1987

The NCAA embraced the three-point field goal, drawing the firing line at 19-feet, nine inches.

Providence played “bombs away” better than most and made it all the way to the Final Four. There the Friars went cold and lost to Big East rival Syracuse while No.3 Indiana beat No.1 UNLV.

The title game was held on Oscar night and while the nominated “Hoosiers” didn't win in Hollywood, Bob Knight's Hoosiers did in New Orleans. Keith Smart hit the winning jumper (a deuce not a trey) for the 74–73 win.

		Before NCAAs	Head Coach	Final Record
1	UNLV	33–1	Jerry Tarkanian	37–2
2	North Carolina	29–3	Dean Smith	32–4
3	Indiana	24–4	Bob Knight	30–4
4	Georgetown	26–4	John Thompson	29–5
5	DePaul	26–2	Joey Meyer	28–3
6	Iowa	27–4	Tom Davis	30–5
7	Purdue	24–4	Gene Keady	25–5
8	Temple	31–3	John Chaney	32–4
9	Alabama	26–4	Wimp Sanderson	28–5
10	Syracuse	26–6	Jim Boeheim	31–7
11	Illinois	23–7	Lou Henson	23–8
12	Pittsburgh	24–7	Paul Evans	25–8
13	Clemson	25–5	Cliff Ellis	25–6
14	Missouri	24–9	Norm Stewart	24–10
15	UCLA	24–6	Walt Hazzard	25–7
16	New Orleans	25–3	Benny Dees	26–4
17	Duke	22–8	Mike Krzyzewski	24–9
18	Notre Dame	22–7	Digger Phelps	24–8
19	TCU	23–6	Jim Killingsworth	24–7
20	Kansas	23–10	Larry Brown	25–11

1. UNLV
2. North Carolina
3. Indiana
4. Georgetown
5. DePaul
6. Iowa
7. Purdue
8. Temple
9. Alabama
10. Syracuse
20. Kansas

1. UNLV
2. Indiana
3. North Carolina
4. Georgetown
5. DePaul
6. Purdue
7. Iowa
8. Temple
9. Alabama
10. Syracuse

First Round
#1 UNLV 95, #16 Idaho State 70
#9 Kansas State 82, #8 Georgia 79 (OT)
#12 Wyoming 64, #5 Virginia 60
#4 UCLA 92, #13 Central Michigan 73
#6 Oklahoma 74, #11 Tulsa 69
#3 Pittsburgh 93, #14 Marist 68
#7 Texas-El Paso 98, #10 Arizona 91 (OT)
#2 Iowa 99, #15 Santa Clara 76
#1 Indiana 92, #16 Fairfield 58
#8 Auburn 62, #9 San Diego 61
#5 Duke 58, #12 Texas A&M 51
#13 Xavier 70, #4 Missouri 69
#6 St. John's 57, #11 Wichita State 55
#3 DePaul 76, #14 Louisiana Tech 62
#10 Louisiana State 85, #7 Georgia Tech 79
#2 Temple 75, #15 Southern (La.) 56
#1 Georgetown 75, #16 Bucknell 53
#9 Ohio State 91, #8 Kentucky 77
#5 Kansas 60, #12 Houston 55
#13 Southwest Missouri State 65, #4 Clemson 60
#6 Providence 90, #11 UAB 68
#14 Austin Peay 68, #3 Illinois 67
#7 New Orleans 83, #10 Brigham Young 79
#2 Alabama 88, #15 North Carolina A&T 71
#1 North Carolina 113, #16 Penn 82
#9 Michigan 97, #8 Navy 82
#5 Notre Dame 84, #12 Middle Tennessee State 71
#4 Texas Christian 76, #13 Marshall 60
#6 Florida 82, #11 North Carolina State 70
#3 Purdue 104, #14 Northeastern 95
#10 Western Kentucky 64, #7 West Virginia 62
#2 Syracuse 79, #15 Georgia Southern 73
Second Round
UNLV 80, Kansas State 61
Wyoming 78, UCLA 68
Oklahoma 96, Pittsburgh 93
Iowa 84, Texas-El Paso 82
Indiana 107, Auburn 90
Duke 65, Xavier 60
DePaul 83, St. John's 75 (OT)
Louisiana State 72, Temple 62
Georgetown 82, Ohio State 79
Kansas 67, Southwest Missouri State 63
Providence 90, Austin Peay 87 (OT)
Alabama 101, New Orleans 76
North Carolina 109, Michigan 97
Notre Dame 58, Texas Christian 57
Florida 85, Purdue 66
Syracuse 104, Western Kentucky 86
Regional Semifinals
UNLV 92, Wyoming 78
Iowa 93, Oklahoma 91 (OT)
Louisiana State 63, DePaul 58
Indiana 88, Duke 82
Providence 103, Alabama 82
Georgetown 70, Kansas 57
Syracuse 87, Florida 81
North Carolina 74, Notre Dame 68
Regional Finals
West: UNLV 84, Iowa 81
Midwest: Indiana 77, Louisiana State 76
Southeast: Providence 88, Georgetown 73
East: Syracuse 79, North Carolina 75
National Semifinals
Syracuse 77, Providence 63
Indiana 97, UNLV 93
Championship Game
Indiana 74, Syracuse 73

