INTRODUCTION from The Sports Time Traveler™
Like many in the sports world, I was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Bill Walton yesterday.
As The Sports Time Traveler™ for the past couple of years I’ve been covering major sports day-by-day from precisely 50 years ago. And that timeframe coincides with the greatest moments of Bill Walton’s incredible college career at UCLA.
What follows is a re-telling of the story of the 1973 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final. I originally wrote this one 14 months ago when it had been exactly 50 years since the game was played.
But at that time I didn’t record a podcast version.
Now you can read or listen to this incredible story and honor the memory of perhaps college basketball’s greatest male player ever at his peak moment.
Now let’s begin.
The Mountain Man Meets Memphis State
The 1973 Walton Gang (a.k.a, the UCLA Bruins) battle for the NCAA Title with a 74 game winning streak on the line.
BACKGROUND
I’ve been following the 1973 UCLA men’s basketball team all season. I reported earlier this year when they broke the NCAA record winning streak of 60 games. See article below.
Once the Bruins reached the Final Four, 50 years ago last weekend, I had to make the virtual trip back in time to St. Louis to see if Bill Walton could lead the team to another national championship and remain undefeated for 2 consecutive seasons.
Here’s the incredible story from my trip, which took me several days to write up.
ST. LOUIS - March 27, 1973
Last night, for the first time ever, the NCAA basketball championship was held in prime time. Estimates are that nearly 40 million Americans watched the Monday night game on NBC.
They were watching to see if UCLA, winners of 74 consecutive games, could win 1 more to capture their 7th straight national title.
And there was good reason to doubt UCLA would do it.
THE SEMI-FINAL THRILLER
In the semi-final game on Saturday, UCLA faced Indiana. Even though this was coach Bobby Knight’s first trip to a Final Four, his team put up a great fight. In the middle of the first half the Hoosiers led 20 - 17.
Then UCLA pulled themselves together and ran off 18 straight points to go into halftime with a 40 - 22 lead.
UCLA kept right on going at the beginning of the 2nd half and extended the lead to 20 points at 54 - 34.
It looked hopeless for the Hoosiers.
WALTON’s WOES
Then 6-11 Bill Walton, the best player in college basketball, and maybe in the whole world, picked up his 4th foul with 14 minutes to play.
Walton went to the bench and the Hoosiers went to work. They scored the next 17 points to claw all the way back to 54 - 51.
UCLA 54 - INDIANA 51 - 7:47 to play
At that point came the critical play of the game. Walton was back in the game with 4 fouls. He had the ball in the lane and made a move to the basket. The whistle blew. If it was charging on Walton he would be out for the game.
But the call went against Indiana center, Steve Downing. Downing was the high scorer of the game. It was his 4th foul. And a minute later Downing picked up his 5th, and was out of the game, with just under 8 minutes to play.
So, it was Indiana, not UCLA, that lost their dominant center for the game.
Downing had scored 26 points, half his team’s points. Sports Illustrated’s Curry Kirkpatrick wrote, “when he went out of the game with his 5th foul, most of the battle went out of the Hoosiers.”
UCLA 70 - INDIANA 59 - FINAL
UCLA pulled away and won it 70 - 59.
Bill Walton, only scored 14 points, although he did dominate the boards with 17 rebounds and he dished off 9 assists.
5-11 reserve guard Tommy Curtis arguably saved UCLA, coming off the bench for a team high 22 points on 9 for 15 shooting. Curtis was the spark in the 1st half when UCLA took the big lead, and again down the stretch when they wrapped it up.
John Wooden lamented after the game that it was the first time in 2 years that his team had lost their poise in letting Indiana back in the game in the 2nd half. And it left some doubt about how UCLA would perform in the final game.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP OPPONENT
The victory over Indiana put UCLA into last night’s final game with Memphis State (today known just as Memphis).
The Tigers were led by 3 sensational players:
6-8 senior Ronnie Robinson who averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds;
5-11 senior guard Larry Finch, who averaged 24 points a game and broke the Memphis State career scoring record;
And a player known as “Dr. K”, Larry Kenon. Kenon, a 6-9 junior, averaged 20 points and 17 rebounds, and was the Missouri Valley conference player of the year.
Kenon can jump with the best of them and has an incredibly soft touch on a mid-range jumper in which he skies upward and shoots with a flick of the wrists when his arms are at their highest extension. This makes his shot seemingly impossible to block.
