1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Teams	52
Finals site	The Pit Albuquerque, New Mexico
Champions	NC State (2nd title, 2nd title game, 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	Houston (1st title game, 4th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Georgia (1st Final Four) Louisville (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim Valvano (1st title)
MOP	Akeem Olajuwon Houston
Attendance	364,356
Top scorer	Dereck Whittenburg NC State (120 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1982 1984»

The 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 52 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 2, 1983, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at The Pit, then officially known as University Arena, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.^[1] A total of 51 games were played.

North Carolina State, coached by Jim Valvano, won the national title with a 54–52 victory in the final game over Houston, coached by Guy Lewis. The ending of the final is one of the most famous in college basketball history, with a buzzer-beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles, off an air ball from 30 feet out by Dereck Whittenburg.

Both Charles's dunk and Valvano's running around the court in celebration immediately after the game have been staples of NCAA tournament coverage ever since. North Carolina State's victory has often been considered one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history, and is the fourth biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history.

Akeem Olajuwon of Houston (who later changed his name to Hakeem) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, becoming the last player to date to earn this award while playing for a team that failed to win the national title.

National championship game

In the final game, played in Albuquerque, New Mexico, NC State led at halftime by a score of 33-25. Houston was hampered by foul trouble that plagued star Clyde Drexler, who picked up four first half fouls. The last of these was a questionable offensive foul; the officials ruled that Drexler had run into sophomore guard Terry Gannon, but television replays seemed to show that Gannon had initiated the contact and that he grabbed Drexler's legs as he fell to the court. In the second half, the Cougars came out with a second wind and established control of the game, eventually taking a seven-point lead.

However, things were not all good for Houston. Since the game was played in Albuquerque, players had to deal with the city's mile-high altitude. The Cougars' star center, Akeem Olajuwon, had problems adjusting to the environment and tired quickly, needing to check out of the game multiple times so he could put on an oxygen mask and recover. With Olajuwon on the bench, Houston head coach Guy Lewis decided that in order to protect the lead and the health of his big man at the same time, the Cougars needed to start slowing the game down.

Once again, this enabled the Wolfpack to return to their standby strategy of extending the game. Houston's free throw shooting was very suspect entering the game, which worked greatly in NC State's favor as they were able to rally back and even the score at 52 in the final two minutes. On what would be the last Houston possession, Valvano called for his players to back off and let freshman guard Alvin Franklin bring the ball up the court. The Wolfpack defenders would let the Cougars employ their slowdown strategy of passing it around. Once the ball got back to Franklin, whenever that happened, he was to be fouled immediately. With 1:05 left, the freshman was fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one. The idea to foul Franklin sprung from the enormity of the moment; NC State believed that the relatively inexperienced Franklin could not withstand the pressure of going to the line with the championship at stake and knowing that fifty million viewers were tuned in to watch the game. The theory proved correct as Franklin failed to convert and the Wolfpack grabbed the rebound. Valvano called timeout with 44 seconds left and drew up a play for senior guard Dereck Whittenburg during the timeout, which called for the team to pass him the ball with ten seconds left on the clock so he could take the final shot.

Houston needed a defensive stop so they could get another chance to close out the game. Lewis decided to move from the man-to-man defense his team had been running the whole game to a half court zone trap defense. The Wolfpack, who were not expecting the defensive adjustment, were forced to deviate and began passing the ball around just to keep the Cougars from stealing it. Houston nearly got the turnover it was looking for when Whittenburg made an errant pass to Gannon that Drexler nearly came away with before the sophomore regained control of the ball. The ball eventually wound up in the hands of guard Sidney Lowe, who gave it to forward and fellow senior Thurl Bailey in the corner.

