time including the other 3 Final Four participants, Indiana (3), Providence (6) and Memphis State (20). The SEC was represented with 10th ranked Kentucky gunning for its 7th straight SEC and NCAA berth and Alabama was ranked 18th, fresh off of an NIT final four marking the Crimson Tide's first postseason berth.
Alabama would be attempting to win its first SEC title since 1956 while Tennessee and Vanderbilt would be chasing the Wildcats,too. The trio finished in a three way tie for second at 13-5 in 1973 one game behind 14-4 Kentucky.For Alabama, 1974 would be NCAA or bust. At the time teams could play in tournament games on their home courts. For the 1973-1974, Alabama was awarded the Mideast Regional.One of the stipulations was in order to host the NCAA regional the member institution could not participate in the NIT, regardless of record, nor could they play in the new Conference Commissioner's Association tournament, an attempt at a rival tourney for 'runner-ups' to the NIT.Fellow challenger Vanderbilt saw first hand how this works as the Commodores who won both regular season meetings vs champion Kentucky and were 20-6 overall, were hosts to the 1973 Mideast Regional tournament.At the time,under normal circumstances Vandy would have been a prime candidate for the NIT,but not in '73.
December 1973 included some fine non-conference games as UCLA held off Maryland 65-64 in Los Angeles and Notre Dame held off Indiana 73-67 in a Hoosier State top 10 battle in Bloomington with two of the brightest,youngest head coaches Digger Phelps and Bobby Knight going at it in their third season at their respective schools. The Irish' win served notice that their NIT runner up in '73 was no fluke and also showed how far they had come since their last trip to Bloomington in December 1971 which ended a 94-29 nightmarish loss. The big game was the 'dream game' between the best two teams in 1972-1973, a televison matchup in St Louis (the site of the 1973 Final Four) between UCLA and NC State.
As expected, Wolfpack coach Norm Sloan's gameplan centered around stopping Bruins' all-world center Bill Walton who had scored 44 points on this same court in the National Title game, a record which still stands in title games.But UCLA's John Wooden always had the program in mind and not the player. Whereas NC State goaded Walton into four first half fouls, Keith Wilkes rose to the occassion holding NC State All-American David Thompson to 17 points while scoring a career high 27 himself. State led 33-32 at halftime before 18,000 fans and a nationally televised audience. Walton finally came back in with 9:54 left in the game and UCLA up 54-52. After a quick State basket, UCLA went on a 19-2 run to put it out of reach and win going away, 84-66.
7'4" Tom Burleson scores over Bill Walton in NC State and UCLA's 'Game of the Century' in St Louis in Dec '73. But UCLA romped, 84-66.
Meanwhile, on the same day as the highly anticipated Wolfpack-Bruin tilt, Tennessee was playing in the championship game of their yearly Vol Classic. Tennessee , like many SEC teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt would host a four team tournament prior to Christmas with two Friday night games and a consolation game followed by the championship game. Typically,but not always, the field was chosen to include teams that the host school should win.The Vols scheduled DePaul, Temple and Utah State. Whereas each team historically had had their moments, the Vols were not expected to have much trouble. Tennessee was led by three upperclassmen, Len Kosmalski, Rodney Woods and John Snow as well as highly regarded freshman Ernie Grunfeld. The Vols' only loss was a 67-65 overtime loss to #7 Marquette.
In the Friday night doubleheader, Temple downed Utah State 70-61 and Tennessee blasted DePaul, 96-61.In Saturday's consolation game Utah State downed DePaul 103-93 in a shootout.While Tennessee was favored over the Owls, Temple was on the upswing in Philadelphia "Big Five" play challenging Villanova and Pennsylvania, who had met in the 1971 East Regional final.The Vols had solid scoring with young Grunfeld and senior John Snow, but Ray Mears' squads were built on zone defense. Ten years before variations of shot clocks were implemented,offensive teams could dribble and pass without retribution in an effort to draw a team out of a zone. And if a team had the lead and their opponent zoned them on defense, the offense could hold the ball as long as they wished. The Vols were known to slow down games and often won games in the 50's and low 60's.
Mears was concerned about Temple's team speed and went to a zone. Temple coach Don Casey was concerned about Tennessee's potential uptempo style and wanted to slow the game down. What happened was too stubborn coaches wouldn't change. After Tennessee went up 7-5 with 12:44 left in the first half, Temple stalled and turned the ball over trying to score near halftime. Not one field goal was made in the second half. Tennessee led 8-5 until the final minutes as Temple guards John Kneib and Rick Trudeaux exchanged passes. Tennessee finally won , 11-6. Tennessee fans and officials were livid with Temple as the crowd pelted the floor with ice. UT President Ed Boling asked Mears to bring the Vols back for an intrasquad scrimmage which he did. While fellow SEC coaches snickered at Mears of all coaches complaining about stalling,Mears did campaign for a shot clock which was finally put in place in 1984.
With only one team from a conference being able to participate in the NCAA tournament, conference games were at a premium. In the first weekend of SEC games, Alabama came to town to face Vanderbilt, with both squads ranked in the top 10. While not televised, Sports Illustrated did assign its college basketball beat writer, Barry McDermott, to cover the game.Once beaten Alabama was ranked #6 and unbeaten Vandy was # 10. The Tide led 30-19 before Vandy started lulling Alabama into charging fouls. The Commodores caught up at halftime as the two were tied 37-37.
Alabama controlled the second half and led 69-62 with under 3:00 left. But as McDermott's piece in SI stated, "Vandy made more comebacks than Sinatra." Vandy made its final comeback and had a chance to tie with :26 as Butch Feher, part of Vandy's sophomore class known as the "F-Troop" stepped to the foul line. Down 72-70 Feher made the first but missed the second. But teammate Terry Compton slapped the ball out of Alabama's Charles Russell's hands and Feher retrieved the loose ball. After a pass to Joe Ford, Feher was fed a pass from Ford and laid in a bankshot to give Vanderbilt a 73-72 lead with :13 left.Alabama came down and Ray Odums found Charles Cleveland open for a makable jumper for the win. It looked on target but hit the back of the rim and after a mad scramble for the loose ball, Vandy captain Jan van Breda Kolff slapped it towards midcourt as time expired and somehow Vanderbilt won 73-72 as a portion of the record 15,626 at Memorial Gym stormed the court.
