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UCLA basketball history

The Road To The 1980 Final Four

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The NCAA Tournament expanded in 1980, going from 40 teams to 48, meaning that for the first time, a majority of the bracket (32 teams) would have to win six games to win the national championship. The extra hurdle didn’t stop upsets from happening—the 1980 Final Four was the first one that was mostly gutted of teams who could remotely claim to be a favorite.

While eventual champion Louisville was a power, Purdue, Iowa and UCLA all took the long road to Indianapolis. Here’s a look back on how each team reached the Final Four.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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LOUISVILLE

Denny Crum had taken Louisville to the Final Four twice before since becoming head coach in 1972. Both times, the end of the road had come against UCLA, where Crum had made his reputation as an assistant to John Wooden.

The Cards also lost to the Bruins in the first round in 1977 and made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in 1978 and 1979.

In 1980, Louisville looked ready to take that proverbial next step. They had the best player in the country in Darrell Griffith. Nicknamed “Dr. Dunkenstein” for his athleticism, the guard averaged 22 ppg and won national Player of the Year honors. Griffith was supported by a good front line, quick and athletic, with Derek Smith, Rodney McCray and Wiley Brown.

Louisville went 28-3 and got the #2 seed in the Midwest Regional. After a first-round bye, it looked like the dream might die an early death, when Kansas State took them to overtime. The Wildcats were led by Rolando Blackman, on his way to a long NBA career and one year later they would oust #1 seed Oregon State in this same round. The Cards survived 71-69, forcing Blackman into 6-for-18 shooting and getting 20 points from Smith.

The regionals were in Houston, and Louisville would face Texas A&M, who had upset North Carolina. Yet again, the Cardinals were dragged into overtime by an undermanned opponent. The key to this win was free-throw scoring, where Louisville enjoyed a 20-7 advantage. Griffith scored 24 points and the ‘Ville finally pulled away in the extra session, 66-55.

Now it was time to face the region’s top seed, SEC champion LSU. The Tigers had just beaten Missouri in the Sweet 16, taking out an opponent with two future NBA players, Larry Drew and Steve Stipanovich. Louisville would have to play much better than what they’d shown in their first two games of the tournament.

It took into the second half, but Crum’s team finally took it over. Griffith finished with 17 points/8 rebounds/7 assists and was named the regional’s Most Outstanding Player. McCray and Smith grabbed ten rebounds apiece to key a decisive edge on the glass and the 86-66 win sent Crum to his third Final Four.

UCLA

The seat that John Wooden had occupied as recently as a five years ago was proving to be predictably uneasy for anyone else to occupy. Gene Bartow was Wooden’s successor and made the 1976 Final Four, but Bartow opted to go Alabama-Birmingham after two years and build a program from scratch.

Gary Cunningham was next in line, and he produced two good teams, but came up a game short of the 1979 Final Four, losing a thrilling regional final to DePaul. Next up was a young head coach named Larry Brown.

It didn’t go well for the Bruins through much of 1980. They finished fourth in the Pac-8 conference and were seeded #8 in the West Regional. But they had individual talent. Kiki Vandeweghe was a 20 ppg scorer. Rod Foster scored 12 a game and was a good playmaker, while Mike Sanders averaged 11 points/6 rebounds.

Vandeweghe lit up Old Dominion with 34 points, while Sanders hauled in 18 rebounds as UCLA won their first-round game 87-74. The top seed in the West was DePaul, with national Coach of the Year Ray Meyer and All-American forward Mark Aguirre. The Bruins held the Blue Demons to 41 percent shooting, while Sanders had 15 points/12 rebounds. The 77-71 upset sent shock waves through the bracket.

The entire West Regional was gutted, with fourth-seeded Ohio State the only favorite to make it to Tucson for the regionals. UCLA won a tough 72-68 game over the Buckeyes in the Sweet 16. Vandeweghe didn’t shoot well, going 3-for-13, but Sanders and Foster each scored 19 apiece. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Clemson, with future NBA players in Larry Nance and Mitchell Wiggins, beat Lamar 74-66 to advance.

