KANSAS CITY and GREENSBORO - March 27, 1964 and March 27, 1974
The Sports Time Traveler™ is back from both the 1964 and 1974 NCAA Men's Final Fours.
Following 2 Final Fours back-to-back is more than just March Madness, it’s March Mania. It was an experience I just have to share with you.
A QUICK SHOUT OUT TO A FRIEND
Before I dive into my report on these 2 incredible virtual trips back in time, I would like to give a shout out to my friend, John Keselica. John is a huge sports fan and a loyal reader of The Sports Time Traveler™. He encouraged me several months ago to cover the 1974 UCLA - N.C. State Final Four game. And now I understand why - it was a thriller, an instant classic that had me on the edge of my seat for the entire game. John, I’m hoping next March we can finally celebrate March Madness together by going to a Mets game in Port St. Lucie.
BACKGROUND ON TODAY’S STORIES
For background on today’s stories, please read my earlier article on the opening rounds of the 1964 and 1974 NCAA tournament.
READ or LISTEN to my prior article on the opening rounds of the 1964 and 1974 NCAA tournaments at this link:
Double March Madness - 1964 & 1974
Before we head to 1974, let’s first start with the 1964 Final Four. This is a story that is every bit as exciting as the 1974 contests and also contains a totally unexpected Hollywood style twist at the very end.
1964 FINAL FOUR
The Final Four teams here in Kansas City were:
#1 UCLA 28 - 0
#2 Michigan 21 - 4
#3 Duke 25 - 4
Unranked Kansas State 21 - 5
Although unranked, Kansas State came into the Final Four riding a 13 game winning steak. Kansas State reached the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big 8 Conference Title. No team in the Big 8 was ever ranked all season.
Duke vs. Michigan - March 20, 1964
The first of the semi-final games paired 2 teams that had met early in the season. Michigan routed Duke 83 - 67 on December 21st in front of their fans at Ann Arbor.
In that game Duke played zone defense and was badly outrebounded despite having taller big men.
Duke’s Jay Buckley and Hack Tison were both 6’10”, while Michigan’s tallest starter was Bill Buntin at 6’7”.
Buntin however was a ferocious rebounder and a great all around player averaging 23 points & 13 rebounds. Michigan also had a great scorer in forward Cazzie Russell who averaged 25 points.
In the semi-final game, Duke switched to man-to-man pressure defense.
The game started out close and was tied at 31. Then Duke closed the first half on a 17 - 8 run to take a 48 - 39 halftime lead. The Blue Devils never let the lead go below a 7 point margin in the 2nd half and won it 91 - 80.
Unlike their first 2 tournament games, Duke didn’t simply rely on their All-American star player Jeff Mullins. Their two big men, Buckley and Tison were brilliant. Buckley had a team high 25 points and 14 rebounds. Tison had 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Mullins who came into the game having scored 73 points in the opening 2 rounds on 33 for 51 shooting (65%), had just 21 points on just 8 for 19 shooting in the semi-final.
The key to the game was that all 5 Duke starters played well, each scoring at least 12 points making it a total team effort.
Duke overcame a great effort by Michigan’s Cazzie Russell who shot 13 for 19 for 31 points. But the rest of the Wolverines shot just 21 for 52.
Mullins told Hugo Germino, Durham Sun sports editor, “I cannot remember a game when all 5 (Duke) starters played so effectively.”
For Duke it was a sweet victory after losing badly in the semi-final game the prior year to the eventual champion, upstart Loyola of Chicago.
Vic Bubas, on making it to Duke’s first ever NCAA Finals game told Germino, “We’re happy, but not cocky.”
Germino by the way had something else to be happy about. He was voted director of the United States Basketball Writers Association at the organization’s annual meeting earlier in the day.
UCLA vs. Kansas State - March 20, 1964
The 2nd game started at about 9:30pm Central Time.
Although UCLA entered the Final Four undefeated on the season, this UCLA team had not achieved anything previously. And UCLA had been unranked in each of the past 6 years. But under coach John Wooden, in his 16th year at the helm, they did have one magical run to the national semi-final game in 1962.