That same evening, two of the three ACC powers met in Greensboro -- in a non-conference game. Third ranked NC State met fifth ranked North Carolina in the first round of the 'Big Four Tournament'. From 1971 through 1981 conference and state members North Carolina, Duke, NC State and Wake Forest all met in Greensboro for a 'pre-season' so to speak tournament. The games were official, but were not treated as conference games.But the Pack and Heels played this one as if was the Final Four,which would be played on the same court two months later. In a tremendous game which went back and forth, NC State over came a 3 pt half time deficit early in the second half on a 10-0 run to lead 54-47. With a little over one minute left, North Carolina's Ed Stahl who replaced All-American Bobby Jones after he fouled out, made a 15 foot jumper to give the Tar Heels their first lead since the start of the second half.
Down 75-74 State seemed in jeopardy of losing its second game of the season when they turned the ball over on a travel. But they showed a resolve lacking earlier in the UCLA game. With Carolina going to its famed 'four corners' JC transfer Moe Rivers stole a pass at midcourt and drove in for a layup. It was blocked but State got the rebound. David Thompson found Tom Burleson under the basket for a 76-75 lead. Carolina's Walter Davis missed a jumper and 5' 5" "mini-guard" Monte Towe made two free throws to give State a 78-75 lead. Stahl scored on a put back for the 'Heels to make it 78-77 with :09 left.Then North Carolina pressured NC State and got the ball back on a five second call as the Pack was unable to throw it in. Stahl, who scored North Carolina's last four points got the ball and a good look,but it fell short and after a scramble Rivers got the rebound as time expired and NC State had a hard fought 78-77 win.(Perhaps it was just a coincidence but the second half of the second game was delayed 20 minutes as a portion of the court at Greensboro Coliseum collapsed. Its not known if the floor just wore out after the incredible pace of game one.)
5' 5" Monte Towe's two ft's with :18 was the difference in NC State's 78-77 win over North Carolina in the 1974 'Big Four Tournament' in Greensboro
As predicted the ACC was indeed a three horse race with Maryland, North Carolina State and North Carolina all in the top five. The SEC became a two horse race quickly with Alabama and Vanderbilt who both "made the turn" the first half of the 18 game home and home round robin at 8-1 in league play. In the Big 10 defending champion Indiana was the runaway choice to repeat in 1974. The Hoosiers started the season #3 behind only UCLA and Indiana. But after a rugged non-conference schedule highlighted by wins over Kansas,Kentucky and South Carolina, they did suffer losses to then #6 Notre Dame and to Oregon State in the Far West Classic in Portland.They entered the Big 10 portion of the schedule 7-2 and ranked #8 and promptly lost their first conference game of the season to Michigan, 73-71 in Ann Arbor. The surprising Wolverines who had gone 13-11 the prior season were now 9-2 and ranked #18. Suddenly, the Big 10 was going to be contested as Indiana indeed had a challenger.
As conference play was going full speed ahead, the independents -- which was comprised of many outstanding teams that season were begining to play some of their fellow independents and other big names as well. The best independent, Notre Dame hosted the biggest name of all, top ranked UCLA . The Bruins were on an 88 game winning streak and were favored to continue on as they met the Irish on the same floor where their streak started following an 89-81 loss to Austin Carr and the Irish in 1971. Two seasons earlier UCLA had beaten Notre Dame 114-56 in Los Angeles and then 57-32 in South Bend in a game where the Irish tried to slow it down in Digger Phelps' first season which ended in a 6-20 record. While John Wooden and the Bruins cruised to a 30-0 mark in '72-'73 Notre Dame improved dramatically with an 18-12 mark and were runners-up to VPI in the NIT. While they were indeed losses, the two losses to UCLA were much more competitive with UCLA winning 82-56 in Los Angeles and 82-63 in South Bend. The win in South Bend was the Bruins' 61st straight surpassing Bill Russell and the San Francisco Dons' 60 game winning streak in 1956.
A full five years before the debut of ESPN, an independent network called TVS broadcast the game nationally. The game would be picked up by many of the major networks' local affiliates for a true national audience.Three weeks earlier the Notre Dame football team won the national title in an epic "Game of the Century" type matchup vs Alabama.Whereas this game wouldn't be for the National Title, a win by the Irish would elevate them from their current #2 ranking to #1. The game did not disappoint although in the first half it appeared UCLA would breeze to win number 89.
In Notre Dame's win in 1971 that started the streak the Irish jumped out to a 9-2 lead. In this one with 6:00 left in the first half, UCLA led 33-16.Notre Dame did cut it to 43-34 at the half, but the Bruins were on fire shooting 70% in the first half.The second half started with Notre Dame getting the hot hand with John Shumate and Gary Brokaw scoring all nine points in a 9-2 run to start the second half. Now up only 45-43, the Bruins got hot again and stretched their lead back to 54-43 near the midway point of the second half.Notre Dame fought back to cut it to 64-59 with 5:24 left but Brokaw was called for his fourth foul trying to guard Keith Wilkes, one of 8 players in this game who would go on to the NBA. Brokaw argued too much and received a technical. Today the technical would be counted as a personal foul and he would have fouled out, but not in 1974 so he stayed in the game.
Tommy Curtis hit a jumper with only 3:32 left to give UCLA a seemingly insurmountable 70-59 lead. In the ensuing timeout Phelps' strategy was to put quicker players in to pressure UCLA. While giving up height, this was a gamble he had to take. And,it worked. At the 3:00 mark the lead was down to 7. With no shot clock UCLA backed off and attempted to run off some clock, but freshman sensation Adrian Dantley stole a pass near midcourt and laid one in and now it was only 70-65 with 2:22 left and TVS announcer Dick Enberg proclaimed, "pandemonium now !"
Keith Wilkes attempting to break Notre Dame's press fired a deep pass to Tommy Curtis who had gotten by Ray Martin. Curtis went in for a lay-up but was called for travelling. Curtis did appear to bobble the pass but it was close and as Wooden said after the game "would have salted it away." Sandwiched around a Dave Meyers' miss, Brokaw scored two jumpers and with 1:17 left UCLA had only a one point lead. The Bruins were were white hot in the first half and shot well for most of the second half suddenly could not score.Walton looked to Wooden to see if he wanted a time out. Wooden, legs crossed and hands folded shook his head to indicate he did not.Afterwards Wooden would say,"I'm not a timeout fellow." While one may have worked here, its difficult to question the Wizard of Westwood's decisions.
