Thompson, Pack end UCLA’s long run

A panel of Associated Press sports writers voted in March 2020 on the top 10 men’s basketball games in the history of the NCAA Tournament. They are being republished because the sport has been shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. The following game was voted No. 8, and this is how Ken Rappoport’s story was published in the Charleston (S.C.) News and Courier on March 24, 1974.

North Carolina State brought UCLA down to earth after seven straight national championships, beating the mighty Bruins, 80-77, on David Thompson’s crucial points in double overtime in the semifinals of the NCAA basketball playoffs Saturday.

Inspired by a screaming throng of 15,829 at the Greensboro Coliseum, the top-ranked Wolfpack advanced to Monday night’s finals against Marquette. The Warriors earlier beat Kansas 64-51 with a ninepoint spree keyed by Lloyd Walton early in the second half.

The game between the Wolfpack and the Bruins, billed as the headliner of the day, was everything that it was cracked up to be between the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams.

Wonder-player Bill Walton, who scored 29 points for the defending national champions, had helped the

Bruins take a seven-point lead early in the second thrilling overtime period. UCLA led 74-67 and seemed to have the game salted away when the Wolfpack players, with “Pack Power” ringing in their ears, went to work.

Monty Towe, the smallest player on the court at 5-foot-7, triggered N.C. State’s rally with two free throws that trimmed the UCLA lead to 74-69. Tommy Curtis scored a free throw for UCLA to make it 75-69 with 3:11 left in the game, but that was the Bruins’ last hurrah. Thompson then took over the flow of the dramatic game with a field goal at 2:55 that brought N.C. State within four. The crowd then went mad when Tom Burleson scored a field goal and a foul shot for the Wolfpack, trimming the UCLA lead to 75-74 with about a minute and a half left. UCLA’s Dave Meyers missed the first shot of a one-and-one free throw situation with 1:16 left, the omnipresent Thompson sucked up the rebound and N.C. State had possession of the ball and the opportunity to end the Bruins’ championship skein.

The dazzling forward penetrated UCLA for the go-ahead field goal that put the Wolfpack into a 76-75 lead with 53 seconds left.

The shot pulled most of the fans out of their seats, and the crowd went berserk with the dramatic basket.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE North Carolina State’s Mark Noeller jumps into the air March 23, 1974, as they defeat UCLA, 80-77, in double overtime during a national semifinal in Greensboro, N.C.