Indiana leaders: Steve Alford, Sr., G; Daryl Thomas, Sr., F; Rick Calloway, So., F; Dean Garrett, Jr., C; Keith Smart, Jr., G

Leaders
Team
Offense: UNLV, 92.6
Defense : SW Missouri St., 57.6

Individual Scoring

• The three-point field goal is introduced at 19 feet, 9 inches. NCAA champion Indiana hit 50.8 percent for the season. Butler’s Darrin Fitzgerald led the nation with 158.

• Indiana became the first school to win a national title in four decades (1940, 1953, 1976, and 1987).

The shot heard 'round the nation was not credited to a specific college player or team. It was not notable for the way in which it left a shooter's hands. Nor was it made at a certain stage of a game. All that distinguished this shot was a launching site anywhere behind a line drawn 19 feet, 9 inches from the center of the basket.

The three-point field goal. For the first time since the 1890s, a field goal was worth more than two points -- if the shooter was the right distance from the basket.

This radical rule change had many sensible purposes: To unclog the inside under the basket, an area that had become packed by a growing number of zone defenses; to restore the game's traditional balance, which had been thrown out of kilter as teams grew to rely on slam-dunking big men rather than outside-shooting guards; to increase scoring, which fans enjoyed.

Noble though these intentions were, the rule was praised, cursed, cheered, jeered and hotly debated from the Great Alaska Shootout in November 1986 through the Final Four in March 1987. Virtually everyone associated with the game had an opinion on the subject.

The most common objection to the rule was the shot's length. The NBA had instituted a three-point shot, but that line was 22 feet from the center of the basket at its shortest distance.

Among the three-point shot's most outspoken critics was Indiana coach Bob Knight. Ironically, Knight coached perhaps the finest marksman in the country, senior guard Steve Alford. Nevertheless, he personalized his dislike by needling Edward Steitz, secretary and editor of the NCAA Rules Committee.

Knight identified Steitz as the "father of the three-point field goal" and equated that with being father of the Edsel. Steitz, the athletic director at Springfield College -- the same Massachusetts school where basketball was born -- didn't mind the criticism.

"I'm the one that articulates the rules," he said on the eve of the 1987 NCAA championship game. "I'm also an advocate. I don't deny that."

Early in the season, Steitz noted, the feedback from coaches, fans and the media was largely negative. But he arrived in New Orleans for the Final Four with the results of a recent survey in which 84 percent of those polled endorsed the concept, although not necessarily the distance.

"If it was up to the purists," Steitz said, "we'd still be playing with a jump ball after every basket. I played under that rule, and it was terrible."

The team that made the best use of the three-point shot in its first season was Providence. Top heavy in backcourt talent and outside shooters, the Friars were suited perfectly to the rule change.

To his full-court pressure defense, second-year coach Rick Pitino added a three-guard offense that stressed the three-pointer. Even on fast breaks, Providence looked to pull up for the jump shot, provided it was beyond the arc.

Providence averaged 8.2 three-point field goals per game, the highest figure in the nation, and in the process underwent a breathtaking transformation.

The Friars, who had finished 11-20 only two years earlier, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1978, scored stunning upsets of Alabama and Georgetown in the Southeast Regional and arrived at the Final Four with a 25-8 record.

Nevada-Las Vegas was accustomed to shooting from long range even before the advent of the three-point line. The new rule only enhanced the Rebels' appreciation for the tactic. In the course of a season in which it was ranked No. 1 in the nation and lost only once entering the tournament -- and that by a single point at Oklahoma -- UNLV averaged 7.9 three-pointers per game, second only to Providence.

