1983-84

Led by Player of the Year Michael Jordan, North Carolina (27–2) entered the NCAA tournament as the Number One team in the country. But any thought of bringing the national championship back to Chapel Hill after loaning it to Raleigh for a year died in the semifinals of the East Regional. That's where unranked Indiana upset the Tar Heels, 72–68.

Indiana fell to unranked and Ralph Sampson-less (he was in the NBA now) Virginia in the East final. The Cavaliers joined No.2 Georgetown, No.3 Kentucky and No.6 Houston in Seattle for the Final Four.

Georgetown and Houston, the losing teams in the last two NCAA title games, met for the title and the Hoyas, led by tourney MVP Patrick Ewing, beat the Cougars and last year's MVP Akeem Olajuwon, 84–75.

Jordan, meanwhile, left Carolina and declared for the NBA Draft with a year of eligibliity remaining but no collegiate worlds left to conquer. He was the third player chosen in the first round, behind the 7-0 Olajuwon (by Houston) and 7-1 Kentucky center Sam Bowie (by Portland). Jordan was taken by the Chicago Bulls and was Rookie of the Year in 1985.

Finally, the NIT had a great football match-up for its 47th championship game, as Michigan beat Notre Dame, 83–63.

Final AP Top 20

Writers' poll taken before tournament.

Note: Georgetown won the NCAAs.

Consensus All-America    (In alphabetical order)

First Team

·         Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

·         Michael Jordan, North Carolina

·         Akeem Olajuwon, Houston

·         Sam Perkins, North Carolina

·         Wayman Tisdale, Oklahoma

Second Team

·         Michael Cage, San Diego St.

·         Devin Durrant, BYU

·         Keith Lee, Memphis St.

·         Chris Mullin, St. John's

·         Mel Turpin, Kentucky

AP POLL

1. North Carolina
2. Georgetown
3. Kentucky
4. DePaul
5. Houston
6. Illinois
7. Oklahoma
8. Arkansas
9. UTEP
10. Purdue

UPI COACHES POLL

1. North Carolina
2. Georgetown
3. Kentucky
4. DePaul
5. Houston
6. Illinois
7. Arkansas
8. Oklahoma
9. UTEP
10. Maryland

NCAA Results

First Round
Preliminary Round
Princeton 65, San Diego 56
Richmond 89, Rider 65
Northeastern 90, LIU-Brooklyn 87
Morehead State 70, North Carolina A&T 69
Alcorn State 79, Houston Baptist 60
First Round
BYU 84, UAB 68
Louisville 72, Morehead State 59
West Virginia 64, Oregon State 62
Villanova 84, Marshall 72
SMU 83, Miami (Ohio) 69
UNLV 68, Princeton 56
Washington 64, Nevada-Reno 54
Dayton 74, LSU 66
Temple 65, St. John's 63
Richmond 72, Auburn 71
VCU 70, Northeastern 69
Virginia 58, Iona 57
Illinois State 49, Alabama 48
Kansas 57, Alcorn State 56
Memphis State 92, Oral Roberts 83
Louisiana Tech 66, Fresno State 56
Second Round
Kentucky 93, BYU 68
Louisville 69, Tulsa 67
Maryland 102, West Virginia 77
Illinois 64, Villanova 56
Georgetown 37, SMU 36
UNLV 73, UTEP 60
Washington 80, Duke 78
Dayton 89, Oklahoma 85
North Carolina 77, Temple 66
Indiana 75, Richmond 67
Syracuse 78, VCU 63
Virginia 53, Arkansas 51 (OT)
DePaul 75, Illinois State 61
Wake Forest 69, Kansas 59
Memphis State 66, Purdue 48
Houston 77, Louisiana Tech 69
Regional Semifinals
Kentucky 72, Louisville 67
Illinois 72, Maryland 70
Georgetown 62, UNLV 48
Dayton 64, Washington 58
Indiana 72, North Carolina 68
Virginia 63, Syracuse 55
Wake Forest 73, DePaul 71 (OT)
Houston 78, Memphis State 71
Regional Finals
Georgetown 61, Dayton 49
Kentucky 54, Illionis 51
Virginia 50, Indiana 48
Houston 68, Wake Forest 63
National Semifinals
Georgetown 53, Kentucky 40
Houston 49, Virginia 47 (OT)
Championship Game
Georgetown 84, Houston 75

Georgetown leaders: Patrick Ewing, 16.4 ppg; David Wingate, 11.2; Michael Jackson, 10.1; Reggie Williams, 9.1; Bill Martin, 8.9.