Trying to keep the ball moving, as he had been double teamed as soon as he received the pass, Bailey looked back toward Whittenburg, who was approximately thirty feet away from the hoop near midcourt. Bailey threw what Whittenburg would later call a "poor fundamental" overhanded pass which Houston's Benny Anders, guarding Whittenburg on the play, was in position to steal. At this point, Whittenburg harkened back to his high school days with Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School, where he was taught to catch the basketball with both hands every time he possessed it. By doing this, he was able to defend against Anders trying to steal the ball, as he only went for it with one hand. If Whittenburg had not done that, Anders would have had an uncontested breakaway toward the other end and would likely have gotten the winning score; at the time, college basketball games were played with a running clock from beginning to end (this is no longer the case) and the Wolfpack would likely not have had enough time to even inbound the ball. As it was, though, Anders merely knocked the ball out of Whittenburg's hands momentarily and the senior guard easily regained control.

The clock, meanwhile, had ticked down to five seconds and Whittenburg was still standing a significant distance from the goal, Once he regained control, Whittenburg turned and launched a desperation shot to try and win the game for NC State. The shot's trajectory took it to the front of the basket where Olajuwon was covering Wolfpack center Lorenzo Charles. As he watched the shot, Olajuwon said he knew the shot was going to come up short but he also did not want to go for the ball too early because of the potential for goaltending. Charles took advantage of the indecision by Olajuwon and went up for the air ball, then in one motion scored the go-ahead points with a two-handed tip-in dunk. The final two seconds ticked off the clock before Houston could inbound the ball, and with that the game ended and the Wolfpack were the national champions.

Locations

Dayton

Philadelphia

Greensboro

Evansville

Corvallis

Boise

Hartford

Houston

Louisville

Tampa

1983 sites for play-in (orange) and first and second (green) rounds

Syracuse

Knoxville

Kansas City

Ogden

Albuquerque

1983 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First and second rounds

• Boise, Idaho (BSU Pavilion)
• Corvallis, Oregon (Gill Coliseum)
• Dayton, Ohio (University of Dayton Arena)
• Evansville, Indiana (Roberts Municipal Stadium)
• Greensboro, North Carolina (Greensboro Coliseum)
• Hartford, Connecticut (Hartford Civic Center)
• Houston, Texas (The Summit)
• Louisville, Kentucky (Freedom Hall)
• Philadelphia (The Spectrum)
• Tampa, Florida (USF Sun Dome)

Regionals

Region	Site
East	Syracuse, New York (Carrier Dome)
Mideast	Knoxville, Tennessee (Stokely Athletic Center)
Midwest	Kansas City, Missouri (Kemper Arena)
West	Ogden, Utah (Dee Events Center)

Final Four

• Albuquerque, New Mexico (The Pit)