Kansas State on the other hand, was unranked nationally, but was coming off a big win over #5 Wichita State in the regional final.
Kansas State looked like they might continue their Cinderella run as they led the game 75 - 70 with 7:20 to go.
At that point UCLA’s Walt Hazzard, the national player of the year, and forward Keith Erickson, who was having his best game of the year, combined to tie the game at 75 with 6:26 to go and timeout was called by K State.
But the timeout backfired on the Wildcats. The UCLA Bruins got an unexpected boost. The UCLA cheerleaders finally made it to the arena after their plane had been delayed from L.A.
Jeff Prugh described the scene in The Los Angeles Times, “Suddenly, the cavalry arrives. During a time-out Kathleen Johnson, Pat Sheperd (who dates Walt Hazzard), Sheri McElhany (who dates Keith Erickson) and Marcie Bryant burst onto the floor bedecked in overcoats and cheerleading costumes. The arrival of the Bruin song - girls from Los Angeles couldn’t, needless to say, have been timed better.”
With the girls inspiring the players the Bruins scored another 6 straight points to take an 81 - 75 lead. It was an 11 point run for UCLA. And UCLA hung on to win it 90 - 84.
Mal Florence wrote in The Los Angeles Times about the impact of the cheerleaders on the team, “The Bruins players who had little backing among the 10,731 partisan fans in attendance, immediately perked up. When play resumed UCLA barged into an 81 - 75 lead… The UCLA girls insisted that they didn’t time their entrance to coincide a Bruins rally, but Zsa Zsa Gabor couldn’t have timed it better.”
Gordon S. White, writing for the New York Times, gave Walt Hazzard the credit for leading UCLA’s late game charge, “The faster, smaller Bruins, were led by the playmaking of Walt Hazzard, who carried them from 5 points back with 8 minutes to go to 6 points ahead with 5 minutes remaining. That did it.”
Likewise, Mal Florence, in the Los Angeles Times, also cited Hazzard’s stellar play, “Hazzard was Hazzard on Friday night, scoring 19 points and contributing 9 assists.” Hazzard, who always looked to pass first, shot 7 for 10 from the field and also added 7 rebounds.
THE FINAL - UCLA vs. Duke - March 21, 1964
UCLA’s semi-final game had ended at nearly midnight, leaving little time for rest or practice before the final which was played the next day at 9pm Central Time / 10pm Eastern Time.
The Finals game was not on network TV. In Los Angeles it was on channel 11.
In Durham the game was only available on radio on WDNC 620 on the AM dial and 105.1 on FM.
Neither UCLA nor Duke had ever been in a NCAA Finals before.
Despite UCLA being undefeated some oddsmakers had Duke as the favorite to win. And for some good reasons.
UCLA had no starters taller than 6’5”. While Duke had a pair of 6’10” towers who had just played well in the semi-final.
And UCLA had not played a ranked team since the end of December.
Duke had beaten three teams in the top 7 in the past 5 weeks.
Also, this Duke team had Final Four experience having been in the semi-final game the year before. All 5 starters for the final had played in that semi-final game the prior season.
UCLA also had the pressure of trying to close out an undefeated season. If they could beat Duke they would finish 30 - 0, joining only the University of San Francisco in 1956 and North Carolina in 1957 as the only teams ever to go undefeated and win the NCAA Title.
The game began in a tight battle. The score was tied 8 times in the first 12 minutes.
With 7:14 to play in the 1st half Duke took a 30 - 27 lead. They had been led by All American Jeff Mullins who had 10 points in the game’s first 13 minutes. And there was reason for further encouragement for Duke as UCLA’s starting forward Keith Erickson, the leading scorer in the K State game, went to the bench with 4 fouls. And perhaps even more concerning for UCLA, their top player, Walt Hazzard, the national player of the year, picked up his 3rd foul.
But then came what Hugh Germino of the Durham Sun called the “turning point” of the game.
