The Road To The 1987 Final Four

The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is defined by chaos and possibility. By the Sweet 16, that uncertainty begins to narrow, and the tournament gets its focus. Our Road to the Final Four series begins here, focusing on the fifteen games that lead us to a national champion.

 The Road to the Final Four in 1987 led to the New Orleans Superdome. Here’s how the bracket stood entering the Sweet 16:

EAST REGIONAL: East Rutherford, NJ

(1) North Carolina: Dean Smith was seeking his first Final Four since the 1982 championship, with freshman center J.R. Reid and senior point guard Kenny Smith leading the way.

(5) Notre Dame: Led by junior point guard David Rivers, the Irish knocked off 4-seed TCU while chasing their first Final Four since 1978.

(6) Florida: In the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, the Gators rode explosive guard Vernon Maxwell past 3-seed Purdue.

(2) Syracuse: With Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly, and Derrick Coleman in place, Jim Boeheim entered March searching for his first Final Four.

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL: Louisville, KY

(1)Georgetown: Only two years removed from the Patrick Ewing glory years, John Thompson’s Hoyas were led by All-American forward Reggie Williams.

(5)Kansas: The Jayhawks were seeking a repeat Final Four trip, led by their great forward Danny Manning. A first-round loss by 4-seed Clemson made the path here a bit easier.

(6)Providence: A young head coach in Rick Pitino and his star guard Billy Donovan jumped on the scene and benefitted from 3-seed Illinois’ stunning first-round loss to Austin Peay.

(2)Alabama: Head coach Wimp Sanderson was making his fourth Sweet 16 trip in the past six years. Led by forward Derrick McKey, the Tide were seeking their first Final Four.

MIDWEST REGIONAL: Cincinnati, OH

(1)Indiana: The Hoosiers hadn’t been to the Final Four since winning Bob Knight’s second national championship in 1981. Senior sharpshooter Steve Alford was the focal point.

(5)Duke: In 1986, a veteran team got Mike Krzyewski his first Final Four. Rebuilt around forward Danny Ferry, the Blue Devils took advantage of 4-seed Missouri losing in the first round.

(3)DePaul: A fixture on the national stage for the past decade, the Blue Demons were led by Rod Strickland and Dallas Comegys as they sought their first Final Four since 1979.

(10)LSU: The Tigers had made an improbable Final Four a year earlier as an 11-seed. They were at it again, with forward Nikita Wilson leading them to an upset of 2-seed Temple.

WEST REGIONAL : Seattle, WA

(1)UNLV: Jerry Tarkanian routinely turned out one of the best programs in the West. With Freddie Banks and Armon Gilliam, Tark sought his first Final Four since 1977.

(12)Wyoming: The Sweet 16’s Cinderella story, high-scoring swingman Fennis Dembo had led the Cowboys to upsets of Virginia and Reggie Miller’s UCLA team.

(6) Oklahoma: The Sooners arrived as an ascending program led by Tim McCalister and Harvey Grant, having knocked out 3-seed Pittsburgh while chasing a breakthrough Final Four.

(2)Iowa: In Tom Davis’s first season, the Hawkeyes surged behind Roy Marble and B.J. Armstrong, chasing the first Final Four since Lute Olson got them there in 1980.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19

East Rutherford

North Carolina 74 Notre Dame 68
Syracuse 87 Florida 81

The favorites took care of their business, and it was all about the big men. J.R. Reid overwhelmed Notre Dame, scoring 31 points. Reid’s domination down low—shooting 15/18, carried the night for the Tar Heels.

For the Orange, Rony Seikaly posted a 33 points/9 rebounds line. In a sign of the times, Syracuse attempted only four three-point shots and made none of them. By contrast, Florida went 10-for-22 from trey range to stay in the game. But this was still an era when college basketball was played inside the arc.

Louisville

Providence 103 Alabama 82
Georgetown 70 Kansas 57

Pitino’s Providence team was foreshadowing the new way basketball was going to be played and they were launching three-point attempts. They pushed the pace, hit 14-for-20, and got 20-plus points from both Donovan and Delray Brooks. In the meantime, McKey was held in check in a shocking rout.

Danny Manning had a good night, scoring 23 points and getting 12 rebounds. But Reggie Williams was even better, going off for 34 points, nine boards and four steals. Williams had a lot more help, and Georgetown got to the free throw line more than twice as often as Kansas.

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Thus, we had a Thursday night where three favorites were in the “holding serve, not dominant” mode and a rising underdog was catching everyone’s eye—not just that they were winning, but how they were doing it.

FRIDAY, MARCH 20

Cincinnati

Indiana 88 Duke 82
LSU 63 DePaul 58

The Hoosiers and Blue Devils both played efficient offensive basketball. The difference is that Indiana controlled the boards and had a little more offensive balance. Rick Calloway and Keith Smart scored 21 each to lead the way.

Tonight’s shock came from LSU. The creative defensive strategies of Dale Brown helped muck up the game and it was turnover-heavy both ways. Strickland struggled for DePaul. In the meantime, Nikita Wilson was in control, scoring 24 points as another improbable Tiger March continued.

