1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1973 NCAA Men's Division I
Basketball Tournament
Teams 25
Finals site St. Louis Arena
St. Louis, Missouri
Champions UCLA (9th title, 9th title game,
10th Final Four)
Runner-up Memphis State (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach John Wooden (9th title)
MOP Bill Walton UCLA
Attendance 163,160
Top scorer Ernie DiGregorio Providence
(128 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments
«1972 1974»

The 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division (the predecessor to today's Division I, which would be created later in 1973) college basketball. It began on March 10, 1973, and ended with the championship game on 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. This was the first year that the championship game was held on a Monday night, after the semifinals on Saturday. It has remained that way ever since. Previously the championship game was on Saturday with the semi finals on either Thursday or Friday.

UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with an 8766 victory in the final game over Memphis State, coached by Gene Bartow. This gave UCLA their 7th consecutive title. Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

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.

Trivia: Indiana had a home floor advantage. Bobby Knight did not like the floor, so he had the floor shipped in from Indiana and installed in the St. Louis Arena.

Locations

Region Site Other Locations
East Charlotte, North Carolina Jamaica, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Williamsburg, Virginia
Mideast Nashville, Tennessee Dayton, Ohio
Midwest Houston, Texas Wichita, Kansas
West Los Angeles, California Logan, Utah
Finals St. Louis, Missouri

Teams

Region Seed Team Coach Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East n/a Furman Joe Williams First roundSyracuseL 83-82
East n/a Maryland Lefty Driesell Regional Runner-upProvidenceL 103-89
East n/a Penn Chuck Daly Regional Fourth PlaceSyracuseL 69-68
East n/a Providence Dave Gavitt Fourth PlaceIndianaL 97-79
East n/a St. John's Frank Mulzoff First roundPennL 62-61
East n/a Saint Joseph's Jack McKinney First roundProvidenceL 89-76
East n/a Syracuse Roy Danforth Regional Third PlacePennW 69-68
Mideast
Mideast n/a Austin Peay Lake Kelly Regional Fourth PlaceMarquetteL 88-73
Mideast n/a Indiana Bob Knight Third PlaceProvidenceW 97-79
Mideast n/a Jacksonville Tom Wasdin First roundAustin PeayL 77-75
Mideast n/a Kentucky Joe B. Hall Regional Runner-upIndianaL 72-65
Mideast n/a Marquette Al McGuire Regional Third PlaceAustin PeayW 88-73
Mideast n/a Miami, Ohio Darrell Hedric First roundMarquetteL 77-62
Midwest
Midwest n/a Houston Guy Lewis First roundSouthwestern LouisianaL 102-89
Midwest n/a Kansas State Jack Hartman Regional Runner-upMemphis StateL 92-72
Midwest n/a Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated) Beryl Shipley Regional Fourth PlaceSouth CarolinaL 90-85
Midwest n/a Memphis State Gene Bartow Runner UpUCLAL 87-66
Midwest n/a South Carolina Frank McGuire Regional Third PlaceSouthwestern LouisianaW 90-85
Midwest n/a Texas Tech Gerald Myers First roundSouth CarolinaL 78-70
West
West n/a Arizona State Ned Wulk Regional Fourth PlaceLong Beach StateL 84-80
West n/a Long Beach State Jerry Tarkanian Regional Third PlaceArizona StateW 84-80
West n/a Oklahoma City Abe Lemons First roundArizona StateL 103-78
West n/a San Francisco Bob Gaillard Regional Runner-upUCLAL 54-39
West n/a UCLA John Wooden ChampionMemphis StateW 87-66
West n/a Weber State Gene Visscher First roundLong Beach StateL 88-75

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period


East region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
        
     Maryland 91  
       Syracuse 75  
   Syracuse 83
     Furman 82  
       Maryland 89
     Providence 103
     Pennsylvania 62  
   St. John's 61  
   Pennsylvania 65
       Providence 87  
   Providence 89
     St. Joseph's 76  

Midwest region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
        
     Memphis State 90  
       South Carolina 76  
   South Carolina 78
     Texas Tech 70  
       Memphis State 92
     Kansas State 72
          
        
   Kansas State 66
       Southwest Louisiana 63  
   Southwest Louisiana 102
     Houston 89  

Mideast region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
        
     Indiana 75  
       Marquette 69  
   Marquette 77
     Miami-OH 62  
       Indiana 72
     Kentucky 65
          
        
   Kentucky 106
       Austin Peay 100*  
   Austin Peay 77
     Jacksonville 75  

West region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
        
     UCLA 98  
       Arizona State 81  
   Arizona State 103
     Oklahoma City 78  
       UCLA 54
     San Francisco 39
          
        
   San Francisco 77
       Long Beach State 67  
   Long Beach State 88
     Weber State 75  

Final Four

UCLA won its seventh consecutive championship
  National Semifinals     National Championship Game
                 
  E  Providence 85  
  MW  Memphis State 98    
      MW  Memphis State 66
      W  UCLA 87
  ME  Indiana 59    
  W  UCLA 70   National Third Place Game
 
ME  Indiana 97
  E  Providence 79

Aftermath

The 1973 NC State Wolfpack team averaged 93 ppg, led the nation in win margin (21.8 ppg), and posted a 270 record, but was ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA probation. David Thompson, a two-time national Player of the Year, and All-American Tom Burleson, led NC State to a 301 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.

References

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