Trailing Iowa by 18 points with 17:58 remaining in the West Regional final, coach Jerry Tarkanian's Rebels unleashed a barrage of mortar shots and escaped with an 84-81 victory.

The other two national semifinalists got to New Orleans the old-fashioned way -- two points at a time. With 6-foot-l0 center Rony Seikaly and 6-9 forward Derrick Coleman dominating the middle, Syracuse upset North Carolina in the East Regional final, 79-75.

And Big Ten Conference champion Indiana, which got only a pair of three-pointers from Alford, rallied from nine points down with just over four minutes left to edge Louisiana State, 77-76, in the Midwest final.

Big East Conference rivals Providence and Syracuse met for the third time in the 1987 season in the first game of the semifinal doubleheader, which was staged before an NCAA record crowd of 64,959 fans at the Superdome. The result was the same as the first two meetings -- Syracuse beat Providence -- only worse.

The teams combined for 33 turnovers and 18 steals in a sloppy affair. The Orangemen overpowered the Friars on the backboards while limiting the tournament's leading scorer, guard Billy Donovan, to eight points and won in low style, 77-63.

Of utmost significance was the fact Syracuse triumphed despite taking eight three-pointers and hitting three. Providence attempted 19 from the great beyond, making five.

If that statistic eased Knight's fears, it wasn't evident on the sidelines. Spotting Steitz before the Indiana-UNLV semifinal game, Knight told him, "I sure hope your baby doesn't kill us."

On this particular Saturday, however, the three-point field goal was a weapon of self destruction. The Rebels came out misfiring. They took 14 three-pointers in the first half, just to get loose. Then they added 21 attempts in the second half for a total of 35, which represented 42.7 percent of their total field-goal attempts.

Thirteen of the bombs were good, including 10 by guard Fred Banks, who scored a game-high 38 points. By contrast, Indiana took four such shots, making two. Indiana won, 97-93, as Alford scored 33 points.

This was a curious Hoosiers team. Alford was the only Indiana native among the starting five, a rare happenstance in a state so proud of its high school programs and basketball heritage.

Furthermore, two starters were junior college transfers, a breed of athlete Knight had begun accepting only two years earlier. They were Dean Garrett, a 6-10 center who provided Indiana with its first shot-blocker in years, and point guard Keith Smart, whose quickness and penetration contributed immensely to the team's 29-4 record entering the title game.

Smart's was a remarkable story. He had grown up in Baton Rouge, La., but not nearly as tall as his friends. As a junior in high school, he was only 5-3. He grew to 5-7 as a senior, but that season ended prematurely when he broke his wrist. Not surprisingly, few recruiters were knocking at his door.

After a year spent flipping hamburgers at a fast-food restaurant and playing locally, Smart was recommended to the coach at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, where he flourished and grew to 6-1. So after two years of junior college ball and one season at Indiana, he was back home in Louisiana.

Smart had been in the Superdome only once before, he recalled, as a member of a Boy Scout troop that served as ushers at a New Orleans Saints game.

Syracuse (31-6 before the finale) had been a pleasant surprise in the Big East after losing star Dwayne "Pearl" Washington to the pros. In Washington's absence, sophomore Sherman Douglas was a revelation at point guard and the Orangemen became a more balanced team. Seniors Howard Triche and Greg Monroe provided stability, while Coleman was a commanding shot-blocker and rebounder. And Seikaly, who had been raised in Lebanon and Greece, had made tremendous progress at center in the course of the tournament.

The biggest task faced by the Orangemen was defending Alford, who moved constantly without the ball and used the screens in Indiana's motion offense to free himself for his accurate jump shot.

"He's gotten more out of his ability offensively than anybody I've ever seen," marveled Knight, who generally reserved his praise for after a player's graduation. "He doesn't tip in shots, he doesn't post, he doesn't drive a lot. He's got 2,400 points and he's just a jump shooter.

Alford, a four-year star and two-time consensus All-American, demonstrated how he became Indiana's all-time leading scorer in the first half. He hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts, including two in the final two minutes, to lift the Hoosiers to a 34-33 halftime lead against the Orangemen.

Syracuse had tried a variety of defenses, switching from a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man to a box-and-one, with the 6-5 Triche shadowing Alford. The latter method proved effective in the second half when Alford was held scoreless after his layup tied the score at 65-65 with 4:01 left to play.

But Syracuse paid a price for such diligent work on Alford, who finished with 23 points.