Dick Forbes of the Cincinnati Enquirer described it this way, “Suddenly the complexion changed almost miraculously.. Stealing the ball from the Devils, passing like magicians and whipping Duke on the boards, the Bruins to all intents broke the game wide open.
UCLA ran off 16 straight points in just 2 minutes and 33 seconds of game time.
The key moment during that stretch was described by Germino, “The ‘turning point’ came when Duke’s Steve Vacendak was called for an offensive foul. with Duke trailing by three points at 33 - 30… He was dribbling toward his own basket - when struck from behind… And Red Mihalik called it an offensive foul on Vacendak, much to the surprise of everyone in the auditorium… UCLA got the ball and went on to score - giving the Uclans the momentum for their 16 point splurge… How a call like that could be made in a championship game is a mystery to this writer.”
Jack Horner in the Durham Herald-Sun also described the play, “Steve Vacendak was dribbling down-court in the middle of the floor when UCLA’s Kenny Washington came up from behind and whacked at the ball. Mihalik called an offensive charge against Vacendak and crowd boo-ed loudly… How Mihalik could call an offensive charge on this type of play was a puzzle to everyone in the auditorium, including Washington, who thought he had committed the foul.”
Duke coach Vic Bubas downplayed the bad call and blamed Duke’s poor shooting during the UCLA 16 - 0 streak in a quote he made in the Durham Herald-Sun, “We got off to a good start and played them on even terms until we lost our shooting eye. And we suffered that long cold streak which allowed UCLA to take its big lead.”
In fact Duke missed 10 straight shots during UCLA’s spurt.
Bubas also told the Kansas City Star, “They rattled us with their zone press and we lost our poise. I thought we could beat their zone press, but it upset us.”
The 16 straight point gave UCLA a commanding 43 - 30 lead.
The Blue Devils were jittery after the UCLA run, but they were not finished. Jeff Mullins made 4 straight long outside shots to pull Duke within 45 - 38. That gave Mullins 18 first half points.
However, UCLA then closed the 1st half with a 5 - 0 run as Hazzard made a three-point play with 1:50 left in the half, and then UCLA got a defensive rebound and stalled for almost the final 90 seconds of the half, leaving just a second for Gail Goodrich to score a buzzer beater.
UCLA led 50 - 38 at the end of the 1st half.
In the 2nd half, UCLA’s guard were relentless in pressing Duke in the backcourt forcing numerous turnovers.
Duke never closed in on UCLA in the 2nd half. The Los Angeles Times described the Duke team in the 2nd half as, “dazed, dumbfounded and defeated.” Mullins, the leading scorer in the entire tournament, had just 4 points in the 2nd half for Duke.
The UCLA Bruins won it 98 - 83, delivering the first NCAA title to UCLA and their 16 year coach John Wooden.
UCLA had forced Duke into 29 turnovers. And despite their much smaller stature, with no player over 6’5”, the Bruins outrebounded the Blue Devils 51 - 44.
Walt Hazzard was named the tournament MVP even though he was the lowest scorer on the all-tournament team and only scored 11 points in the final. His impact on the game was felt in many ways beyond just scoring.
Duke’s All-American, Jeff Mullins, said UCLA was the best team he had ever played against and gave credit to Hazzard in an interview in the Kansas City Star, “He makes them go. We’ve seen some good scoring guards, but he’s the best all-around. You don’t have to worry as much about him shooting as much as him passing off.”
The Kansas City Star was also quick to praise the play of Walt Hazzard as the game’s decisive factor, “It was Hazzard, the leader all season, who once more calmly directed the attack, fed his teammates for easy baskets with needle-threading passes, hawked the ball on defense and kept the Bruins poised.”
Hazzard himself told Hugh Germino that team speed was the key to the championship, “Duke has plenty of speed - but they couldn’t run with us.”
Another hero for the Bruins was sophomore Kenny Washington who came in when Erickson went out with 4 fouls in the 1st half. Washington, who was playing forward at just 6’3” scored 26 points on 11 for 16 shooting and a game high 12 rebounds.