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Sweet Sixteen	4 Georgia	L 70–67
East	2	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Regional Runner-up	4 Georgia	L 82–77
East	3	Ohio State	Eldon Miller	Sweet Sixteen	2 North Carolina	L 64–51
East	4	Georgia	Hugh Durham	Final Four	6 North Carolina State	L 67–60
East	5	VCU	J.D. Barnett	Second Round	4 Georgia	L 56–54
East	6	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Second Round	3 Ohio State	L 79–74
East	7	West Virginia	Gale Catlett	First Round	10 James Madison	L 57–50
East	8	Southwestern Louisiana	Bobby Paschal	First Round	9 Rutgers	L 60–53
East	9	Rutgers	Tom Young	Second Round	1 St. John's	L 66–55
East	10	James Madison	Lou Campanelli	Second Round	2 North Carolina	L 68–49
East	11	Morehead State	Wayne Martin	First Round	6 Syracuse	L 74–59
East	12	Boston University	Rick Pitino	Preliminary Round	12 La Salle	L 70–58
East	12	La Salle	Lefty Ervin	First Round	5 Virginia Commonwealth	L 76–67
Mideast
Mideast	1	Louisville	Denny Crum	Final Four	1 Houston	L 94–81
Mideast	2	Indiana	Bob Knight	Sweet Sixteen	3 Kentucky	L 64–59
Mideast	3	Kentucky	Joe B. Hall	Regional Runner-up	1 Louisville	L 80–68
Mideast	4	Arkansas	Eddie Sutton	Sweet Sixteen	1 Louisville	L 65–63
Mideast	5	Purdue	Gene Keady	Second Round	4 Arkansas	L 78–68
Mideast	6	Illinois State	Bob Donewald	First Round	11 Ohio	L 51–49
Mideast	7	Oklahoma	Billy Tubbs	Second Round	2 Indiana	L 63–49
Mideast	8	Tennessee	Don DeVoe	Second Round	1 Louisville	L 70–57
Mideast	9	Marquette	Hank Raymonds	First Round	8 Tennessee	L 57-56
Mideast	10	UAB	Gene Bartow	First Round	7 Oklahoma	L 71–63
Mideast	11	Ohio	Danny Nee	Second Round	3 Kentucky	L 57–40
Mideast	12	Georgia Southern	Frank Kerns	Preliminary Round	12 Robert Morris	L 64–54
Mideast	12	Robert Morris	Matt Furjanic	First Round	5 Purdue	L 55–53
Midwest
Midwest	1	Houston	Guy Lewis	Runner Up	6 North Carolina State	L 54–52
Midwest	2	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Second Round	7 Iowa	L 77–63
Midwest	3	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Regional Runner-up	1 Houston	L 89–71
Midwest	4	Memphis State (Vacated)	Dana Kirk	Sweet Sixteen	1 Houston	L 70–63
Midwest	5	Georgetown	John Thompson	Second Round	4 Memphis State	L 66–57
Midwest	6	Alabama	Wimp Sanderson	First Round	11 Lamar	L 73–50
Midwest	7	Iowa	Lute Olson	Sweet Sixteen	3 Villanova	L 55–54
Midwest	8	Maryland	Lefty Driesell	Second Round	1 Houston	L 60–50
Midwest	9	Chattanooga	Murray Arnold	First Round	8 Maryland	L 52–51
Midwest	10	Utah State	Rod Tueller	First Round	7 Iowa	L 64–59
Midwest	11	Lamar	Pat Foster	Second Round	3 Villanova	L 60–58
Midwest	12	Alcorn State	Davey Whitney	First Round	5 Georgetown	L 68–63
Midwest	12	Xavier	Bob Staak	Preliminary Round	12 Alcorn State	L 81–75
West
West	1	Virginia	Terry Holland	Regional Runner-up	6 North Carolina State	L 63–62
West	2	UCLA	Larry Farmer	Second Round	10 Utah	L 67–61
West	3	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	Second Round	6 North Carolina State	L 71–70
West	4	Boston College	Gary Williams	Sweet Sixteen	1 Virginia	L 95–92
West	5	Oklahoma State	Paul Hansen	First Round	12 Princeton	L 56–53
West	6	North Carolina State	Jim Valvano	Champion	1 Houston	W 54–52
West	7	Illinois	Lou Henson	First Round	10 Utah	L 52–49
West	8	Washington State	George Raveling	Second Round	1 Virginia	L 54–49
West	9	Weber State	Neil McCarthy	First Round	8 Washington State	L 62–52
West	10	Utah	Jerry Pimm	Sweet Sixteen	6 North Carolina State	L 75–56
West	11	Pepperdine	Jim Harrick	First Round	6 North Carolina State	L 69–67
West	12	North Carolina A&T	Don Corbett	Preliminary Round	12 Princeton	L 53–41
West	12	Princeton	Pete Carril	Second Round	4 Boston College	L 51–42

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

Preliminary round

	East #12 Seed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	12	La Salle	70
	12	Boston University	58

	Mideast #12 Seed Dayton, Ohio
	12	Robert Morris	64
	12	Georgia Southern	54

	Midwest #12 Seed Dayton, Ohio
	12	Alcorn State	81
	12	Xavier	75

	West #12 Seed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	12	Princeton	51
	12	North Carolina A&T	42

East region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Southwest Louisiana	53
	9	Rutgers	60
						9	Rutgers	55
						1	St. John's	66
											1	St. John's	67
										4	Georgia	70
						4	Georgia	56
						5	VCU	54
	5	VCU	76
	12	La Salle	67
																4	Georgia	82
																2	North Carolina	77
	6	Syracuse	74
	11	Morehead State	59
						6	Syracuse	74
						3	Ohio State	79
											3	Ohio State	51
										2	North Carolina	64
						2	North Carolina	68
						10	James Madison	49
	7	West Virginia	50
	10	James Madison	57