UCLA worked the ball inside and found Wilkes on the baseline. After faking a drive along the baseline he drove towards the middle but was called for a foul for hooking Martin. The call was made by veteran official Richard Weiler who ironically had officiated the 1971 Notre Dame win over UCLA earning him the nickname "Bookend" by fellow officials. Any Bruin who felt there might be a conspiracy kept it to themselves. Weiler's full time job was with the Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff's department.
After scoring on two straight possesions Notre Dame looked to Brokaw again. With the ball in Brokaw's hands, Tommy Curtis came over to help Wilkes guard him. In doing so Brokaw noticed Dwight "Ice Man" Clay opened. Clay earned the nickname by the buzzer beaters he had made most notably over rival Marquette the prior year ending the Warriors' 81 home game winning streak scoring with :04 to upset the fourth ranked Warriors, 71-69. Brokaw fired the ball to Clay who then released a shot from the deep right corner as Curtis furiously came back to try to cover him. As Curtis' attempt at a block missed knocking Clay down as he released his shot, the ball fell in the basket. Notre Dame led, 71-70. This time Walton called timeout on his own.
There was still :21 left in the game. But twice the Irish had a chance themselves "to salt the game away" but turnovers by Shumate and Brokaw gave UCLA new life after two misses. Now just :06 remained. Curtis threw into Walton near the foul line and was guarded by Shumate. Walton, 12 of 13 from the field missed a ten footer,but with Shumate away from the basket UCLA was able to scoop it up. The Bruins' Pete Trgovich and Dave Meyers missed to attempts at a tap in and finally Shumate cradled the rebound. Game over, Notre Dame 71, UCLA 70. As Sports Illustrated's article on the game (not cover story as it was the swimsuit issue which grinded Phelps' gears) declared "After 88 comes Zero".
Notre Dame was indeed ranked #1 after this win. But the Irish stay as top ranked didn't last very long. The Irish and Bruins were in the midst of a home and home series generally spread out 3-5 weeks. This time there was just a one week turnaround. Like the game in South Bend, UCLA jumped out big, this time 9-0, with 64% field goal accuracy in the first half. This time, they kept it coming and coming. The Bruins led 43-30 at halftime as Wilkes and Walton combined for 32 of the 43.The Irish, a 14 point underdog--one of the largest point spreads for the top ranked team -- fell behind by 15 nine seconds into the second half and the rout was on.Walton fouled out with 32 points and UCLA ahead 82-56 with 5:39 left. The final score was a more respectable 94-75 but there was no doubt who #1 was.
While UCLA appeared to be back in form, the Irish shook off there first loss and returned home to face #5 and fellow 'major independent' Marquette. The third ranked Irish overcame a brief 45-43 deficit midway in the second half and won, 69-63. The Irish and Warriors were both well on their way to earning 'at large' bids for the upcoming NCAA tournament.Back in the major 'conferences' the teams that started out hot in January continued to distance themselves as Februrary rolled around. In the ACC, North Carolina State, North Carolina and Maryland stayed ranked anywhere from second to seventh as they blistered the rest of the conference. Indiana and Michigan began to separate from rugged Purdue. And in the Southeastern Conference top 10 Vanderbilt and Alabama completely ran away from the rest of the league.In a seven day span Vandy crushed Kentucky and Tennessee on the road oddly enough by the same score, 82-65. Realistically, Kentucky was all but out of the SEC race and the league would have a new champion and NCAA representative for the first time since 1967.
While North Carolina State, North Carolina and Maryland all remained in the top ten and for several weeks in the top 5, in reality they were positioning themselves for the ACC Tournament.Only one team would emerge for the NCAA tournament and East Regional.But this was an era where the Regionals were truly "regional". The Mideast Regional to be held in Tuscaloosa was on course to have four heavyweights in that regional. Independents Notre Dame and Marquette were located to participate in the Mideast as were the Big 10 and SEC champion. Indiana, Vanderbilt and Alabama were all ranked in the top 10 at the time and hard charging Michigan was 15th.
In the SEC, Vanderbilt opened up basically a two game lead over Alabama in winning the season series with another stirring come from behind victory, this time a 67-65 squeaker in Tuscaloosa.Vandy scored the first basket fifteen second into the game and then wouldn't lead again until there were only :35 left when Terry Compton nailed two ft's for a 64-63 lead. Now ranked 5th ,Vanderbilt would have to lose twice and Alabama run the table for the 8th ranked Tide to win the SEC and play in the NCAA's at home. While the players for the ACC,Big 10 and SEC representatives were well established, suddenly another conference had a two horse race, something few saw coming. UCLA was being challenged for Pac 8 supremecy by crosstown rival Southern California.The 8 team conference had assigned 'travel partners' that would travel to the same two rival schools on the same weekend and consquently host the same two over a weekend. In mid-February #1 UCLA and now #12 Southern Cal traveled north to Oregon to face the Beavers and Ducks.The Trojans were 7-2 in league play with an early loss at Washington State and losing at Pauley Pavillion to UCLA who was 9-0 entering the trip to Oregon. Southern Cal won both games easily defeating Oregon 76-61 in Eugene and winning at Oregon State, 60-53.The Trojans returned to Los Angeles tied for first. UCLA went 0 for Oregon,losing 61-57 in Corvallis to Oregon State and then at Oregon, 56-51. All of the sudden UCLA ,so used to winning, had to turn things around and not only not lose again, but win their road game in the Sports Arena vs Southern Cal to even make the tournament.
As March rolled around time was running out for some teams to make the NCAA tourney. Alabama got some help from Tennessee with the Vols upsetting then #4 Vanderbilt in Nashville,59-53. The Tide and Commodores were tied with Vandy having the tiebreaker on the first weekend in March with both squads having two games left. Alabama had to travel to Gainesville to play in dreaded "Alligator Alley" where many a top SEC team had left the arena with an upset loss in front of a rowdy crowd.The Tide had to win while hoping Vandy would lose at home to Kentucky, or the next week to these same Gators in Gainesville.The 7,000 someodd fans got more than they bargained for ,at least at halftime.The fledgling Florida gymnastics team gave the crowd an exhibition at halftime. But it was another 'exhibition' that most in attendance remembered as a lone "streaker" burst through a side door running the length of the court sans clothing to another door on the other end.When it was said and done, Florida had upset Alabama 64-61. An hour later in Nashville, Vanderbilt held off a valiant Kentucky effort. The Wildcats at 12-12 were in the midst of their worst season since 1967. But sixth ranked Vandy hung in and won, 71-69 but not before UK's Larry Johnson missed a shot at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.Vandy's win gave them a share of the SEC title regardless of the ensuing Florida game and trip to the NCAA's in Tuscaloosa.