Hazzard’s backcourt mate, Gail Goodrich, was the high scorer in the game with 27.
The next day when the dejected Duke team, their season over, arrived home at Raleigh Durham airport they were in for a big surprise as 5,000 fans were on hand. Coach Vic Bubas was quoted in the Durham Sun, “We figured there would be only 50 or so people here to meet us. This is really gratifying. We finished 3rd in the nation a year ago and 2nd this year. That means we’re out to finish No. 1 the next time.”
One More Game
But there was no resting for the champions. The UCLA Bruins had just 5 days off before they were to play again.
In this Olympic year of 1964, the U.S. Olympic Committee needs funding and so immediately after the NCAA tournament the Olympic Committee organized a game that pitted the newly crowned national champions, UCLA, against a team of top prospects for the Olympic team, consisting of an all-star team of the nation’s best college players.
The game was played yesterday, March 26, 1964, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
The All-Stars were a truly stellar team.
They were coached by none other than Slats Gill, the newly retired coach from Oregon State, who had failed to win his 600th game when #6 Oregon State was bounced from the NCAA tournament in the 1st round (as reported in my prior article).
The team also included the following players:
Bill Bradley, Princeton - 33 points per game
Dave Stallworth, Wichita - 26 points per game
Mel Counts, Oregon State - 27 points per game
Wally Jones, Villanova - 21 points per game
Howard Komives, Bowling Green - 36 points per game (leading scorer in the nation)
Fred Hetzel, Davidson - 27 points per games
Paul Silas, Creightonl - 19 points per game
And Jeff Mullins of Duke was also on the team.
Cazzie Russell of Michigan was also named to the team, but he was injured and could not play.
The game was billed as UCLA vs. the All-Stars.
The Los Angeles Times sports section this morning ran the following headline about the game, “UCLA Plays ‘Just for Fun,’ Loses 86 - 72.”
The Bruins were no match for the All-Stars and John Wooden took his starters out with 8 minutes to play in the game.
Containing Duke’s big men was one thing, but Wooden’s team had no answer for the 7 footer Mel Counts. Counts finished with game highs of 20 points, on 10 for 15 shooting, and 12 rebounds.
Mullins shooting eye returned as he was 8 for 12 for 18 points, to be the game’s 2nd leading scorer.
So Slats Gill got his 600th win, although it wasn’t official.
In the Salem Journal in Oregon today, the story of the game started with this, “Coach Slats Gill had his basketball victory over UCLA today even though it isn’t the one he wanted the most.”
And just like Slats Gill, Jeff Mullins of Duke won a game against UCLA just 5 days after he had lost to them in the NCAA Final.
Now let’s jump ahead to 1974.
1974
The Final Four teams here in Greensboro were:
#1 N.C. State 29 - 1
#2 UCLA 25 - 3
#7 Marquette 26 - 4
#14 Kansas 23 - 5
But based on NCAA brackets N.C. State and UCLA had to square off in the semi-final game, which for all intents was the national championship.
In the 1st semi-final game on March 23, 1974, Marquette disposed of Kansas 64 - 51, with Maurice Lucas leading the way for Marquette with 18 points and 14 rebounds and 4 blocks on 7 for 11 shooting.
UCLA vs. N.C. State - March 23, 1974
The 2nd semi-final game between #2 UCLA and #1 N.C. State started about 3:30pm ET and was broadcast nationwide on NBC.
The game featured the 2 best basketball players in the nation - UCLA’s Bill Walton, the 3-time college player of the year, and N.C. State’s David Thompson, the 6’4” skywalker who could also shoot the lights out.
Each team featured a strong supporting cast. N.C. State had 7’4” Tom Burleson, one of the best centers in the nation and someone who could potentially cause problems for Walton.
UCLA had forward Keith Wilkes, a smooth shooter and outstanding defender.
Both teams had been undefeated in 1973, but could not meet in the NCAA Tournament due to N.C. State’s ban on playing in the 1973 tournament.