UCLA was in control in the regional final against Clemson. Vandeweghe was back on his game, with 22 points/9 rebounds. The Bruins were up eleven at the half. Sanders continued to play great basketball, with a 22/10 day that earned him Outstanding Player honors in the 85-74 win. Even in a down year, UCLA basketball was still Final Four bound.

PURDUE

Joe Barry Carroll was the anchor of the Purdue team. The 7’1” center averaged 22 points/9 rebounds and was a shotblocker that controlled the interior. But in his senior year, the Boilermakers hadn’t taken full advantage of his talents.

After making the NCAA Tournament in his freshman year, Purdue missed the Dance each of the previous two seasons. With a supporting cast that included double-digit scorers in Keith Edmonson and Drake Morris, the Boilers needed to make a move.

Second-year head coach Lee Rose had taken a great player to the Final Four in 1977, when he advanced with Cornbread Maxwell at UNC-Charlotte. Purdue finished third in the Big Ten, but with a #6 seed in the Mideast, they were playing at home on the first weekend and had the chance for a big run.

The first game with LaSalle was a great showdown of All-Americans, as the Explorers had forward Michael Brooks. The battle was everything fans could have asked for. Brooks was great with 29 points/12 rebounds, but Carroll was even better, at 33/13. Purdue won the game 90-82. Carroll continued to dominate in the second round, with a 36/12 line against St. John’s in a 86-72 win.

Purdue had enjoyed home cooking, but there was the possibility it would turn on them at the Mideast (the forerunner of today’s South bracket) Regional. Lexington’s Rupp Arena was the venue and Kentucky was there as the #1 seed. The Wildcats would play Duke, while Purdue staged a grudge match with Indiana.

Bob Knight’s Hoosiers had won the Big Ten and Carroll didn’t have a great game, with 11/8. But Edmonson and Morris stepped it up with 20 points apiece. Purdue also went 32-for-44 from the free throw line, while Indiana was 13-for-17. Purdue won 76-69 and they also got the break they needed—Duke, with several of the players who had lost to Kentucky in the 1978 NCAA championship game, took revenge, with a 55-54 win.

Playing a worse opponent—Duke was the 4-seed—on a true neutral floor was a break, but it wouldn’t be easy to capitalize on. The Blue Devils had forced Kentucky’s All-American guard Kyle Macy into a 3-for-9 night, and they had a future pro center in Mike Gminski. Purdue trailed the regional final at halftime, 30-28.

Carroll’s defense was taking its toll though, and though Gminski got 17 points, he was forced into 6-for-16 shooting. Meanwhile, Joe Barry was efficient, hitting ten of sixteen shots and scoring 26 points. Purdue took over the second half with a 68-60 win. Carroll picked up MOP honors and the Boilers could get back to enjoying home cooking, with the Final Four in Indianapolis.

IOWA

Basketball was a dead sport in the Hawkeye State when Lute Olson took the program over in 1975. By 1979 he got Iowa into the NCAA Tournament and one year later, Lute did even better.

The Hawkeyes had a potent backcourt, with Kenny Arnold and Ronnie Lester averaging close to a combined thirty points per game. And there was a balanced and deep front court with Steve Krafclsln, Kevin Boyle, Vince Brookins and Steve Waite. Iowa got to the 5-seed line by the time the bracket was unveiled and were placed in the East Regional.

Each of the first two games followed a similar script, with Arnold leading a balanced offense. Arnold had 23 points against Virginia Commonwealth, while three other players had 17 in an 86-72 win. Then Arnold had 18 while two others had 17 in a 77-64 win over N.C. State. The Hawkeyes had taken over that second game with a 51-point explosion in the second half to reach the regionals.

Iowa was the team that didn’t belong when the East Regionals convened in Philadelphia. They were only team not seeded in the bracket’s top four and they were the Midwestern interloper among Syracuse, Georgetown and Maryland.