The Commodores were one of the first teams from a major conference to clinch a bid to the NCAA. But by no means were they the first team to receive a bid. On Thursday, February 28 the NCAA selected 9 at large teams including highly ranked Notre Dame, Marquette, Pittsburgh and Providence -- all who had at least one regular season game to play.But while the Commodores were preparing for their first NCAA trip since 1965, North Carolina was having its senior day honoring All-American Bobby Jones (seemingly every top 15 team in 1974 had at least one 'All-American'). The opponent was Duke suffering its worst season in years. But the Tar Heels only won by two in Durham. Still, Carolina was ranked 6th, they were 20-4,heavy favorite, Duke coach probably getting fired.... With :17 left in the game Duke led North Carolina 86-78. No three point line ,just the friendly confines of Carmichael Auditorium.Well,sir, Carolina scores to make it 86-80. They steal the end bounds pass and score it its 86-82.Again, Duke struggles with the end bounds pass and is called for a five second count giving North Carolina the ball. Freshman Walter Davis scores and its 86-84 with :06 left. Duke finally gets the ball in and Pete Kramer is fouled. With the three point shot 13 years away, one free throw effectively ends the game.Miss.Ed Stahl rebounds and North Carolina calls time near midcourt. Mitch Kupchak throws the ball in to Davis who turns and releases before the buzzer sounds. From 35 feet, the ball hits the backboard and goes through. 86-86, overtime. Amazingly Duke recovers to lead in overtime by 4,but North Carolina wins, 96-92.
The second weekend in March was as frenetic and dramatic as any weekend during the tournament. For starters, while most major conference champions had not been crowned, all "at large teams (independents)" had been selected and would start round one against various "mid-major" champions. Midwest, but Mideast Regional heavyweights were sent to Terre Haute, Indiana. Marquette downed MAC champion Ohio U, 85-69. The second game was even uglier as Notre Dame pummelled Ohio Valley Champion and 1973 NCAA darling Austin Peay and its star Fly Williams, 108-66. They were both on to Tuscaloosa. Marquette would play Vanderbilt, while Notre Dame would play the Big 10 representative, who was 'yet to be determined'. Ohio State's 85-79 upset in Columbus over Indiana gave the Hoosiers their second conference loss tying them with Michigan 11-2 in league play. The two split their regular season meetings so their season finales were huge.Michigan leveled Michigan State 103-87. Indiana hung on for dear life vs Purdue and did win 80-79 as both the Wolverines and Hoosiers tied for the Big 10 title at 12-2.
Oddly enough, Michigan's football team tied for the Big 10 title just three and a half months earlier. Michigan and Ohio State's only blemish was the season finale 10-10 tie. Not only was college football's overtime 23 years away, the Big 10 had some unusual rules when it came to conference titles and bowl games.First and foremost, the only bowl that a Big 10 school could participate in was the Rose Bowl. Didn't matter what a team's ranking or record was, it was Rose Bowl or nothing. One true oddity had been eliminated in 1972. Prior to '72 there was a 'no-repeat' rule. Simply put, as in the case of Michigan State, the Spartans won the Big 10 in 1965 and went to the Rose Bowl. The Spartans repeated in 1966 as outright Big 10 champions. Second place Purdue played in the Rose Bowl. With the new wrinkle, even though Ohio State had been waxed in the '73 Rose Bowl by Southern Cal, they could go back in January of 1974. With no real mechanism for a tie-breaker, it was decided the Big 10 athletic directors would vote on the Big 10 representative. Ohio State was selected to go back to Pasadena (where they did indeed win over USC, 42-21) while Michigan and Bo Schembechler were livid.
As the Big 10 put together a one game playoff at Illinois in Champaign to decide the league's NCAA representative another bit of controversy popped up.Although the NCAA tournament had longed surpassed the NIT in terms of prestige, the NIT was a still highly regarded tournament with tremendous amounts of history of course being played at New York City's Madison Square Garden.However, prior to the start of play in 1973-1974, the Big 10 had agreed to send its second place team to the newly formed Collegiate Commissioners Association tournament to take place in St. Louis.Therefore, the NIT quickly picked up third place Purdue from the Big 10 for their tournament. As the Big 10 regular season began to wind down and it became apparent that there could be a tie, Indiana coach Bob Knight began to express doubts on his team playing in the CCA tourney.Now, that Purdue, IU's hated rival was headed to the much more prestigious NIT,Indiana began to make it loud and clear they just might not go to St Louis if they didn't go to the NCAA's.
But before Indiana would go to Champaign to see if they'd head to St Louis or Tuscaloosa, some other conferences had to settle who would represent them in the tourney.Lost in the shuffle was the play of the Kansas Jayhawks. The Big 8 champion had won their conference by two games. While thought of as a football conference first with Oklahoma and Nebraska rolling over foes, after a rugged non-conference schedule including road games to Kentucky, Indiana and Vanderbilt (all ranked when KU played them) and a home game against then number one Notre Dame, the Jayhawks were 21-5 and ranked 14th in the nation headed to the Midwest Regional.
While Vanderbilt did indeed lose to Florida giving Alabama a share of the SEC title, the ACC and shockingly the Pacific 8 were not decided. The ACC determined its representative by awarding it to their tournament champion so it was always the last to know who'd be dancing.The 1974 ACC Tournament featured three teams ranked in the nation's top 6, NC State, Maryland and North Carolina. The trio had been ranked as high as #1 which NC State was at the time and only has low as 7th after Maryland lost its second game to State.Meeting in the semifinals, #4 Maryland blew out #6 North Carolina, 105-85. After a win over Virginia, North Carolina State and Maryland were headed to the ACC tournament final for the second year in a row.