All 3 of Memphis State’s players were at the top of their game in the semi-final win over Providence:
Kenon was sensational with 28 points and 22 rebounds;
Robinson nearly matched that performance with 24 points and 16 rebounds;
And Finch added 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
A SENSATIONAL BEGINNING TO THE CONTEST
The game got off to a hot start. Memphis tried a strategy of playing man-to-man with Kenon guarding Walton. On UCLA’s 2nd possession, Walton got the ball in the post and made a nifty turn around jumper over Kenon that he banked home.
On the Memphis side, Kenon took the ball near the foul line and skied straight up, releasing the ball at a seemingly impossibly high point, and swished it.
You can see it at the 4:06 mark of the full game video that is further down in the article.
On the ensuing time down the court, Walton got free from Kenon for a layup at the 5:12 mark on the video.
Memphis went right back to Kenon, who hit a carbon copy sky high jumper over Walton at the 5:25 mark on the video.
It was a sensational start to the game.
MEMPHIS STATE 12 - UCLA 10
A few minutes later Memphis State was ahead by 2 when Kenon picked up his up 2nd foul. Kenon now started to play more tentatively against Walton and Bill was able to dance around him for a lay in and receive a lob pass for a tip in.
Then came one of the big plays of the game. Kenon drew his 3rd foul with 13 minutes left in the half. Kenon was also whistled for a technical for arguing with the ref. You can see the foul at the 1:30 mark on the shorter 5 minute Walton highlights video at the bottom of the article. I can’t see the foul in the replay.
With Kenon out of the game in foul trouble, Memphis State went to a zone on defense. But it didn’t help. UCLA ran ahead to a 27 - 16 lead with Bill Walton doing most of the damage. Big Red had 16 points already midway thru the 1st half.
UCLA 27 - MEMPHIS STATE 16 (midway thru the 1st half)
Walton kept right on scoring until he also picked up his 3rd foul of the game with 4 minutes to go in the 1st half. Walton had 22 points already. Now he had to sit down for the remainder of the half.
UCLA 37 - MEMPHIS STATE 30 (4 minutes to go in the 1st half)
With Big Red out of the game, Memphis State took advantage and went on a 9 - 2 run to close the first half tied at 39.
Memphis then scored the first basket of the 2nd half and suddenly was back in the lead.
MEMPHIS STATE 41 - UCLA 39
Then Walton went to work. He scored 14 points in 8 minutes of play and put UCLA back in the lead. With 12 minutes to go in the game Bill Walton had 36 and seemed like he was on his way to breaking the finals record of 42 by Gail Goodrich.
UCLA 55 - Memphis State 47 (12 minutes to go in the 2nd half)
The Bruins looked like they were cruising. And Walton looked like he was All World.
Then a near disaster struck for the Bruins. With 9:17 to go and UCLA ahead by 8 at 61 - 53, Walton picked up his 4th foul trying to block one of Kenon’s sky jumpers.
You can see the play at the 1:05:43 mark on the game video.
I can’t see the foul in this replay either.
After making the foul shots Memphis State was only 6 down.
UCLA 61 - MEMPHIS STATE 55 (9 minutes to go in the 2nd half)
Shockingly, John Wooden, the legendary UCLA coach, decided to leave Walton in the game. And even more shocking, Walton continued to play aggressively on both ends of the floor.
Also at this time, Keith Wilkes got hot hitting several of his sleeky jumpers in the next few minutes.
As a result, UCLA added to their lead.
UCLA 73 - Memphis State 62 (5:45 to play in the 2nd half)
With an 11 point lead and 5:45 to play, Wooden called time.
He decided that it was time to stop pushing his luck with Walton’s 4 fouls and he told the team to go into an offensive stall.
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™
I interrupt this article to explain something to readers who are under age 40.
At this time in college basketball there is no shot clock. The shot clock was introduced in college basketball in 1985. Prior to this time a strategy sometimes used in college games was to go into an offensive stall in which the team in front simply passes the ball around with no effort to shoot. The aim is to run the clock down and shorten the game, thus preserving a victory.
Now back to the 1973 NCAA Championship Game.
UCLA ran a minute off the clock and then Walton scored. That basket gave him 44 points and the new Finals game scoring record. And it gave UCLA a 13 point lead.
ANOTHER NEAR DISASTER
A minute later Walton sprained his ankle and had to be helped off the court by Memphis State star Larry Finch. You can see this incredible bit of sportsmanship on the video at the 1:21:40 mark on the game video.
The last time Walton was out of the game Memphis State went on an 11 - 2 run.
But this time Memphis State couldn’t mount a surge. With the game out of reach UCLA padded the lead and won it by the seemingly lopsided score of 87 - 66.
You can watch the entire game in the video below. It’s really worth watching.