The Hawkeyes faced top-seeded Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Iowa got to the line repeatedly, going 30-for-39 on free throws and the front line was in control of the game. Brookins had 21 while Boyle added 18 in the 88-77 upset. To complete the run, Iowa would have to face another Big East team, as Georgetown won its D.C.-rivals grudge match against Maryland, 74-68.

Iowa fell behind by ten points at halftime, but rallied. They pulled it out 81-80 on the strength of 22 points from Brookins. Georgetown’s Sleepy Floyd went off for 31 points and that got him Outstanding Player honors.

I’m not against a player from a losing team winning this award, but Floyd did not have a great game against Maryland. Meanwhile, Brookins had been special on both nights and his team won the regional. He should have been MOP, but in either case, Iowa was going to the Final Four.

THE 1980 FINAL FOUR

Indianapolis has become a common site for the Final Four, and 1980 was the first year they city hosted college basketball’s showcase event. A tradition that would eventually go to the Hoosier Dome and Lucas Oil Stadium began here at old Market Square Arena.

Louisville played Iowa in the first game on Saturday, and Griffith simply took over. He was 14/21 for 34 points, while the Cardinals shot 60 percent as a team in an 80-72 win.

Carroll played reasonably well in the Purdue-UCLA game, with a 17/8 line. But the Boilers needed him to be great and it wasn’t enough. Vandweghe scored 24 points and the Bruins pulled out a 67-62 win.

For the fourth time in his coaching career, Crum faced the program he had once helped stock as chief recruiter. When Louisville trailed 50-45 with less than five minutes left, it looked like Denny might fall to 0-4 against UCLA and the Bruins would improbably win yet another national championship. But Griffith came to the rescue.

The Player of the Year finished the championship game with 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting and he ensured the Cardinals controlled the late stages of the game. Louisville’s defense was tough all night, holding UCLA to 47 percent shooting and the Cards won it 59-54.

It was the year that belonged to Griffith and he capped it off with being named Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four. Louisville was finally national champs.

The Road To The 1976 Final Four

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The 1976 Final Four is best remembered for when Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers capped off a perfect season with a national championship. But there were three other stories there too, from UCLA in the post-Wooden era to an upstart from the East to a conference runner-up for the first time. Here’s a look back on the teams of the 1976 Final Four–Indiana, UCLA, Rutgers and Michigan and their roads to Philadelphia.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

INDIANA

Indiana had three great players, starting with national Player of the Year Scott May, who averaged nearly 24 ppg. Kent Benson, a future #1 overall pick in the NBA draft scored 17 ppg and held down the middle. Quinn Buckner, who had a long pro career ahead of him, ran the floor.

After rolling to a second straight undefeated regular season and Big Ten title, Knight’s Hoosiers blasted St. John’s to open the 1976 NCAA Tournament, with 33 points from May keying the 90-70 rout. These were the days of just 32 teams in the field, so the victory put Indiana into the Sweet 16.

The road went to Baton Rouge for what was then called the Mideast Regional. It was a stacked bracket. The tournament was not formally seeded, with geographic considerations being paramount. The result was four of the teams in the final regular season Top 10 were all in Louisiana. That included second-ranked Marquette.

Indiana first had to deal with SEC champ Alabama, coached by Knight’s friend and future Olympic assistant C.M. Newton. The Tide gave the Hoosiers the scare of their life, leading by five points late in the game. May, who finished with 25 points/16 rebounds, hit a big jumper and Indiana was able to survive 74-69.

Marquette, coached by the legendary Al McGuire, had gotten past Western Michigan 62-57 in spite of being badly outrebounded. The regional final between the nation’s 1-2 teams was close for a half, and IU led by a point at the break. But McGuire got two technical fouls, and Benson delivered an 18 points/9 rebound effort. May kicked in 15 and the Hoosiers won 65-56.

Benson was named the regional’s Outstanding Player, something I have to take exception with. If you want to give him Player of the Game for the regional final, I get that. But May wasn’t far behind Benson in that game, and May was vastly superior in the Alabama game.

Moreover, it was May’s clutch play in the round of 16 that saved Indiana’s perfect season. If the award is really for the regional weekend as a whole, which its name implies, then Scott May should have gotten the trophy.