Maryland and NC State were in the midst of big ,albiet short lived, 'national rivalry'. It started the year before on Super Bowl Sunday where the nation was introduced to David Thompson and his amazing skills in another syndicated 'national' broadcast as Thompson tipped in the winning basket in an 87-85 Wolfpack win in College Park. But in 1972-1973 NC State was on probation and would be ineligible to participate in the NCAA tournament due to recruiting infractions involving Thompson, which snared Duke,of all teams,as well.But the Pack was eligible for ACC and ACC tourney play and downed the Terps, 76-74 in the title game.However, Maryland was the ACC's "representative" and lost in the East Regional final in Charlotte to Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes, 103-89.
But no one was on probation in 1974 so the ACC final was winner take all. Maryland was #4 at 23-4 with losses to then #1 UCLA by one in Los Angeles, a loss at then # 4 North Carolina and two six point losses to NC State ranked #3 and #2 for both games.Four losses-- to teams ranked 1,2,3 and 4. Lefty Driesell, a Duke grad ,who had taken Davidson to the NCAA's three times coming up short of the Final Four twice by losses to North Carolina in the East Regional Final, had built a remarkable team for 1974.When he came to College Park he vowed to make Maryland "the UCLA of the East". That hadn't happened,but with future NBA stars John Lucas, Len Elmore and Tom McMillen along with other solid players, the Terps still could be the best of '74.
For a while it looked like the third time would be a charm. Playing in the Greensboro Coliseum, Maryland raced out to a 25-12 lead. But the Pack was #1 for a reason and behind Thompson and 7'4" Tommy Burleson came back and cut the lead to 41-35. Fatigue from having played an outstanding North Carolina team may have caught up with Maryland for a while as the Pack chipped the lead to one before Maryland took it back to 55-50 at halftime.
NC State was the hot team to start the second half. Behind little 5' 5" Monte Towe and Mo Rivers, State opened the half with a 10-2 run to lead 60-57.Then Maryland got going again taking the lead on a Moe Howard layup to lead 67-66. The Terps stretched the lead to 77-72. David Thompson made back to back jumpers to tie the game at 89 and then regulation ended with the game tied at 97-97. In 40 minutes of regulation there was not one turnover. Zero.
Maryland scored first in overtime on a Len Elmore free throw and then Burleson clanked a hook shot in off the rim and the Pack was up 99-98.Maryland's Lucas ,who would play all 45 minutes, missed the front end of a one and one with the Terps up 100-99. Patiently Towe found Phil Spence open for a layup for State to go ahead for good, 101-100. With :23 left down by one Maryland did indeed make a turnover as Lucas threw a bad pass to Elmore. Forced to foul, Towe sank two free throws and NC State won 103-100. State was now on to the East Regional which would be played at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, the home court of the North Carolina State Wolfpack. In the immediate aftermath it wasn't known what Maryland would do.Having won the NIT in 1972, the Terps had respect for that tourney but turned down the NIT bid shortly after it was extended. Conflicting stories over the years contradict whether Maryland called back and decided to attend but were told it was too late. One thing is certain is that until the 1992 East Regional between Duke and Kentucky,this was considered the best game in college basketball history. Some still consider it as such.
Now there was one berth for a conference champion left for the NCAA tournament: the Pacific 8. Ironically before the season started the experts felt this was the one bid that could be written in pen if not sandblasted,let alone chisled in. UCLA fresh off of two straight unbeaten season, seven straight NCAA and Pac 8 titles and an 88 game winning streak surely would win the conference title with ease. That was not the case. Quietly crosstown rival Southern Cal led by Bob Boyd had developed a solid program. Had they not shared a town,let alone conference with King UCLA, the Trojans would have been regarded as an excellent team. But here was their chance. In a similar, but more frustrating situation in 1971, Southern Cal finished the season 24-2 with both losses to UCLA. Not only was only one conference team allowed to advance to the NCAA's, the Pac 8 precluded its team from playing in the NIT. Ranked # 3 at the end of the regular season and 24-2, the Trojans stayed home and watched UCLA win the National Title.
But on March 9, UCLA was ranked #3 and Southern Cal was ranked #7. For both teams,the main thing was they were both 11-2 in league play. Even though UCLA had won 65-54 a month earlier, the winner of this game would advance to the NCAA's West Regional in Tuscon,AZ to face the winner of Dayton and of all teams, another school from LA, Los Angeles State.Once again a nationally televised syndicated audience would be on hand.
Unfortunately for Southern Cal fans, they quickly found out how UCLA football fans felt in 1967, 1969 and just the prior fall in Nov 1973 with the Rose Bowl on the line for the winner of the "Victory Bell" the name given to the football game. Wheres the Trojan football team won all three of these meetings the Bruins played them tough losing heartbreakers in '67 and '69.
UCLA destroyed Southern Cal, 82-52. Bill Walton played like Bill Walton scoring 20 points in the first half as the Bruins led, 47-13 at halftime. The Trojans made 4 of 30 shots in the first half for 13%. Anthony Davis would only be able to help the football team in 1974 with a seemingly insurmountable deficit to a huge rival. UCLA actually tapped the breaks in the second half with Walton and Keith Wilkes leaving the game with under 8:00 left and UCLA up, 68-33.UCLA would now go on to the West Regional to face Dayton,who had one their 'first round' or subround with Los Angeles State. USC who did play in the NIT in 1973, would go on to St Louis in the inaugral CCA tourney.
Back home again in Indiana, Bloomington to be precise, the Hoosiers prepared for the one game playoff against Michigan Monday in Champaign. It was hard to consider a co-championship, #13 ranking and 20-4 record a disappointment, but this was not what Bob Knight and the Hoosiers had in mind on October 15th when practice started for the '73-'74 season. Ranked third in the nation to start the year behind UCLA and NC State, the Hoosiers lost at home to Notre Dame, 73-67. A win over Michigan would give Indiana one more crack at the Irish as they were matched up with the Big 10 winner in the Mideast Regional. A loss meant the CCA and not the NIT. Having started his coaching career at Army, his Cadets had made several trips to the NIT. In fact the 1968 Black Knights turned down an NCAA bid to play in the NIT . As the regular season wound down he expressed a desire to go to the NIT as opposed to the CCA if they didn't make the NCAA's. Nonetheless, the Big 10 was contractually obligated to send its runner-up to the new tournament. Besides, the NIT had already selected Purdue.
