1972-73

Freshmen became eligible to play varsity ball for the 1972–73 season. It was becoming a young man's game, all right. The year before, the pros had grabbed undergrads like Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Johnny Neumann and Jim Chones. The ABA's N.Y. Nets had snatched Chones from Marquette just as the unbeaten Warriors were preparing for the NCAAs (they went nowhere without him).

Now the colleges were restless to recruit youngsters. North Carolina State was so excited about landing freshman David Thompson that the NCAA put the Wolfpack on probation for using unapproved recruiting methods. With Thompson in the line-up, N.C. State went 27–0 and finished the regular season ranked No.2, but couldn't go to the NCAAs.

UCLA? The Bruins went 30–0, stretched their winning streak to a record 75 straight, won their seventh straight NCAA title in a breeze, and Bill Walton and John Wooden were everybody's Player and Coach of the Year again. Walton even became the first basketball player since Bill Bradley to win the Sullivan Award as the nation's best amateur athlete.

No.4 Providence, led by Ernie DiGregorio, became the first New England team to reach the Final Four since Holy Cross (and Bob Cousy) did it in 1948. The Friars placed fourth.  

Rules change

• Free throw on first six common fouls of a half on each team is eliminated. Freshman made eligible for varsity play.

Final AP Top 20 (Writers' poll taken before tournament). 

*North Carolina State was ineligible for NCAA tournament for improper methods used in recruiting David Thompson.
Note: UCLA won the NCAAs and unranked Virginia Tech (18–5, Don DeVoe, 22–5) won the NIT.

Consensus All-America (In alphabetical order)

First Team

·         Doug Collins, Illinois St.

·         Ernie DiGregorio, Providence

·         Dwight Lamar, Southwestern Louisiana

·         Ed Ratleff, Long Beach St.

·         David Thompson, North Carolina St.

·         Bill Walton, UCLA

·         Keith Wilkes, UCLA

Second Team

·         Jim Brewer, Minnesota

·         Tom Burleson, N.C. State

·         Larry Finch, Memphis St.

·         Kevin Joyce, South Carolina

·         Tom McMillen, Maryland

AP POLL

1. UCLA
2. N.C. State
3. Long Beach State
4. Providence
5. Marquette
6. Indiana
7. SW Louisiana
8. Maryland
9. Kansas State
10. Minnesota

UPI COACHES POLL

1. UCLA
2. N.C. State
3. Long Beach State
4. Marquette
5. Providence
6. Indiana
7. Kansas State
8. SW Louisiana
9. Minnesota
10. Maryland

NCAA Results

South Carolina 78, Texas Tech 70
Southwestern Louisiana 102, Houston 89
Syracuse 83, Furman 82
Penn 62, St. John's 61
Providence 89, St. Joseph's 76
Marquette 77, Miami (Ohio) 62
Austin Peay 77, Jacksonville 75
Long Beach State 88, Weber State 75
Arizona State 103, Oklahoma City 78
Regional Semifinals
Memphis State 90, South Carolina 76
Kansas State 66, Southwestern La. 63
Maryland 91, Syracuse 75
Providence 87, Penn 65
Indiana 75, Marquette 69
Kentucky 106, Austin Peay 100 (ot)
San Francisco 77, Long Beach State 67
UCLA 98, Arizona State 81
Regional Third Place
Midwest: South Carolina 90, Southwestern La. 85
East: Syracuse 69, Penn 68
Mideast: Marquette 88, Austin Peay 73
West: Long Beach State 84, Arizona State 80
Regional Finals
Midwest: Memphis State 92, Kansas State 72
East: Providence 103, Maryland 89
Mideast: Indiana 72, Kentucky 65
West: UCLA 54, San Francisco 39
National Semifinals
Memphis State 98, Providence 85
UCLA 70, Indiana 59
National Third Place
Indiana 97, Providence 79
Championship Game
UCLA 87, Memphis State 66

UCLA leaders: Bill Walton, Jr., C; Keith Wilkes, Jr., F; Larry Farmer, Sr., F; Larry Hollyfield, Sr. G; Tommy Curtis, Jr. G

All-NCAA Tournament Team

Top 10

All-America Team

Leaders
Team
Offense: Oral Roberts, 97.3
Defense: Texas-El Paso, 56.2

Individual Scoring

Rebounding

  Notes

• Virginia Tech (22-5) defeated Notre Dame for the NIT title.