West region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Washington State	62
	9	Weber State	52
						8	Washington State	49
						1	Virginia	54
											1	Virginia	95
										4	Boston College	92
						4	Boston College	51
						12	Princeton	42
	5	Oklahoma State	53
	12	Princeton	56
																1	Virginia	62
																6	N.C. State	63
	6	N.C. State	69
	11	Pepperdine	67
						6	N.C. State	71
						3	UNLV	70
											6	N.C. State	75
										10	Utah	56
						2	UCLA	61
						10	Utah	67
	7	Illinois	49
	10	Utah	52

Mideast region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Tennessee	57
	9	Marquette	56
						8	Tennessee	57
						1	Louisville	70
											1	Louisville	65
										4	Arkansas	63
						4	Arkansas	78
						5	Purdue	68
	5	Purdue	55
	12	Robert Morris	53
																1	Louisville	80*
																3	Kentucky	68
	6	Illinois State	49
	11	Ohio	51
						11	Ohio	40
						3	Kentucky	57
											3	Kentucky	64
										2	Indiana	59
						2	Indiana	63
						7	Oklahoma	49
	7	Oklahoma	71
	10	UAB	63

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Maryland	52
	9	Tennessee-Chattanooga	51
						8	Maryland	50
						1	Houston	60
											1	Houston	70
										4	Memphis State	63
						4	Memphis State	66
						5	Georgetown	57
	5	Georgetown	68
	12	Alcorn State	63
																1	Houston	89
																3	Villanova	71
	6	Alabama	50
	11	Lamar	73
						11	Lamar	58
						3	Villanova	60
											3	Villanova	55
										7	Iowa	54
						2	Missouri	63
						7	Iowa	77
	7	Iowa	64
	10	Utah State	59

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E4	Georgia	60
	W6	N.C. State	67
						W6	N.C. State	54
						MW1	Houston	52
	ME1	Louisville	81
	MW1	Houston	94

Tournament notes

The Louisville vs. Houston semi-final was a matchup of the #1 vs. #2 team.^[2] The #1 ranked Houston Cougars (nicknamed Phi Slama Jama) vs. #2 the Louisville Cardinals (nicknamed "The Doctors of Dunk") was considered likely to produce the national champion. It featured two strong offensive teams that specialized in the slam dunk.^[3] Both teams put on a show of offense, with Houston winning out over Louisville 94-81. This would have been the biggest game of the tournament had it not been eclipsed by the North Carolina State win over Houston in the championship game.

Another historically significant game in this tournament was the Mideast Regional final between Kentucky and Louisville, in-state rivals that had not played one another in basketball since the 1959 NCAA tournament, and had not played in the regular season since 1922. After regulation time ended with Kentucky tying the game at the buzzer, Louisville dominated the overtime to advance to the Final Four. This result directly led to the start of the Battle for the Bluegrass annual basketball series between the two schools that November.^[3]

A historically significant run in the tournament was that of Georgia, who became the last team to date to advance to the Final Four in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. But the N.C. State team led by Jim Valvano became the archetype of the "Cinderella team", the underdog that many fans look to as a possible spoiler over top-ranked teams. This label has, since then, been applied to many programs, including Villanova in 1985, Gonzaga in 1999, George Mason in 2006, Butler in 2010 and 2011, VCU in 2011, and Wichita State in 2013. Not only did N.C. State beat Houston to win the championship, but they also beat #1 seeded Virginia on their way to the Final Four. North Carolina State became the first team in tournament history to win six games en route to the title (the tournament being 32 teams or less prior to 1979, and all champions from 1979 to 1982 had first-round byes).

References

1. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/postseason/1983-ncaa.html
2. Johnson, Gary K.; Sean W. Straziscar; Jeff Williams; Kevin Buerge (2007). Official 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book. NCAA Records Books. National Collegiate Athletic Association. ISSN 1089-5280.
3. Weintraub, Robert – Jamfest for the Ages. E-Ticket – ESPN.COM the magazine, March 29, 2007