Evidently all of the angst about playing in the CCA proved valid. CJ Kupec, Wayman Britt and Campy Russell combined for 55 of Michigan's 75 points as the Wolverines downed the Hoosiers, 75-67. Michigan never trailed in the game, yet the game went to the final minutes. Leading only 38-36 at halftime, Michigan got its biggest lead at 58-48. But Indiana wasn't done and almost pulled it out. With 4:48 Indiana cut the lead to two after a 10-2 run after Russell fouled out. Indiana's leading scorer, 'super sub' John Laskowski made two of his game high 20 as the lead was cut to one at 64-63 with under two minutes left. Then Michigan scored 5 quick points to get it back to 69-63 to put it out of reach.
Afterwards, Michigan coach Johnny Orr was downright giddy. He gushed over his team saying 'we were underdogs in 23 of our 25 games.Indiana is a great team and Bobby Knight is a great coach.Beating them was really special.'Then there was high praise for Notre Dame.
Bobby Knight was ,well, Bobby Knight. He hinted that his team just might not show up in St. Louis for the CCA tourney afterall.Saying of his Hoosier squad,"this is not a runner-up team.We are co-champions and its up to the players to decide what they want to do." But Indiana AD Bill Orwig said the Hoosiers would go to St Louis. Big 10 commissioner Wayne Duke reiterated how the conference athletic directors and basketball coaches voted for conference participation and had met twice with IU representatives in the last two weeks and had received assurance they'd participate.
On the flight back home to Bloomington, Knight called Steve Green to the front and wanted him to get a team vote on "the loser's tournament" . Knight explained it wasn't his desire to participate. The next day Green reported back that the team voted not to go. After having given it some thought and realizing he had to go, he asked Green to explain to the team that the tourney would give young Kent Benson some more experience and to reconsider.Again, Green came back with the thumbs down saying the team said no. This time Knight said,"I appreciate that,but we're going."
Now the NCAA field, NIT and CCA fields were all set. The major conference champions would face the 'sub regional' winner they were paired with in the regional semifinal, all played on Thursday with the regional finals (and consolation games) to be played on Saturday. While Alabama did come up a game short in its quest to host a regional on their home court, two teams would indeed be 'hosts' of a regional and be a participant. Number 1 North Carolina State would be playing in and hosting the East Regional at their own Reynolds Coliseum.The other team? None other than Oral Roberts University hosting and participating in the Midwest Regional at the Mabee Center on the ORU campus in Tulsa,OK.Only in their 8th year of varsity play and fresh off two consectutive NIT bids, the Titans edged Syracuse in overtime in one of the Midwest 'first round' or subregionals and would play Louisville, the winner of the Missouri Valley Conference and just two years removed from the 1972 Final Four.
Kentucky would miss the NCAA tourney for the first time since 1967. Vanderbilt edged the Wildcats, 71-69 on Senior Night to secure the SEC's NCAA berth in the Mideast Regional to be played at Alabama's Memorial Coliseum.
The East Regional went as anticipated more than the three other regionals. 13th ranked Pittsburgh held off Furman, 81-78. In the night cap, #5 Providence trailed #1 NC State only 71-69 behind the Friars' All-American, Marvin Barnes. But the Pack pulled away late behind David Thompson's 40 points and Tom Burleson's 24 rebounds to win, 92-78.
Tuscaloosa's Mideast Regional featured the only regional where all four teams were ranked in the top 20 and in this case, they were all ranked in the top 12.Not only were these still true "regionals", seeding was still 5 years away. In today's format the teams in this regional would probably have been a one,two or three seed. Third ranked Notre Dame had been mentioned in the same breath for the last two months along with NC State and UCLA has teams favored to win the whole tournament. The Irish were big favorites to end #12 Michigan's Cinderella season.Only the clock hadn't struck midnight yet, at least in Ann Arbor or Tuscaloosa.
Behind Campy Russell's 36 points and 18 rebounds,Michigan upset Notre Dame, 77-68 . The Wolverines could do no wrong and the Irish couldn't do anything right in the first 12 minutes of the first half exploding to a 28-8 lead. But Notre Dame settled down and cut it to 34-29 at halftime.With under 10:00 left in the game, Notre Dame's Gary Novak made a layup to give the Irish a 54-52 lead.Yet despite John Shumate's 34 points went cold again and Michigan outscored Notre Dame the rest of the way 25-14 to win going away.Even with the Wolverines having three starters foul out, the Irish never could seem to get going. Irish freshman All-American Adrian Dantley was held to two points and said afterwards that his legs "felt like log cabins."
In Game two by the time Vanderbilt realized the WAC officials doing the game weren't going to call any fouls unless a bone or trail of blood was on the court, Marquette was ahead 40-30 at halftime.The Commodores caught the Warriors at 42 and then 51 with under 6:00 left. But an Ed Daniels long jumper put Marquette up 55-53 with under 5:00 left and the Warriors were on their way.While Vandy was still trying to get back in the game down 64-59 with :57 left,Marquette's Bo Ellis stole a pass near midcourt and went down for an uncontested dunk to put the game out of reach. The only problem was the dunk had been outlawed in 1967 and would not be reinstated until the 1976-1977 season. Instead of the goal being disallowed and the Commodores at the foul line for a technical and possession, the Warriors were up 66-59. Marquette went on to win, 69-61.
The Midwest Regional produced two thrillers. Hard charging #14 Kansas eked out a one point win over #19 Creighton coached by Eddie Sutton who was taking what turned out to be the first of four different schools to the NCAA.Earlier in the year Creighton had given then #5 Marquette their lone home loss of the year, 75-69. In the second game home standing Oral Roberts held on for a 96-93 win over #18 Louisville.
Besides Michigan's upset over Notre Dame, the biggest buzz of the evening came in the Dayton-UCLA game.Five days after routing Southern Cal to get into the tourney, UCLA got out to a 17 pt lead before Dayton closed to 48-36 at halftime.The Flyers, a 20 pt underdog would not go away and caught the Bruins at 80 at the end of regulation missing shot at the buzzer that would have won it. The two would go into three overtimes before UCLA behind Dave Meyers' 28 points would win 111-100.Mike Sylvester's 36 points for Dayton couldn't pull it out. In the second game San Francisco downed New Mexico 64-61 earning the Dons a second straight regional final against the Bruins.
The regional finals were all on Saturday to be televised by NBC.For the most of the country there would be a tripleheader with everyone getting the East and Mideast Regional finals with the West and Midwest going head to head and due to the interest generated by UCLA,most of the country would receive the West final.Prior to each regional final would be a 'consolation game' or 'regional third place game'. 1974 would be the penultimate year of the regional consolation game. The practice of a consolation game at the Final Four continued through the 1981 tournament.
