In the East Regional Final, #2 seed Connecticut wins convincingly over #1 seed Georgetown. Georgetown’s massive interior presence was nullified by the outstanding play of Emeka Okafor, and the Hoyas struggled to keep up with the great movement of UConn wings Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton, who finished with 26 points and 21 points, respectively. Allen Iverson doubled down on his ball-dominance, shooting poorly enough that he was benched in the second half for the similarly inefficient Victor Page. Connecticut moves on to face South #1 North Carolina.
The South Regional Final saw #1 North Carolina, led by guard Michael Jordan, run past Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler of Houston. Jordan led all scorers with 40 points while the Tar Heels’ Bob McAdoo, Brad Daugherty, and Rasheed Wallace did an admirable job of handling the formidable Houston frontcourt. Up next for North Carolina is the East champ, #2 Connecticut.
The Midwest Regional was a nailbiter, with #1 Kansas narrowly squeaking past #3 Michigan. The Wolverines went with a defense-by-committee approach against Wilt Chamberlain, holding the Stilt to only 17 points, but were ultimately unable to stop Paul Pierce from scoring the game-winning basket in the final seconds. Kansas faces overall #1 seed UCLA in their next matchup.
The clock struck midnight for the Michigan State Spartans, as they were dominated by the UCLA Bruins. The Spartans simply couldn’t match up in the frontcourt, and the UCLA guards were disciplined enough to keep allowing big men Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton to go after Michigan State’s weak interior. UCLA will face Midwest #1 Kansas in the next round.
Wow…Chamberlain vs Alcindor/Walton. Except for “Too many rings for my fingers” Russell (love that line!) the best centers ever.