MICHIGAN

The idea of opening the NCAA Tournament up to multiple teams from the same conference was only two years old and Michigan became the first beneficiary, not needing to beat out Indiana in the Big Ten race.

Michigan was coached by Johnny Orr, who had won a Big Ten crown here in 1974, and had an offense that combined both explosiveness and balance. Rickey Green led the way with 20 ppg. Phil Hubbard and John Robinson controlled the interior and scored a combined 29 ppg. Wayman Britt and Steve Grote were also double-digit scorers.

The Wolverines were sent to the Midwest Regional where they barely survived Wichita State, escaping 74-73, as Green struggled to a 4-for-17 shooting game. But they were on their way to Louisville, where Notre Dame, Missouri and Texas Tech would join them.

Michigan and Notre Dame hadn’t yet renewed their football rivalry yet–that would be two years later. So this Sweet 16 game would have to do, and it was a good one. The Irish got 31 from All-American and future NBA scoring machine Adrian Dantley. But Michigan got 20 from Green, with the rest of the starting lineup all in double figures and they won 80-76.

Missouri’s Willie Smith electrified the other regional semi, dropping 30 on Texas Tech to key an 86-75 win. And Smith didn’t stop in the final, pouring in 43 points on the Wolverines. Michigan again answered with balance–Green had 23, Robinson hit 21 and Hubbard scored 20. Smith took home the region’s Outstanding Player award, but with a 95-88 win, the Wolverines took home a Final Four trip.

UCLA

Gene Bartow had the unenviable task of replacing John Wooden, who had retired after his 10th national championship in 12 years in 1975. The Bruins were carried by All-American Richard Washington and his 21 ppg, along with prolific scorer Marques Johnson, who had 17 ppg. But there wasn’t any depth in scoring to back them up. Andre McCarter was a nice floor leader, but UCLA didn’t look unstoppable as they won the Pac-8.

The geographic emphasis of the regional brackets meant that UCLA had, as they always did in the Wooden years, a distinct advantage given the weakness of basketball in the west. The Bruins got 25 from Washington and 19 from Johnson in dispatching San Diego State 74-64 to reach a regional round that would be at home for them in Los Angeles.

UCLA churned out an efficient 70-61 win over Pepperdine in the round of 16. Basketball fans were eyeing a potential changing-of-the-guard battle with third-ranked UNLV in the regional final. Jerry Tarkanian had the Rebel program on the move upward and they looked ready to challenge the Bruins.

But UNLV didn’t get that chance. An electrifying game with Arizona went to overtime and it was the Wildcats who got a 114-109 win. Six players overall scored 20-plus points and two more had 18. Herm Harris led everyone with 31.

Arizona didn’t have much left for UCLA–this was a non-conference game then, with Arizona and Arizona State not having joined up with the Pac-8 yet. Richard Washington again had an excellent game, a 22/10 line, as he locked up Outstanding Player in an 82-66 win.

RUTGERS

The historic legacy of Indiana’s 1976 season leads us to forget that Rutgers also came into the Final Four undefeated. Phil Sellers, a second-team All-American, averaged 19 ppg, as did Mike Dabney. Eddie Jordan and Hollis Copeland were each double-digit scorers.

Rutgers had to survive against Princeton in the opening round, shooting just 38 percent. Jordan saved them with 16 points and the Scarlet Knights escaped 54-53. The East regional would be in Greensboro, and it would be the softest of the four–none of VMI, DePaul or UConn were ranked among the 16 best teams in the country in the final regular season poll.

The Scarlet Knights played defense against UConn in the Sweet 16, holding the Huskies to 41 percent shooting and all five starters scoring from 14-19 points. Rutgers won 93-79, while VMI nipped DePaul in overtime by forcing Blue Demon center and future pro Dave Corzine into a 6-for-15 shooting night.

Dabney and Jordan took over the regional final, each scoring 23 points. VMI’s Will Bynum, fresh off his 34-point game against DePaul, came up with 22 more here, but he didn’t have help, while Rutgers had plenty. They won 91-75 and punched their ticket to nearby Philly, with Jordan bringing home MOP honors.