• Bill Walton scored 44 points on record 21 of 22 shooting in NCAA final vs. Memphis State.  

1973 Jan 27 UCLA's college basketball team wins 61st consecutive game (NCAA record).  

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

1973
*Harry A. Fisher, Contributor
*Maurice Podoloff, Contributor
*Ernest J. Schmidt, Player

Many who considered the UCLA teams built around Lew Alcindor to be the most formidable in college basketball history suddenly were having second thoughts. The reason was another UCLA aggregation that revolved around another consensus All-America center, Bill Walton.

This team appeared unbeatable -- and had the record to prove it.

The mark for consecutive victories had been established by San Francisco, beginning in the Bill Russell era and continuing five games into the first season after his departure. The Dons had won 60 games in succession and no team since, not even Alcindor's Bruins, seriously had threatened it. Until now.

This UCLA team would get the opportunity to equal and perhaps surpass the record at midseason on the road against two noteworthy opponents. First up was Loyola of Chicago, which had hosted San Francisco when the Dons won their 60th consecutive game in 1956. Two days later, UCLA was scheduled to play Notre Dame, the last team to beat the Bruins two years earlier at South Bend, Ind.

Without a struggle, UCLA tied the record by beating Loyola, 87-73, and increased it to 61 by routing Notre Dame, 82-63. The streak continued as the Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which a team coached by John Wooden had won the previous six years. No one, Wooden included, expressed reservations about a seventh consecutive title.

"There are two leagues in college basketball," New Mexico coach Norm Ellenberger noted as the quartet of national finalists gathered in St. Louis, "and one contains only UCLA."

Dave Gavitt, whose Providence team qualified for the Final Four by winning the East Regional, recalled receiving a number of letters before the Friars met the Bruins in the regular season.

"One letter listed 22 different things a rival coach should know about UCLA," said Gavitt, whose team suffered a 101-77 thrashing in becoming the Bruins' 59th consecutive victim, "and all of them were terrifying."

To the credit of Indiana, UCLA's semifinal opponent at the St. Louis Arena, it was not terrified. The Hoosiers, who won the Mideast Regional in only their second season under coach Bob Knight, even had the effrontery to take an 18-13 lead in the early minutes.

It was just the sort of slap in the face the Bruins needed.

Between that moment and the end of the first half, UCLA outscored Indiana, 27-4, including a run of 18 unanswered points. The Bruins eventually pushed the lead to 46-24 and then 54-34 before suddenly losing inspiration in the second half.

"It takes some of the intensity out of the game when you're up by 20 points," senior guard Larry Hollyfield said. "They made a run at us and caught us napping."

Indeed, the Hoosiers scored 17 consecutive points, awakening UCLA and the crowd in the process. Wooden was concerned enough to rush Walton back into the game after he had rested him with four personal fouls for two minutes. Starting forwards Keith Wilkes (a consensus All-American) and Larry Farmer also were in foul trouble, and the Bruins needed to assert themselves in the frontcourt.

Walton did just that. He drew a fourth foul on Indiana star Steve Downing and, shortly thereafter, a fifth. Though the Hoosiers edged within 57-55 with 5:51 left, the Bruins sped away in the final minutes for a 70-59 victory.

"Part of it was Walton," Indiana forward John Fitter said, "and part of it was that we had come back so far, so fast that we just exhausted ourselves."

In the other semifinal, it appeared Providence was about to earn itself a rematch against UCLA when the Friars were victimized by a costly injury. With consensus All-America point guard Ernie DiGregorio popping long jump shots and throwing dazzling passes from all angles, Providence raced to a 24-16 lead over Memphis State, the Midwest Regional winner. But then Marvin Barnes, the Friars' 6-8 center, went up for a rebound and took his team's hopes with him to the floor.

