GREENSBORO, N.C. - With championship week in full swing right now, it's easy to get lost in all the euphoria of conference basketball tournaments. In the smaller conferences, the ones that only get one team into the NCAA tournament, the desperation and joy are in full force, the conference championship games turning into national championships of sort.
Imagine, then, if every conference tournament was that way. Imagine if every conference, big or small, only got to send one team to the NCAA tournament. How big would those conference tournaments seem then?
That was the case in 1974, when top-ranked North Carolina State met fourth-ranked Maryland in the ACC Tournament championship game. It was one of the most highly anticipated games in years, with the stakes incredibly high as the winner would play in the NCAA tournament, while the other would be stuck with the NIT.
Both teams came in incredibly talented. The 25-1 North Carolina State squad were led by center Tommy Burleson and guard David Thompson, both of whom would be top-3 picks in subsequent NBA drafts. Maryland, coming in at 23-4, featured three future No. 1 picks in Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, and John Lucas. In all, 10 future NBA draft picks were taking part in this game.
Maryland started out in command, using 60 percent shooting to lead by as many as 13 points in the first half. But as the game went on, NC State's biggest advantage began to show. As the regular-season champion in the ACC, the Wolfpack had gotten a first-round bye in the conference tournament and had only had to win one game to get to the title game. Maryland, meanwhile, had to win twice to get there and was now playing in its third game in as many days. Also, the Terrapins had somewhat controversially left their starters in late in the second half of a 20-point win over North Carolina the day before.
In the second half, NC State used its fresh legs to start to assert itself. While Maryland had been racing all over the court in the first half, suddenly NC State found itself winning the races down the floor in the second, and the Wolfpack was able to cut into Maryland's lead.
The game was tied at 97 as Maryland had the ball with a chance to win in the final seconds. With three seconds left, Maryland guard Mo Howard had an open shot on the baseline from 16 feet away. At the last moment, fearing that Burleson would block the shot, Howard passed across the court to Lucas, who had to put up an off-balance shot at the buzzer and missed.
Howard would come to rue that decision, as Maryland failed to make a field goal in the overtime period. NC State's Phil Spence made a layup late to give the Wolfpack a 101-100 lead, and Monte Towe clinched the win with a pair of free throws.
Inspired by their win, NC State went on to win the National Championship, ending UCLA's run of seven straight championships in the process. Devastated, Maryland declined an invitation to that year's NIT tournament, deciding instead to have their loss to NC State end their season.
The 1974 ACC Tournament was instrumental in causing the NCAA to expand its tournament from 25 to 32 teams the next year, opening the door for conferences to have multiple teams earn berths. That was little consolation to Maryland, which is still considered the best team to fail to make the NCAA tournament.
Showing posts with label North Carolina State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Carolina State. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April 4, 1983: The Dunk
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - It's one of the most memorable finishes in the history of American sports. Derek Whittenburg throwing up a desperation 3-pointer that falls well short, Lorenzo Charles catching the errant shot and, in one motion, going up for a two-handed dunk right before the clock hits zero. Dazed, players from both teams need a split-second to realize what just happened, and then the celebration begins in earnest, including a scene of Jim Valvano running crazily around the court, trying to find somebody to hug.
North Carolina State's second NCAA championship was one of those moments that defines why so many people follow sports so passionately. Virtually everybody who has ever watched an NCAA tournament game since 1983 has seen a clip of his championship-winning dunk, followed by his coach's manic excitment.
If Charles' dunk had been the only story, the game would still live on for the ages. But it's the details that make it more and more fascinating. You had the typical David-vs.-Goliath matchup, as Houston was considered the odds-on favorite to win the game. You had a North Carolina State team that had trailed with less than a minute to go in 7 of their final 9 games, only to improbably win all of them. And you had the legacy of Jim Valvano, whose outgoing personality made him a media darling during the tournament and has made him beloved even today, 17 years after his death.
The national championship game was just the lastest in a series of close games for the Wolfpack. They needed two overtimes to win their opening-round game against Pepperdine, trailing by 6 with a minute to play in the first extra session. They trailed UNLV in round 2 most of the game, before Thurl Bailey put back his own miss with 4 seconds left to give them the win. AFter a blowout of Utah in round three, they beat conference rival Virginia in the final moments, getting two free throws from Charles with 23 seconds to play to clinch that win.
But it all boiled down to that improbable final sequence in the championship game. Getting the ball with 44 seconds left in a tie game, Valvano told his team to hold the ball until there were 10 seconds left (this was before a shot clock), then to run a play. But nothing the Wolfpack did during this tournament went according to plan, and this was no exception. The offense bogged down, leading to Wittenburg's desperation, 30-foot heave that had no prayer of going in. Expecting overtime, everybody just watched the shot fall hopelessly short, including Houston all-American Akeem Olajuwon, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds in the title game to help him be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
But Olajuwon remains the last player to earn that award despite not winning the title, as he, and the rest of his Houston teammates, failed to box out Charles, who was standing by himself in the lane, in perfect position to grab the rebound and enter into history.
North Carolina State's second NCAA championship was one of those moments that defines why so many people follow sports so passionately. Virtually everybody who has ever watched an NCAA tournament game since 1983 has seen a clip of his championship-winning dunk, followed by his coach's manic excitment.
If Charles' dunk had been the only story, the game would still live on for the ages. But it's the details that make it more and more fascinating. You had the typical David-vs.-Goliath matchup, as Houston was considered the odds-on favorite to win the game. You had a North Carolina State team that had trailed with less than a minute to go in 7 of their final 9 games, only to improbably win all of them. And you had the legacy of Jim Valvano, whose outgoing personality made him a media darling during the tournament and has made him beloved even today, 17 years after his death.
The national championship game was just the lastest in a series of close games for the Wolfpack. They needed two overtimes to win their opening-round game against Pepperdine, trailing by 6 with a minute to play in the first extra session. They trailed UNLV in round 2 most of the game, before Thurl Bailey put back his own miss with 4 seconds left to give them the win. AFter a blowout of Utah in round three, they beat conference rival Virginia in the final moments, getting two free throws from Charles with 23 seconds to play to clinch that win.
But it all boiled down to that improbable final sequence in the championship game. Getting the ball with 44 seconds left in a tie game, Valvano told his team to hold the ball until there were 10 seconds left (this was before a shot clock), then to run a play. But nothing the Wolfpack did during this tournament went according to plan, and this was no exception. The offense bogged down, leading to Wittenburg's desperation, 30-foot heave that had no prayer of going in. Expecting overtime, everybody just watched the shot fall hopelessly short, including Houston all-American Akeem Olajuwon, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds in the title game to help him be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
But Olajuwon remains the last player to earn that award despite not winning the title, as he, and the rest of his Houston teammates, failed to box out Charles, who was standing by himself in the lane, in perfect position to grab the rebound and enter into history.
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