THE 1976 FINAL FOUR

Phil Sellers didn’t have a vintage NCAA Tournament and it continued in the national semifinal against Michigan. The Wolverines forced Sellers into a 5-for-13 game, and Rutgers shot 39 percent as a team. Hubbard and Robinson controlled the boards for Michigan and they won 86-70.

The showcase game was Indiana-UCLA, although “showcase” wasn’t defined quite as clearly as it is today, when CBS picks which Saturday game they want to show in the 8:47 PM ET slot. The changing-of-the-guard moment wasn’t all that dramatic–Bobby Wilkerson hauled in 19 rebounds for Indiana and they won comfortably, 65-51.

For the first time ever, we had two conference rivals playing for the national championship. The final score shows Indiana’s 86-68 win, and it might be easy to look at that, along with the perfect season and assume the result was a foregone conclusion. It wasn’t–Wilkerson went out with a concussion and Michigan led 35-29 at the half.

But the Wolverines couldn’t get Hubbard and Robinson unleashed down low, while May and Benson took over. May went for 26/8, while Benson added a 25/9 night. Buckner, not normally a scorer, popped in 16 points and grabbed eight more rebounds, and Indiana pulled away into history.

1995 UCLA Basketball Brings The Title Back To Westwood

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The UCLA Bruins hadn’t won a national championship since John Wooden retired on top following the 1975 season. The Bruins had made the Final Four a couple times in the immediate aftermath, in 1976 and again in 1980, but had otherwise been alarmingly absent from the national stage.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

The 1995 UCLA basketball team, led by Ed O’Bannon at forward and quarterbacked by point guard Tyus Edney, were determined to set the right. The Bruins kept a photo of the Seattle Kingdome—site of the 1995 Final Four—in their locker room for inspiration. They won Pac-10 title and #1 seed in the West Regional, while O’Bannon took home national Player of the Year honors.

But, as so often happens in an NCAA Tournament, UCLA looked in serious trouble in the second round. Missouri took a 74-73 lead and the Bruins had to go the length of the court in five seconds or the dream was dead. Edney took the ball, went coast-to-coast and for a layup to save the day.

The Bruins traveled upstate to Oakland for the regionals, and easily dispatched fifth-seeded Mississippi State—a program that was only a year away from making a Final Four of their own. UCLA then survived UConn and a 36-point game from Ray Allen to win the regional 102-96 and punch their ticket to Seattle.

UCLA drew Oklahoma State, a surprise winner of the East bracket as a 4-seed. The Cowboys, with center Bryant “Big Country” Reeves down low, had eliminated Wake Forest and Tim Duncan, then UMass and Marcus Camby, helping make Big Country a March Madness celebrity.

The Bruins handled the Cowboys, pulling away in the second half for a 74-61 win. Edney had 21 points and five assists. O’Bannon chipped in 15, and got a lot of help from his brother Charles, who kicked in 19 points.

All that was left between the Bruins and a return to glory was the defending national champions. The Arkansas Razorbacks, with Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman each back from the 1994 title run, weren’t dominating, but they were surviving.

Arkansas barely escaped Texas Southern in the first round, winning 79-78. It took overtime to beat Syracuse in round two, and more overtime against Memphis in the Sweet 16.  The Hogs caught a break when top-seeded Kansas was eliminated in the Sweet 16 of a regional being played at Kansas City and while Arkansas got a tough fight from Virginia, they won and got back to the Final Four.

A win over a good North Carolina team, led by soon-to-be NBA long timers in Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, made it look like back-to-back was Arkansas’ destiny.

Enter O’Bannon. The UCLA leader delivered one of the great championship game performances in NCAA Tournament history, right up with Kansas’ Danny Manning in 1988. O’Bannon scored 30 points and hauled down 17 rebounds. A big X-factor was UCLA freshman off-guard Toby Bailey, who scored 26. The Bruins pulled away in the second half, won 89-78 and were back on top of the college basketball world.