ENTIRE GAME VIDEO:
WALTON’S PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES
Not only did Bill Walton set a Finals record with 44 points. But he shot an unbelievable 21 for 22 from the field.
There has never been a college basketball performance like Bill Walton’s in the 1973 Finals game.
Many of Walton’s baskets were on lob passes from Greg Lee who had 14 assists. Lee said, “When you’ve got a guy who’s 6-11, and they don’t have anybody on him, it’s stupid not to go to him. Bill and I have eye contact first. Sometimes I throw it. Sometimes I don’t. This was the best I’ve lobbed it. I think it was the best game I’ve ever played in college.”
Walton’s only miss was off one of those lob pass. It came with 7 minutes left in the 1st half. You can see it at the 36:35 mark on the game video above.
You can see most of Walton’s 21 baskets in this 5 minute highlight video below.
I particularly liked the brilliant lob pass by Greg Lee at the 3:30 mark on the video below.
5 MINUTE HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO:
UCLA’s DOMINATION OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UCLA has now won 75 straight games and 7 consecutive national championships. They haven’t lost a game in more than 2 seasons.
And Bill Walton has never played in a losing game on a high school or college varsity team.
HOW GOOD IS BIG RED?
At the 35:40 mark on the game video, announcer Tom Hawkins, who played in every season of the 1960s in the NBA, said, “Bill Walton is the best big man ever to play in college.”
Curt Gowdy, the play-by-play announcer, seemed a little stunned Hawkins assessment of Bill Walton. Gowdy remarked to Hawkins, “That was quite a statement when you’ve played against Chamberlain and Jabbar.”
If you keep watching a few more seconds of the tape at that point, you’ll see a big reason why Hawkins was comfortable making his grandiose statement as Bill Walton will soar at least 11 feet up to block a Kenon jumper. Remember, it’s just about impossible to block a Dr. K jumper.
And fittingly, since what he did was impossible, the refs called goal tending on Walton. But the impact of that block was felt the rest of the game. If Kenon couldn’t get his shot off over Walton, no one could, and that must have rattled Kenon.
After the game, Larry Kenon was dejected. Walton tried to console him. He met him and whispered in his ear, “You are a great player. We’ll do it again next year.” And they exchanged a warm handclasp. But Kenon remained somber and speechless.
WILL HE STAY OR WILL HE GO?
A big question coming into the championship game was whether Bill Walton would forego his senior year to join the NBA.
If Walton decides to turn pro he would be drafted #1 by the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, desperate to turn around their team, which had the worst record in NBA history at 9 - 73, have publicly announced they would offer Walton a record $2 million.
But Walton has reportedly told John Wooden he’s coming back to UCLA. Walton simply isn’t motivated my money and doesn’t wish to be defined as a basketball player.
NOT INTERESTED IN ADULATION
Walton was not interested in adulation over his record night. When a fan yelled out to him, “What a great game Bill,” Walton responded dryly, “It was just a game, forget it.”
Walton told Sports Illustrated’s Curry Kirkpatrick, “My 6 months as a basketball player are over. Now I get 6 to be a human.” To another reporter he said, “My life as number 32 for UCLA has ended for this season. I’m now Bill Walton, just me, not Bill Walton basketball player. I don’t want to talk about basketball.”
Jeff Prugh in the Los Angeles Times noted that, “admirers, curious bystanders and newsman were shocked by Walton’s abrasive behavior - and his indifference to all the excitement over his record 44 point effort in the NCAA Finals.”
Teammate Greg Lee tried to explain Walton’s indifferent attitude. “Bill kind of resents the attention he gets. He feels it isn’t right for people to come after him just because he has exceptional physical abilities.”
And so Bill Walton will be back in a UCLA Bruins uniform to defend the 75 game winning streak and to seek one more national title in 1974.
POSTSCRIPT From The Sports Time Traveler™
Memphis State didn’t make it back to the Final the next year. They didn’t even make it to the tournament. Larry Kenon decided to forego his senior year and turn pro. He was drafted by the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, but signed instead with the New York Nets in the ABA.
On the Nets he teamed with Dr. J, Julius Erving. The pair were too much for the rest of the league to handle. The Nets won the ABA Championship in 1974.
The Sports Time Traveler™ will be heading to Long Island, NY in 1974 to cover that championship when we reach the 50 year anniversary in about 13 months.
And later this year, when the 1973-74 college basketball season begins, The Sports Time Traveler™ will be heading to the campus of UCLA to see if the Bruins can keep adding to their winning streak, and perhaps an 8th straight NCAA title to cap off the Mountain Man’s college career.
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A Tribute to Bill Walton - His Greatest Game