The teams did meet in a made for TV matchup in December which was won by UCLA.
But this was the big game. This was the one that effectively would decide the national championship.
You can experience the game the same way I did by watching the full game on YouTube at this link:
Here’s my commentary on the game with the time stamps on the video for easy viewing:
2:30 - Walton and Burleson each make impressive shots in their 1st field goal attempts and the game is tied a 2.
24:00 - Walton hits a turnaround jumper. But N.C. State leads 19 - 18.
24:50 - Thompson really earns his “skywalker” nickname on this play. He skies for a rebound that has come out to the free throw line, then while he is in the air he looks around to pass before deciding to shoot. He does all that before returning to Earth. He nails the shot and N.C. State leads 21 - 20.
29:30 - Thompson has an incredible 2 minute sequence. First he hits 2 “three point depth shots” on 2 consecutive possessions and puts N.C. State in front 27 - 24. Then he skies for a defensive rebound and on offense makes an alley oop dunk to put N.C. State up 29 - 24. Thompson now has 11 points. However he immediately draws his 3rd foul and sits for the remainder of the 1st half.
36:20 - UCLA forward Dave Meyers hits a 40 foot bank shot to end the 1st half with the score tied at 35.
37:15 - Walton opens the 2nd half with a jumper and puts UCLA ahead 37 - 35. Walton now has 15.
40:50 - Walton hits another jumper and UCLA leads 41 - 35. Walton has 17.
42:00 - Thompson steals a ball and goes coast to coast for a layup but UCLA is still in front 41 - 37.
43:00 - Burleson draws his 3rd foul trying for an offensive tap in with UCLA leading 45 - 38.
45:10 - Walton grabs an offensive rebound and scores putting UCLA up by 11 at 49 - 38. Walton has 19.
46:20 - Walton grabs a defensive rebound and Burleson strips it and scores to pull N.C. State back within 9 at 49 - 40. It’s a risky play for Burleson who was in foul trouble.
47:40 - Thompson makes a spectacular save of a ball headed out of bounds. The play leads to a Burleson hook over Walton and pulls N.C. State back within 7 at 49 - 42. Burleson has 13.
49:15 - Burleson reaches over the top of Walton for an offensive rebound and basket to pull N.C. State within 5 at 49 - 44. Burleson has 15, but with 3 fouls it was a very risky play.
53:10 - Walton hits a jumper to put UCLA back ahead by 9 at 55 - 46 with 11 minutes to play.
54:10 - Meyers hits a jumper and UCLA is ahead by 11 at 57 - 46 and Burleson is on the bench with 3 fouls. It’s looking dire for the Wolfpack.
56:20 - Thompson hits a jumper to pull N.C. State within 7 at 57 - 50 with 9:50 to go.
58:00 - Wilkes is called for an offensive foul, his 4th, and N.C. State is behind by just 3 points at 57 - 54.
1:03:00 - Thompson hits a long corner jumper that pulls the Wolfpack within 1 at 59 - 58. Thompson has 17.
1:06:00 - N.C. State ties it at 63 with 4 minutes to play and goes into a stall for 90 seconds down to 2:30 to play in the game. Then they lose the ball.
1:09:20 - Walton’s jumper puts UCLA ahead 65 - 63. He has 23.
1:09:45 - Thompson’s alley oop ties the game at 65 with 2 minutes to play. He has 21.
1:11:05 - UCLA stalls till 50 seconds to play. Walton shoots and misses and Burleson grabs the rebound. N.C. State holds the ball and then calls timeout with 23 seconds left.
1:12:40 - N.C. State holds for the last shot and misses. The game goes to overtime.
1:14:50 - Burleson hits a shot over Walton and N.C. State leads 67 - 65 with 4 minutes to play in overtime. Burleson has 17. Then UCLA ties it at 67 and N.C. State goes into a stall until the last shot.
1:19:30 - Burleson takes the shot at the buzzer. He misses and the game goes to double overtime.