Barnes had to leave the game with a dislocated right kneecap, surrendering the backboards to Memphis State's outstanding frontcourt tandem of Larry Kenon and Ronnie Robinson. Still, the Friars hung on. Spurred by DiGregorio, forward Fran Costello and guard Kevin Stacom, they took a 49-40 advantage into the second half and, after being overtaken at 57-55, opened a 69-62 lead midway through the final period.

In time, however, the smaller team was worn down.

DiGregorio's shooting touch deserted him and the Tigers forged ahead a second time. With his team trailing, 80-75, Barnes got the permission of the team doctor to play and all but begged Gavitt for one more chance. He returned to the game with 5:51 left and Providence cut the deficit to 85-84 before yielding, 98-85.

"We did it in the second half when it counted," said Larry Finch, the Memphis State guard whose 21 points complemented the 24 by Robinson and 28 by Kenon. "Everybody keeps asking me how much losing Barnes meant to Providence. All I know is that we don't think that way.

"We were down with him in there and without him in there, and we came back playing the basketball we've played all year."

Still, the overpowering impression of the afternoon was expressed by DiGregorio.

"With Marvin, we win," said DiGregorio, the game's high scorer with 32 points. "It's as simple as that."

Oddly enough, the Friars wouldn't even have been playing Memphis State if not for a change in tournament format that year. Ever since the first tournament in 1939, the final had paired an East team against one from the West. But in 1973, the NCAA began a system of rotating regional matchups in the Final Four.

The alignment in the first season under the system pitted East vs. Midwest in one semifinal pairing of regional champs and Mideast vs. West in the other. As a result, Providence played Memphis State in the semifinals rather than the Mideast winner (in this case, Indiana), which previously had met the East champion for the right to advance to the championship game.

All of this probably was irrelevant in 1973 because any team hoping to win the national title ultimately would have to answer to UCLA. The Bruins might not have been overwhelming against Indiana, but they were the class of college basketball.

"That's an awesome team," Indiana's John Ritter said. "You know the Yankees were awesome like that a few years back. Even if we'd beaten them, they'd still be the best."

The Bruins had one more game in which to prove they were the best in 1973, if not the best of all time, and they made the most of it. Before 19,301, they walloped an outstanding Memphis State team, thanks in large measure to the greatest individual performance in championship-game history.

Walton dominated the game from start to finish.

Walton made 21 of his 22 field-goal attempts and added two free throws for 44 points, a championship-game record. He also had 13 rebounds in UCLA's 87-66 triumph.

"That was the best performance I've ever seen," Tigers coach Gene Bartow said. "Ever."

Memphis State was able to draw close and remain competitive only when Walton was in foul trouble. His first 22 points led the Bruins to a 37-30 lead after 15:30. A few seconds later he drew his third personal foul and took a seat on the bench. The Tigers took the opportunity to create a 39-39 halftime tie. Thirty of Memphis State's 39 points were credited to Finch and Kenon.

The Tigers edged in front, 41-39, at the start of the second half, but that represented their final lead. Walton scored three consecutive baskets, two on lob passes from guard Greg Lee, and UCLA built a 57-47 advantage. Even when Walton committed his fourth foul and backed off slightly with the Tigers down 61-55, Memphis State could not catch up.

The Bruins pushed the lead to 73-62 and went to their delay game with 5:42 remaining. Even though Walton was forced to the sidelines with a sprained ankle three minutes later, Memphis State was helpless to prevent UCLA's 75th consecutive victory and its seventh NCAA title in succession.

Despite the fact he had enjoyed an extraordinary game in the national spotlight, Walton declined interviews. Beset by questions about lucrative professional offers and his involvement in peace protests on the UCLA campus, the junior wanted only to be left alone. With the season officially over, he decided he had to answer to no one.

"I'm not talking because the season is over," Walton told one reporter. "You don't see me frowning. You see how I'm happy we won and that it's over. But it's just that I'm no longer No. 32 on the basketball court. I can be Joe Walton now if I want to be.

"And I'm not talking because I don't want to."

What he had demonstrated on the court, of course, was enough to ensure him a prominent place in history. It even moved Wooden, a man of modest words, to conclude what many had suspected, "I'd have to say this is my best team ever," the coach said.