1973 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament

Last updated
1973 NCAA University Division
Basketball Tournament
NCAA 70s logo.svg
NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Teams25
Finals site St. Louis Arena
St. Louis, Missouri
Champions UCLA Bruins (9th title, 9th title game,
10th Final Four)
Runner-up Memphis State Tigers (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach John Wooden (9th title)
MOP Bill Walton (UCLA)
Attendance163,160
Top scorer Ernie DiGregorio Providence
(128 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
« 1972 1974 »

The 1973 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division (now Division I, created later in 1973) college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 10, and ended with the championship game on Monday, March 26, in St. Louis, Missouri. A total of 29 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Contents

Led by longtime head coach John Wooden, the UCLA Bruins won their seventh consecutive national title with an 87–66 victory in the final game over Memphis State, coached by Gene Bartow, a future head coach at UCLA. Junior center Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This was the first year that the championship game was held on a Monday night, with Saturday semifinals. Previously, the championship game was on Saturday, with the semifinals on either Thursday or Friday. Also, this was the first year matchups in the semifinals rotated; previously, it was East vs. Mideast and West vs. Midwest every year.

Tournament notes

The UCLA – Memphis State championship game made USA Today ′s list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at #18. [1] Bill Walton set a championship game record, hitting 21 of 22 shots and scoring 44 points.

This tournament marked the first appearance of Bob Knight as coach of Indiana University.

The participation for this tournament, as well as the previous tournament, for Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) was vacated on August 5, 1973, when the NCAA Committee on Infractions ruled the university guilty of over 100 violations, including impermissible benefits and doctoring high school transcripts of players. USL's program was shut down for the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons, all other Ragin Cajun' athletic programs were placed on three years' probation and banned from postseason participation, and the university was stripped of voting rights at the NCAA convention until 1977 (the NCAA originally planned to expel USL from the organization, but that sanction was downgraded in January 1974).

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1973 tournament:

First round

Regional Semifinals, 3rd Place Games, and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National Semifinals, 3rd Place Game, and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

The city of St. Louis became the 12th host city, and the St. Louis Arena became the thirteenth host venue, of the Final Four. The arena, home to the St. Louis Blues of the NHL and, at the time, the St. Louis Billikens basketball team, was the first of five straight venues to host the Final Four for the first time, and it was the first time the tournament was held in the city of St. Louis as well. Besides the St. Louis Arena, only one other venue made its debut in the tournament. For the second straight year, the tournament opened a new city in the state of Tennessee; this time, it was the capital city of Nashville. Memorial Gym on the campus of Vanderbilt University would go on to host the tournament four times overall before tournament games in the city were moved to the downtown Bridgestone Arena in 2000. Additionally, only one venue saw its final games in the 1972 Tournament, with William & Mary Hall ending its usage in the tournament. The tournament has come back to the state of Virginia twice since, both times being at the Richmond Coliseum in the capital city of Richmond.