Three of the four consolation games were competitive with only the Mideast third place game getting out of hand. Vanderbilt scored 44 points in each half vs Notre Dame. Unfortunately, Notre Dame scored 60 and then 58 in each half as they rolled, 118-88. The Irish won their two games by 42 points and 30 points scoring averaging 113 points in their two wins. However, they only scored 68 points in their loss to Michigan.
#1 NC State had a huge scare in the regional final win over #13 Pittsburgh. The Wolfpack walloped the Panthers, 100-72. But midway in the first half, All-American David Thompson basically flipped over a teammate during a fast break. Thompson,with an amazing ability to jump 44 inches high, appeared to catch his foot on a teammate's shoulder and took an ugly,scary spill when he landed on his head. Thompson lay unconscious for nearly four minutes. Many on the court, pressrow and in the stands feared the worst as he lay there motionless. Finally he came to and was carried off by stretcher to a nearby hospital. Sewn up with 15 stitches and diagnosed with a concussion, he returned to the game watched the end of the second half from the bench.
NC State coach Norm Sloan (l), NC State players and 12,600 at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum watch in silence as All-World David Thompson lay motionless after a fall
Marquette's colorful and demonstrative Al McGuire had taken five of his Warrior teams to the NCAA's before this season with only one team making the regional final.Once again he was one win away from his and Marquette's first Final Four. Michigan was as hot as any team in the country as their surprising win over Notre Dame proved.Michigan led 39-37 at halftime as the game was nip and tuck. McGuire either almost cost his team the game or fired them up depending on differing points of view with two technical fouls in the second half. With one minute left the game was tied at 70. While Marquette did not have the same talent that maybe UCLA, NC State and Notre Dame had, they were in the midst of a solid run with top ten teams and talent. The Warriors had Maurice Lucas, Lloyd Walton, Marcus Washington and Bo Ellis all big names in 1974. With :45 left Marquette went up for good on a basket by....Dave Delsman. Earlier in the season during a practice, Delsman took a swing at Washington, not that unusual at a Marquette practice.But McGuire, the quirky coach of the quirky team took exception and said to Delsman, "hey,Dels..if you want to hit somebody,hit me." Delsman obliged and decked McGuire. None the less Marquette held off Michigan 72-70 and was on to the Final Four.
In Tulsa at the Midwest Final, Kansas survived Oral Roberts. If Michigan in 1974 was Cinderella, Oral Roberts was Cinderella, 'David', and 'the little engine who could' all rolled in to one. But the clock did strike twelve on the Titans. Kansas trailed by nine points with a little more than four minutes to go in regulation. After shooting 59% in the first half, the Jayhawks went cold in the second but warmed back up to tie it up on super soph, Rick Suttle's basket to tie it at 81-81 to send it to overtime.
Oral Roberts then went cold in overtime.Kansas made two free throws to go up 89-86. With the home crowd behind them, the Titans kept rallying and cut it to one two more times, the final one at 91-90 with :28 left. But reserve KU guard Tommy Smith made his second basket in the final minute for the final score of 93-90. Kansas was off to the Final Four,their second in four year.Still it was a remarkable run for the Titans playing in the NCAA in only their third year of NCAA level competition, hosting a regional, defeating a perennial power in Louisville and falling valiantly in overtime to another perennial power,Kansas.
And then there was one. Perhaps mentally drained from the three overtime loss to UCLA on Thursday, Dayton fell to New Mexico in the West Regional consolation game.While the regionals were indeed 'regional' with conference champions bracketed in specific geographically aligned regions, sometimes the 'at large' teams from one region would need to fill a slot in another region. This is why Dayton (from Ohio) was in the West Regional -- and South Carolina (during their nomadic period between the ACC and SEC) was sent to the Midwest Regional in '73. But the King of the West was UCLA and they made sure not to get in a dogfight again.
Keith Wilkes scored 27 points and Walton had 17 has UCLA led 35-23 at halftime over San Francisco. Remembering they had a 12 pt halftime lead over Dayton two days earlier, the Bruins never gave the Dons any hope in the second half. Up 77-50 with under 4:15 left, John Wooden emptied his bench and the Bruins won, 83-60.
The Final Four was all set. Meantime, the CCA and NIT had started as well. CCA favorite Indiana survived a scare from Tennessee 73-71 and Toledo in overtime, 73-72. NIT favorite North Carolina lost its first game to Purdue, 82-71.But NC State, Marquette, Kansas and UCLA were moving on to Greensboro, N.C. While the tournament would start making more and more changes (to the good--for the most part) there was one change that had taken place the prior season that would have been nice if it it had waited two more years,too.Until the prior year's Final Four , the National Semfinals would consist of the East Region winner vs Mideast Region winner and then the Midwest Region winner vs the West Region winner. In 1973 the Mideast (Indiana) met the West winner (UCLA) and the East Winner (Providence) met the Midwest winner (Memphis State).Now the East would face the West and Mideast face the Midwest in '74 as the rotation continued. Instead of the title game, NC State and UCLA would meet in the Semifinals.
As a surprise to no one, the national focus was on the UCLA-NC State rematch. To their credit, Marquette's Al McGuire and Kansas coach Ted Owens took this in stride and understood.However, UCLA's Wooden directed some bravado directed towards NC State, a little out of character for the legendary coach.He brought up the Bruins' surprisingly easy 84-66 win."I want them to remember we beat them by 18 points on a neutral court with Bll Walton only playing half of the game.I want them to dwell on that." NC State just said the right things and certainly relished the fact that after they played the East Regional on their home court, they would just have to bus over on I-40 80 miles back to Greensboro where they had won the ACC Tournament two weeks earlier.
The Marquette-Kansas game , or "Class B Championship" according to McGuire, or "preliminary game" according to Owens, was indeed played first.McGuire, who made reference to his team being 'dynamite' after the Michigan win, dealt with an explosion of sorts at halftime as Kansas led, 24-23. A halftime "talk" proved quite volatile, but it worked and in a way it was vintage Al McGuire's Marquette. McGuire's halftime harangue wound up getting his point across, but not before some tense moments.Lloyd Walton in particular took exception to McGuire telling the squad that anyone who didn't want to play in the second half to get dressed and go home. Marquette's Walton said, "we didn't get here because of you (McGuire),we got here on heart," and started to get dressed. McGuire proceeded to tackle him and then the proverbial cooler heads prevailed and the second half was all Warriors.