"I've said all year long we're too good a team to have people just trying to contain me," Alford said.

The end of the game belonged to Smart, who scored 12 of the Hoosiers' final 15 points.

Still, Smart's heroics would not have been sufficient had the Orangemen been able to hit key free throws. With 38 seconds left and Syracuse leading, 73-70, Triche missed the back end of a one-and-one opportunity.

After Smart drove the lane for a leaning 8-foot jumper to bring the Hoosiers within one point, Coleman, the precocious freshman who had a game-high 19 rebounds, was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Indiana grabbed the uncontested rebound and had a chance to win at the end.

The Hoosiers looked to Alford for the final shot, but he was blanketed. Smart passed to burly forward Daryl Thomas, who had Coleman on his back. As Triche moved inside to double-team Thomas, the forward flipped it back to Smart, who was cutting left toward the baseline. He took the pass and shot over a lunging Triche in the same motion. The 16-foot jumper swished through the net with five seconds left, presenting Indiana with its fifth NCAA championship and Knight with his third, a total exceeded only by John Wooden (10) and Adolph Rupp (four).

"I wasn't surprised I got the ball," the exuberant Smart said. "I was surprised it went in."

The season of the three-point field goal had ended with a two-point basket and a sensational one-point victory, 74-73. But Indiana did need the three-pointer to win. The Hoosiers hit seven baskets from beyond the line, all by Alford, to just four by Syracuse. That was a net gain of three points.

"If not for the three-pointer," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said, "we'd be national champions."

Knight was amused by the irony. And he recalled a conversation with Steitz back in the spring.

"He told me," Knight related, "'We put in the rule so you could win the national championship with Steve Alford.'"

Rank	Team	W-L	Post-Season Result
1.	UNLV	37-2	Lost NCAA semifinals
2.	North Carolina	32-4	Lost NCAA regionals
3	Indiana	30-4	NCAA 1st Place
4.	Georgetown	29-5	Lost NCAA regionals
5.	DePaul	28-3	Lost NCAA regionals
6.	Iowa	30-5	Lost NCAA regionals
7.	Purdue	25-5	Lost NCAA regionals
8.	Temple	32-4	Lost NCAA regionals
9.	Alabama	28-5	Lost NCAA regionals
10.	Syracuse	31-7	NCAA 2nd Place

1. Kevin Houston	Army	32.9
2. Dennis Hopson	Ohio State	29.0
3. David Robinson	Navy	28.2
4. Terrance Bailey	Wagner	28.1
5. Hersey Hawkins	Bradley	27.2
6. Darrin Fitzgerald	Butler	26.2

1. Jerome Lane	Pittsburgh	13.5
2. Chris Dudley	Yale	13.3
3. Andrew Moore	Loyola (Chi.)	12.4

First Round	Player	College
1. San Antonio	David Robinson	Navy
2. Phoenix	Armon Gilliam	Nevada-Las Vegas
3. New Jersey	Dennis Hopson	Ohio State
4. LA Clippers	Reggie Williams	Georgetown
5. Seattle (from New York) (1)	Scottie Pippen	Central Arkansas
6. Sacramento	Kenny Smith	North Carolina
7. Cleveland	Kevin Johnson	California
8. Chicago (from Denver) (1)	Olden Polynice	Virginia
9. Seattle	Derrick McKey	Alabama
10. Chicago	Horace Grant	Clemson
11. Indiana	Reggie Miller	UCLA
12. Washington	Tyrone Bogues	Wake Forest
13. LA Clippers (from Houston)	Joe Wolf	North Carolina
14. Golden State	Tellis Frank	Western Kentucky
15. Utah	Jose Ortiz	Oregon State
16. Philadelphia	Christian Welp	Washington
17. Portland	Ronnie Murphy	Jacksonville
18. New York (from Milwaukee)	Mark Jackson	St. John's
19. LA Clippers (from Detroit)	Ken Norman	Illinois
20. Dallas	Jim Farmer	Alabama
21. Atlanta	Dallas Comegys	DePaul
22. Boston	Reggie Lewis	Northeastern
23. San Antonio (from LA Lakers)	Greg Anderson	Houston

Name	Cl.	Pos	Team
Derrick Coleman	Fr.	F	Syracuse
Armon Gilliam	Sr.	F-C	UNLV
Steve Alford	Sr.	G	Indiana
Sherman Douglas	So.	G	Syracuse
Keith Smart	Jr.	G	Indiana