All-NCAA Tournament Team

Top 10

All-America Team

Leaders
Team
Offense: Tulsa, 90.8
Defense: Princeton, 50.1

Individual Scoring

Rebounding

Notes

• Michigan def. Notre Dame, 83-63, for the NIT title.

• Oklahoma's Wayman Tisdale had the nation's high scoring game, getting 61 vs. Texas-San Antonio.

• Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon blocked 16 shots vs. Arkansas.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

1984
*Senda Berenson Abbott, Contributor
*W. Harold Anderson, Coach
Alfred N. Cervi, Player
Marv K. Harshman, Coach
*Bertha F. Teague, Contributor
Nate Thurmond, Player
*L. Margaret Wade, Coach

Hoyas win 'big' battle

When Patrick Ewing and Akeem Olajuwon walked to the center circle for the opening tip of the 1984 NCAA championship game, the situation was familiar even if the opponent was not.

The two most celebrated big men in college basketball were meeting in competition for the first time, but neither was a stranger to the season finale.

Two years earlier, when he was named the Big East Conference's Rookie of the Year, Ewing and his Georgetown team had fallen one point short of North Carolina in a thrilling game. A year later, Houston had been upset by North Carolina State at the buzzer despite a dominating performance by Olajuwon, then a sophomore.

Now the two 7-foot consensus All-Americans were in Seattle's Kingdome to redress the wrongs, to claim the championships that had been denied them.

They had much in common, including a foreign ancestry, a late introduction to the sport and an assertive court presence that was particularly notable on defense.

Ewing was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and his involvement with basketball didn't begin until after he moved with his parents to Cambridge, Mass., at the age of 11.

Olajuwon's progress had been even more remarkable. He was a native of Lagos, Nigeria, who hadn't played an organized game until he was 16 and who basically recruited himself for Houston.

Although both players had displayed offensive skills in the course of successful junior seasons, they were at their intimidating best protecting their own baskets.

"They do the same things," Houston coach Guy Lewis said. "They're close to the same size. They're both good defensive players, rebounders and shot-blockers, and they both cause opposing players to shoot seven or eight percentage points less."

Statistics proved as much. Georgetown had held its opponents to 39 percent field-goal shooting, the lowest mark in the nation, while winning 33 of its first 36 games. With Olajuwon in front of the basket, Houston (32-4 entering the championship game) was not far behind at 42 percent.

"Patrick and Akeem are the two primary figures," Georgetown coach John Thompson said, "but it won't be just a one-on-one matchup. If you look at team defense, we'd lose a lot of games if Patrick guarded just one person.

"Those kids are great because they help out a lot of people."

That help was evident in the semifinals. First, Houston held Virginia to a .389 field-goal percentage and defeated the surprising Cavaliers, 49-47, as Olajuwon rose to deflect guard Othell Wilson's driving pass in the lane with two seconds left in overtime.

Georgetown was even more efficient and frightening on defense as the Hoyas overcame a seven-point halftime deficit by harassing Kentucky into shooting a dismal 9.1 percent in the second half en route to a 53-40 victory.

The latter exhibition stunned the 38,471 fans, not to mention the confident Kentucky players. The Wildcats had arrived at the Final Four with a stellar front line of 6-8 Kenny Walker, 7-1 Sam Bowie and 6-11 Melvin Turpin, a record of 29-4, realistic expectations of a second title in seven years and a healthy .522 shooting percentage.

But after hitting half its field-goal attempts in assuming a 29-22 halftime lead over Georgetown, Kentucky wilted under the application of perhaps the greatest defensive pressure in NCAA Tournament history.

Consider that not a single Kentucky starter made a field goal in the second half. The Wildcats missed their first 11 shots after halftime, made 1-of-22 while the outcome was being decided and finished with 3-of-33 in the half.

"They took away our inside game," Kentucky point guard Dicky Beal said. "They disguised their defenses well. We'd look for one and they'd switch into another."