Teams

RegionTeamCoachConferenceFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East
East Furman Joe Williams SouthernFirst round Syracuse L 83–82
East Maryland Lefty Driesell Atlantic CoastRegional Runner-up Providence L 103–89
East Penn Chuck Daly Ivy LeagueRegional Fourth Place Syracuse L 69–68
East Providence Dave Gavitt IndependentFourth Place Indiana L 97–79
East St. John's Frank Mulzoff IndependentFirst round Penn L 62–61
East Saint Joseph's Jack McKinney Middle AtlanticFirst round Providence L 89–76
East Syracuse Roy Danforth IndependentRegional third place Penn W 69–68
Mideast
Mideast Austin Peay Lake Kelly Ohio ValleyRegional Fourth Place Marquette L 88–73
Mideast Indiana Bob Knight Big TenThird Place Providence W 97–79
Mideast Jacksonville Tom Wasdin IndependentFirst round Austin Peay L 77–75
Mideast Kentucky Joe B. Hall SoutheasternRegional Runner-up Indiana L 72–65
Mideast Marquette Al McGuire IndependentRegional third place Austin Peay W 88–73
Mideast Miami (OH) Darrell Hedric Mid-AmericanFirst round Marquette L 77–62
Midwest
Midwest Houston Guy Lewis IndependentFirst round Southwestern Louisiana L 102–89
Midwest Kansas State Jack Hartman Big EightRegional Runner-up Memphis State L 92–72
Midwest Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated) Beryl Shipley SouthlandRegional Fourth Place South Carolina L 90–85
Midwest Memphis State Gene Bartow Missouri ValleyRunner Up UCLA L 87–66
Midwest South Carolina Frank McGuire IndependentRegional third place Southwestern Louisiana W 90–85
Midwest Texas Tech Gerald Myers SouthwestFirst round South Carolina L 78–70
West
West Arizona State Ned Wulk Western AthleticRegional Fourth Place Long Beach State L 84–80
West Long Beach State Jerry Tarkanian Pacific CoastRegional third place Arizona State W 84–80
West Oklahoma City Abe Lemons IndependentFirst round Arizona State L 103–78
West San Francisco Bob Gaillard West CoastRegional Runner-up UCLA L 54–39
West UCLA John Wooden Pacific-8Champion Memphis State W 87–66
West Weber State Gene Visscher Big SkyFirst round Long Beach State L 88–75

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period


East region

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
  Maryland 91
 Syracuse 75
  Syracuse 83
  Furman 82
 Maryland 89
 Providence103
  Penn 62
  St. John's 61
 Penn 65
 Providence87
  Providence 89
  Saint Joseph's 76
East Regional third place
   
Syracuse69
Penn 68

Mideast region

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
  Indiana 75
 Marquette 69
  Marquette 77
  Miami (OH) 62
 Indiana72
 Kentucky 65
  Kentucky 106
 Austin Peay 100*
  Austin Peay 77
  Jacksonville 75
Mideast Regional third place
   
Marquette88
Austin Peay 73

Midwest region

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
  Memphis State 90
 South Carolina 76
  South Carolina 78
  Texas Tech 70
 Memphis State92
 Kansas State 72
  Kansas State 66
 Southwest Louisiana 63
  Southwestern Louisiana 102
  Houston 89
Midwest Regional third place
   
South Carolina90
Southwestern Louisiana 85

West region

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
  UCLA 98
 Arizona State 81
  Arizona State 103
  Oklahoma City 78
 UCLA54
 San Francisco 39
  San Francisco 77
 Long Beach State 67
  Long Beach State 88
  Weber State 75
West Regional third place
   
Arizona State 80
Long Beach State84

Final Four

UCLA won its seventh consecutive championship and ninth in ten seasons 1973 UCLA basketball NCAA champions.JPG
UCLA won its seventh consecutive championship and ninth in ten seasons
National Semifinals
Saturday, March 24
National Championship Game
Monday, March 26
      
E Providence 85
MW Memphis State 98
MW Memphis State 66
W UCLA87
ME Indiana 59
W UCLA 70National Third Place Game
ME Indiana97
E Providence 79

Aftermath

The 1973 NC State Wolfpack team averaged 93 points per game (ppg), led the nation in win margin (21.8 ppg), and posted a 27–0 record, but was ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA probation. David Thompson, a two-time national Player of the Year, and All-America Tom Burleson, led NC State to a 30–1 record the following season, losing only to seven-time defending champion UCLA. The Wolfpack avenged its only loss during the two-year period by defeating UCLA in the 1974 Final Four and winning the title.

Gene Bartow, the Memphis State coach, would be John Wooden's successor at UCLA after the 1974–1975 season.

The tournament marked the last appearance of the Oklahoma City Chiefs, whose 11 tournament appearances are the most among teams no longer in Division I. The school would transition to the NAIA in 1985.

See also

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References

  1. Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002