Seattle

UNLV 92 Wyoming 78
Iowa 93 Oklahoma 91 (OT)

Wyoming gave UNLV a tougher game than the score indicates, leading 39-38 at the half and forcing Vegas into a rough shooting night behind the arc. But the Cowboys had no answer for Gilliam, who went off for 38 points/13 rebounds and helped the favorite re-assert control.

The best game of the entire Sweet 16 was Iowa’s battle with OU. Hawkeye forward Kevin Gamble was the hero. He scored 26 points, hitting 11 of his 13 shots from the floor. He ended regulation by blocking a potential game-winning shot. And he finished the evening by draining a buzzer-beating trey in OT to win it.

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The #1 seeds were now all in the Elite Eight and we had LSU joining Providence as potential Cinderella stories. Was this a chalk bracket or one where chaos would prevail? That was still unknown as the weekend beckoned.

SATURDAY, MARCH 21

Syracuse 79 North Carolina 75

A 2-seed beating a 1-seed by four points probably doesn’t read like a big surprise, but it landed that way in the moment. The Tar Heels had looked dominant coming in, and Dean’s reputation vastly outweighed Jimmy B’s. The shock was accentuated by the fact that, score aside, this game was not particularly close.

The Orange dominated the boards, led by Seikaly securing Most Outstanding Player honors with a 26/11 afternoon. They were up by double digits at the half. Kenny Smith’s 25 points were the only notable performance for North Carolina, while Syracuse got contributions everywhere.

Providence 88 Georgetown 73

The outcome in East Rutherford might have caught people off-guard, but this was a major stunner. And while the Friars and Pitino were building a national reputation as the team who was making use of the new three-point line, this win was not about that. Providence only attempted nine shots behind the arc, while the Hoyas launched 21. What the Friars did do was get to the foul line, where they converted 33/38.

Above all, Providence played defense. Georgetown never got into a groove and Williams was held in check. Donovan’s 20 points got him MOP honors and today’s wingman was Daryl Wright, who knocked down 20.

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We already knew coming into the day that it would be a good one for the old Big East. It turned into a great day, shades of 1985. Syracuse and Providence would meet in the Final Four.

SUNDAY, MARCH 22

Indiana 77 LSU 76

For the better part of this game, it looked like LSU would pull off the impossible and make the Final Four in consecutive years as a double-digit seed. They led by as many as 12 in the second half, with Nikita Wilson scoring 20 points. A frustrated Bob Knight, in a dispute with officials went down to the scorer’s table to make his case. He pounded an old-school phone and the receiver sprung into the era. It cost Indiana a $10,000 fine, became the game’s defining visual and fueled a Knight-Brown public feud that lasted several years.

Alford scored 20 of his own for the Hoosiers and they surged down the stretch. A big missed free throw gave them a chance in the closing moments. Calloway, Cincinnati-born and bred, was a hero in his hometown, with an offensive rebound and put-back with six seconds left. Calloway was named MOP and Knight was going back to the Final Four.

UNLV 84 Iowa 81

Both teams liked to play at a rapid pace and that’ s exactly what fans got in Sunday afternoon’s conclusion to the Elite Eight. Iowa ran out to a 58-42 lead by halftime. It looked like we were primed to have a Big Ten showdown in the Final Four alongside the Big East one.

But the Rebels came roaring back, and Gilliam was again the second-half hero. This time, his numbers were 27 points/10 rebounds. UNLV’s ability to get points inside the arc stood in contrast to Iowa’s launching three-point shots and the Rebs prevailed 84-81. Gilliam was an easy MOP choice.

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It hadn’t been easy, but the 1-seeds survived Sunday. Indiana and UNLV would be the marquee event next Saturday in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS

Saturday, March 29

Syracuse 77 Providence 63

The early afternoon game was a clunker, at least for everyone besides Syracuse fans. Providence was out of magic. The Friars shot 36 percent from the floor, and no starter even got double-figures. In the meantime, the Orange were almost perfectly balanced—every starter was between 12-16 points. And the rebounding edge was overwhelming, 53-32. The last Cinderella was gone, and the national title race was now down to three heavyweights.

Indiana 97 UNLV 93

It was seen as the contrast in styles. UNLV’s fast tempo against Indiana’s halfcourt discipline. Knight caught everyone off-guard by deciding to run with the Rebels and turning Alford loose to shoot the three-ball and he poured in 33 points.

The Rebels didn’t go quietly. Freddie Banks was shooting out of his mind, 10-for-19 on three-point shots. And Gilliam? Another vintage performance, scoring 32 points. But IU was much more efficient, shooting 62 percent compared to 42 percent for UNLV. The Hoosiers led by 12 with five minutes to go, held off a final Rebel push and advanced to Monday Night.

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Monday, March 31

Indiana 74 Syracuse 73

It was a night out of a Hollywood script. The movie Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman, was up for an Academy Award. And the real-life Hoosiers were playing for a national title. Syracuse looked ready to spoil the script, leading by as many as eight in the second half, with Derrick Coleman pounding the glass to the tune of 19 rebounds.

The Indiana box score was balanced—Alford, Smart and Daryl Thomas, all topping 20. But Smart’s numbers stood out. He scored 12 of his points in the final five minutes. Like Calloway had been in the regionals, Smart was a hero in his hometown. His jump shot from the left side in the closing seconds became an iconic moment in college basketball lore. Smart was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and Knight secured his  third national championship.