Early in the second half with Kansas leading, 29-26, the Warriors defense kicked into overdrive which in turn got their offense going. Marquette went on a 9-0 run high lighted by two fast break layups by none other than Lloyd Walton.The lead got to ten at 45-35 with 8:40 to go as Marquette continued to force Kansas turnovers who would have 19 for the game. The lead swelled to 15 before the Marquette won, 64-51. Maurice Lucas led the Warriors with 18 points and had 14 rebounds.Kansas' Rick Suttle was the game high scorer with 19.
After the game McGuire and the Warriors were all smiles."I'm just real pleased at winning the B championship," said the coach, and alluding to halftime added,"we went at each other pretty good at halftime--me and the players."Lucas said tongue in cheek, "we had a friendly discussion, as usual, at halftime."
Now it was time for the main event. NC State had let UCLA do most of the talking during the week . Bruin guard Tommy Curtis referred to the St Louis meeting as "a real whippin'" and Andre McCarter couldn't imagine losing, "I won't believe it. It just doesn't fit into history." Only State forward Tim Stoddard mentioned Game One saying, "we know they aren't 18 points better than us, but what's more important is that they know it."
Even with State ranked first and playing in their home away from home in Greensboro, UCLA was a three point favorite.The game lived up to its hype. The two battled to a 35-35 tie at halftime, but like State's last game at Greensboro Coliseum, 40 minutes were not going to be enough.Still, midway in the second half it looked like UCLA was headed for another title game.
Early in the second half UCLA had climbed to a 49-38 lead. After rebounding a missed NC State shot, Walton held the ball over his head looking up court. 7'4" Burleson grabbed the ball out of Walton's grip for a layup. As the two lumbered back down court Walton swore at Burleson was his brazeness.With 11:00 left, UCLA was still up by 11 at 57-46 but NC State wasn't going away. State started chipping away and went on a 10-0 run to cut it to 57-56 as they began to force UCLA to start their offense further out and Thompson clamped down on Wilkes. State took the lead at 63-61 but now UCLA wasn't going away.
With the game tied at 65 with :51 left, Walton missed a hook and Burleson rebounded. Working the clock down Towe found Stoddard alone in the corner but he missed and the game went into overtime. Each team only scored one basket and again State missed a makable shot at the buzzer as the first overtime ended at 67-67.
But Walton and Wilkes seemed to take over the second overtime. With 3:27 left in the extra,extra, session, UCLA led 74-67.Now it was State's turn. They turned up their press on UCLA, caused turnovers and got offensive rebounds when they needed them and cut the lead to 75-74.After finally getting a defensive rebound, UCLA's Dave Meyers was fouled. Years before the 'double bonus', Meyers was at the free throw line where UCLA was 11 of 12 for the game. He missed and State got the rebound and went ahead on a Thompson jumper. Greg Lee missed a shot for the Bruins and Thompson made two free throws with :34 for a 78-75 lead. Another Bruin turnover and two Wolfpack free throws later it was 80-75. Walton scored one more basket and it was over. North Carolina State 80, UCLA 77.There would be a new NCAA champion for the first time since 1966.
While there would still be two games Monday in Greensboro, Purdue became the first Big 10 institution to win the NIT. The Boilermakers downed Utah, 87-81. Indiana became the first Big 10 team,and first team,period to win the CCA in St. Louis popping Southern Cal, 83-60. (The CCA tourney would only be played one more year.) In a three month period, the state of Indiana had produced the college football champion,NIT winner and CCA winner. And,Marquette's Al McGuire continued to say the reason the Warriors were where they were was because "Johnny Orr beat Notre Dame," indicating the Irish were better than his Warriors.
One of the biggest questions going into Monday night was regarding the consolation game.After the loss to NC State, Walton hinted that he and his fellow seniors just might not play in the consolation game.UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan said the decision was up to John Wooden while the Wizzard of Westwood said it was up to the senior players.As rumors began to swirl that Walton was already back in Los Angeles, Wooden tried downplaying the situation by stating his policy has always been for seniors to decide whether they wanted to play in season ending consolation games or not.Kansas coach Ted Owens, who lost to the Bruins in the 1971 Final Four, told Wooden through the media that his squad hoped the Bruins would be at full strength.
All UCLA players did play in the consolation game. Senior Greg Lee said that Wooden had asked them to and also they had no intention of embarrassing Kansas. Lee maintained they wanted to motivate the NCAA to elminate consolation games.Still, the Bruins' hearts weren't in the game-- at least at first.Kansas,behind Dale Greenlee led at halftime, 38-31.
But the Bruins used a 26-3 run early in the second half and coasted to victory. Walton and Wilkes only played 20 minutes,though,but when each was pulled for the game, they received a standing ovation.Off an on Junior starter Pete Trgovich played the most minutes with 30 and scored the most points with 14 for UCLA who won, 78-61.
In the championship game before almost a home crowd screaming, "Go Pack Go" North Carolina State roared out to 10-2 lead. But over the next 8 minutes burly Maurice Lucas scored 11 of his team high 21 points as Marquette took a 19-18 lead. The game continued to go back and forth until a play where Marquette actually took its last lead turned the game around. Marcus Washington was called for a charge after scoring to make it 28-27, Warriors. McGuire was livid and received a technical. While this tactic worked 9 days earlier in Tuscaloosa vs Michigan, it took the wind out of Marquette's sails.Two minutes later after a goal tend call on Bo Ellis, McGuire received another technical. After leading minutes earlier 28-27, a 10-0 run gave State a 37-28. Each team scored once more and at halftime it was 39-30.
The second half was all NC State. The Wolfpack scored the first six points and in no time it was 45-30.The lead would eventually soar to 19 points before Sloan took his starters out to a thunderous applause. Thompson, who was named tournament MVP scored 21 points while Burleson added 14 points. NC State won, 76-64.
An incredible season indeed. One NCAA participant per conference, Oral Roberts playing in a regional final on their home court, Alabama, SEC-co champ sitting home with no NIT as a regional final was on their home court, UCLA's winning streak over, the brilliance of the ACC that year,the ill-fated CCA tourney and a new champion NC State. Greatness.