With Turpin, Bowie and Walker drifting farther and farther from the basket to avoid Ewing and 6-9 forward Michael Graham, the Wildcats' offense was reduced to perimeter shots.

Soon it was reduced to tears.

"Never have we shot or have I seen a team shoot as bad as we did in the second half," Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall said. "I can't explain it."

Kentucky preferred to blame itself for its shooting woes rather than credit the Georgetown defense. Even Thompson wasn't sure which came first, the wall or the bricks.

"I don't think our defense can take credit for all of that," he said. "I've never seen a team go that cold."

Still, it was evident that defense boosted the Hoyas into the championship game. Ewing, hampered by foul trouble, scored only eight points on six shots. And Georgetown missed the front end of four consecutive one-and-one situations late in the game.

Olajuwon also was quiet on offense, taking just five shots and scoring 12 points in Houston's overtime struggle. The Cougars scored their fewest points of the season against Virginia, and Georgetown's output against Kentucky was its second lowest.

Because these were defensive giants working within a team framework, the individual matchup didn't produce the anticipation surrounding the duels between Houston's Elvin Hayes and UCLA's Lew Alcindor. Hayes and Alcindor were great offensive forces.

"This game doesn't have that feel about it at all," said Lewis, the Cougars' coach even before Hayes arrived in 1964. "It's not the same."

And while Olajuwon expressed an eagerness to test himself against Ewing, the Georgetown pivotman denied there was any significance to the identity of his opponent.

"It's not Olajuwon against Ewing," he said. "It's Houston against Georgetown."

And so it was. The personal confrontation did not go much beyond the jump ball to start the game. Unlike the semifinal games, the championship game was decided by offense and the supporting casts. Georgetown had more of both.

Starting with an 18-foot baseline shot by guard Reid Gettys and three consecutive jumpers by forward Michael Young, Houston connected on its first seven field-goal attempts to take a 14-6 lead.

Georgetown then pulled into a 14-14 tie by running off the next eight points. At that stage, Thompson switched the Hoyas into an aggressive man-to-man defense, giving the assignment of Olajuwon to Graham, a freshman who played with a shaved head and a fierce scowl.

After Georgetown had opened a 28-22 lead with the help of three Ewing baskets, the coach removed his center, who had two personal fouls, and ordered his team into a spread offense.

The Hoyas weren't stalling. In fact, they went repeatedly to the basket and widened the gap to 40-30 at halftime as Ewing sat on the bench.

It proved to be a wise decision. Without the benefit of relief, Olajuwon picked up his third foul with 42 seconds left in the half. The problem was compounded 23 seconds into the second half when the Houston star was charged with his fourth personal.

Lewis buried his face in his familiar red-and-white polka-dot towel, then benched the center less than two minutes later with his team trailing, 44-34.

But just when it appeared Georgetown was about to pull away, Alvin Franklin took control of the game. The sophomore guard scored 14 of Houston's next 20 points with an assortment of jump shots, hang-gliding moves down the lane and free throws, rallying the Cougars within three points, 57-54, midway through the half. Franklin finished with a game-high 21 points.

Still, it was not enough.

Georgetown had the better reinforcements. Graham and another freshman, 6-7 Reggie Williams, who had been the nation's outstanding high-school player the previous year, combined for 11 of the team's 15 field goals in the second half and the Hoyas prevailed, 84-75.

The muscular Graham scored 14 points and the slender Williams led Georgetown with 19. Sophomore David Wingate added 16 points.

It was little consolation to Olajuwon that he had played Ewing to a standstill on the backboards (both centers had nine rebounds) and outscored his rival, 15-10. At the end, he wept in frustration for the second consecutive year.

Perhaps the happiest Hoya was senior guard Fred Brown, who had made the ill-fated pass in the final seconds of Georgetown's loss to North Carolina two years earlier. He had persevered, and in the final game of his collegiate career, Brown had become a champion.

"I'm just in a very good mood right now," Brown said.

When the last second ticked off the scoreboard, Thompson, who had been quick to console Brown after his 1982 blunder, sought out the senior to hug first. He then faced the media spotlight, at which time a thin smile creased his lips.

"I've had an obsession with winning the national championship -- so much so that I'd wake up in the middle of the night saying 'national championship,'" the coach said. "Now I've got the monkey off my back."