NC State vs. Houston 1983

[wolfpackdevil]

ESPN Classic will re-air the 1983 National Championship game between NCSU and Houston.

It will be on at 6pm, Friday April 4th.

This was one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, i know im recording it, u should too.

[allenmurray]

It was a tremendous game. No one thought NCSU could do what they did. Every game they played in that tournament was close - starting the term "the cardiac pack" to describe NCSU.

I remember thinking after that game, "if these two teams played 50 times, Houston would win 49 of them". But State won the only one that mattered.

[Rudy]

I never get tired of watching Hakeem stand at the foul line watching while Lorenzo Charles grabs Whittenberg's airball and puts it in for the win.

And of course Valvano running around looking for someone to hug.

[greybeard]

Strange, looking at that State team, they were pretty loaded. The ACC must have been awesome that year for State to have been such an underdog.

Houton had no guards on the entire team. None. They had two guys who turned into terrific pros, but Hakeem was only starting out in bb at that time.

Man for man, especially considering the importance of guard play in the tournament, State might well have been the better team. Is that possible?

[-jk]

Strange, looking at that State team, they were pretty loaded. The ACC must have been awesome that year for State to have been such an underdog.

Houton had no guards on the entire team. None. They had two guys who turned into terrific pros, but Hakeem was only starting out in bb at that time.

Man for man, especially considering the importance of guard play in the tournament, State might well have been the better team. Is that possible?

If memory serves, injury may have played a part.

-jk

[greybeard]

If memory serves, injury may have played a part.

-jk

I forget which of State's bigs it was, Bailey or the other guy, who went nuts, particularly in the second half, hitting these short jump shots one after the other. And, there was no way that Phi Slama could turn State over.

Maybe it was Young, Houston's only real shooter, who had a slight injury, but he did not shoot well against Georgetown either. Hakeem was a neophite then, and Houston's other big played small and had no quicks to keep up with State's big guys. Whitney and Lowe, and what's him name off the bench were able to control tempo, and score the ball also if I recall. Whitney and Lowe had been playing together at that point for 8 straight years!

That left Clyde, who was a much, much better jump shooter in the pros; in college, his game depended on getting to the rim and out in the open court. V stopped both.

When he was able to keep it close to the end, V had more steel then the towel guy and outcoached him. V, a long Island guy from my era, was such a showman; the victory was great for the game. His lasting legacy.

State was what, the fourth or fifth best team in the ACC that year? At least in the regular season. Must have been some league that year. Don't remember.

[Rudy]

I did some poking around. Ralph Sampson was ACC player of the year that year. MJ was in 1984. UVA was a #1 see in the NCAA tourney, UNC #2. Maryland was seeded lower than NCState. UNC lost to Georgia in the regional final. I remember that being a big upset. NCState drew UVA in the regional final and managed to win, obviously. Len Bias was a freshman for Maryland that year but I couldn't find how good he was then.

Here are the round by round game scores for the NCAA tourney that year.

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/history/yearbyyear/1983

[davekay1971]

Whittenburg got injured for State during the season, which caused the Pack all kinds of problems during the ACC season. UVa was widely considered a national title contender, along with UNC, Houston, Louisville, and a couple other teams. The Pack started the year well, but things fell apart pretty badly with Whittenburg out. When he got back from injury, however, State started to roll again. They tore Wake Forest a new one in the first round of the ACC tournament - punking them something like 110-70 or thereabouts. Still, I think they had to go to OT to beat UVa, and there is some doubt as to whether they would have made the NCAAs without winning the ACC - they would certainly have been a bubble team. Having to go to OT to beat Pepperdine in round 1 definitely did not make the Pack look like a contender to take it all the way. I remember that the final 4 was largely looked at as Varsity and JV - Houston played Louisville in the first game, which people thought was the de facto national championship game (and would have been a worthy championship game). For State to beat Houston really was a tremendous upset, but it was the whole run, starting with the ACC tournament, which was breathtaking. If you all get a chance, catch any replay of those games. It'll remind you that, as long as you make the tournament, you can win it. Very cool.

[aheel4ever]

Whittenburg got injured for State during the season, which caused the Pack all kinds of problems during the ACC season. UVa was widely considered a national title contender, along with UNC, Houston, Louisville, and a couple other teams. The Pack started the year well, but things fell apart pretty badly with Whittenburg out. When he got back from injury, however, State started to roll again. They tore Wake Forest a new one in the first round of the ACC tournament - punking them something like 110-70 or thereabouts. Still, I think they had to go to OT to beat UVa, and there is some doubt as to whether they would have made the NCAAs without winning the ACC - they would certainly have been a bubble team. Having to go to OT to beat Pepperdine in round 1 definitely did not make the Pack look like a contender to take it all the way. I remember that the final 4 was largely looked at as Varsity and JV - Houston played Louisville in the first game, which people thought was the de facto national championship game (and would have been a worthy championship game). For State to beat Houston really was a tremendous upset, but it was the whole run, starting with the ACC tournament, which was breathtaking. If you all get a chance, catch any replay of those games. It'll remind you that, as long as you make the tournament, you can win it. Very cool.


Not to nit-pick, but I think your recollection of that ACCT is a little off (apologies in advance i. I believe in the 1st round, the game with WF was very close, and may have even gone to OT. Then, in semis, State rallied late against UNC (Jordan/Perkins) to win in OT. And, State absolutely had to win the tournament to get into the NCAAT. A remarkable run.

[Tom B.]

Not to nit-pick, but I think your recollection of that ACCT is a little off (apologies in advance i. I believe in the 1st round, the game with WF was very close, and may have even gone to OT. Then, in semis, State rallied late against UNC (Jordan/Perkins) to win in OT. And, State absolutely had to win the tournament to get into the NCAAT. A remarkable run.

Your recollection is more or less correct. State had an incredible number of close games in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, and won them all (hence the "Cardiac Pack" nickname). Here's their full run:


ACC First Round: N.C. State 71, Wake Forest 70 (State was the #4 seed)

ACC Semi-Finals: N.C. State 91, UNC 84 (OT)

ACC Finals: N.C. State 81, Virginia 78


N.C. State was a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA First Round: N.C. State 69, Pepperdine 67 (2OT)

NCAA Second Round: N.C. State 71, UNLV 70

NCAA Sweet 16: N.C. State 75, Utah 56 (State's most one-sided result of the entire post-season)

NCAA Regional Final: N.C. State 63, Virginia 62

NCAA Semifinal: N.C. State 67, Georgia 60

NCAA Championship: N.C. State 54, Houston 52


Source: Charlie Board's ACC Stats Archive (http://www.sportsstats.com/bball/).