1:20:20 - Burleson draws his 4th foul. Walton’s free throws put UCLA up 69 - 67 with 4:30 to play in the 2nd overtime. Walton has 25.
1:22:10 - Walton hits a sensational fallaway jumper to give UCLA a 4 point lead at 71 - 67 with 3:40 to play. He has 27.
1:22:40 - UCLA goes up 74 - 67 on a Wilkes basket and foul shot. Again, it looks bleak for the Wolfpack.
1:24:50 - Thompson tips in his own missed jump shot and pulls N.C. State within 4 at 75 - 71. Thompson has 23.
1:26:35 - N.C. State misses a shot and Bill Walton has everyone blocked out for the rebound. But Burleson comes over the top and tips the ball in. It could have easily been called as Burleson’s 5th foul. Instead N.C. State has pulled with 2 at 75 - 73.
1:29:00 - Meyers misses the front end of a 1 and 1. Thompson makes a great play to grab the rebound over Walton. Then on the other end of the court Thompson hits the go ahead jumper. N.C. State leads 76 - 75 with 45 seconds to play.
1:31:00 - Thompson hits his fouls shots after Wilkes fouls out to put N.C. State up 78 - 75 with 30 seconds to play. Then N.C. State steals the inbound pass and the game is effectively over.
N.C. State earned their trip to the NCAA Final by outscoring UCLA 11 - 1 to close the game.
And in a formality, 2 days later, they won the NCAA crown 76 - 64 over Marquette.
The UCLA loss in the semi-final snapped one of the greatest winning streaks in American sports history.
UCLA had won 38 consecutive playoff games dating back to 1967.
The epithets for the end of John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty were quick to pour in. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Furman University coach Joe Williams summed it up well, “What he did, winning 7 straight titles and 9 in 10 years was impossible. It was the greatest sports dynasty ever. And I doubt if anyone can ever build another one like it.”
Bill Walton had not played the best game of his career, but he had played a strong game shooting 13 for 21, many on mid-range jumpers, for 29 points and 18 rebounds. Both totals were game highs for both teams.
Thompson had been brilliant for N.C. State with 28 points on many long outside shots and 10 rebounds.
Burleson had a solid game with 20 points and 14 rebounds against the best center in the country.
But Keith Wilkes had a poor game shooting just 5 for 17, and he was unable to contain Thompson at all on defense. Although it’s not clear that anyone can contain David Thompson.
There was some immediate speculation that the game was the last one of Bill Walton’s storied college career, which is perhaps the greatest college career of any men’s basketball player. Here in 1974 the losers in the semi-final game are obligated to play a consolation game for 3rd place in the tournament. But Walton expressed little interest in playing the game.
Coach John Wooden also expressed his disdain for consolation games. The consolation game was one that no UCLA team had to consider for over a decade.
But Walton did play 20 minutes in the consolation game and ended his college career with a meaningless 78 - 61 win over Kansas.
John Wooden played all 14 of his players in that game.
John Wooden was a gracious loser. He told the Los Angeles Times, “I’m just happy we had the run we did. It was a great one.”
But when asked by the Los Angeles Times if the Wolfpack was the nation’s #1 team he noted the extreme home crowd advantage N.C. State had playing the Final Four in Greensboro. He said, “Well I’d like to play them in Los Angeles… somewhere where we had 95% of the people rooting for us.”
Norm Sloan, coach of the Wolfpack, praised his players in the Los Angeles Times, “We beat one of the greatest teams of all-time… pressure never seems to bother these kids I have. They never give up… in the overtime we were down by 7 and came back. This is just an unbelievable bunch of guys.”
Today, March 27, 1974, the New York Times ran an article describing changes that are going to be made to the NCAA tournament. Influenced heavily by the fact that #4 Maryland was excluded from the NCAA tournament because they didn’t win the ACC championship (see my article last week for that game in which N.C. State won in overtime), the NCAA is going to expand the tournament from 25 to 32 teams.
That concludes my coverage of the 1964 and 1974 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
I’d love to hear your feedback.
MARCH MANIA - Double Final Fours