Dean Smith won his first NCAA crown by leading North Carolina to its second title in school history, beating Georgetown 63-62. A freshman named Michael Jordan delivered the game winning jumper with 17 seconds and Fred Brown turned the ball over in the waning seconds - in one of the biggest late mistakes in tournament history.
48 Teams, No Third Place Game
The 1982 NCAA men's tournament included 48 schools and went from March 11-29 with the Final Four being played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It was the first event to not play out the third place game, which had been added for the 1947 tournament.
No. 1 Seed In East
Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels entered the tourney as a number one seed in the East with the likes of freshman Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins. Carolina was hungry all season to win the title after losing the 1981 final to Isiah Thomas and Indiana. And UNC was looking for its first crown since 1957. And Smith was hoping to finally cut down the nets after six previous trips to the Final Four
Less Than Dominating Into Final
Despite being the number one seed, Smith's team did not have an easy time in reaching the Final Four in Louisiana. After a first round bye, UNC needed to hold on to beat James Madison 52-50 in the second round. Worthy carried the Heels past Alabama 74-69 in the Sweet 16 and Carolina notched its biggest victory in the Elite Eight, 70-60 over Villanova. And then Smith and UNC knocked off Houston in the national semifinals.
Loads Of Talent In New Orleans
The 1982 Final Four was one of the most impressive collections of talents ever at a Final Four. Each team had at least two future NBA Draft first round picks. North Carolina had Worthy, Jordan and Sam Perkins. Georgetown had Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and Patrick Ewing. Houston later saw Rob Williams, Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon and Michael Young picked. While Louisville had Rodney McCray and Lancaster Gordon.
Jordan Jumper, Brown Mix-Up
The title game - saw by a record 61,612 spectators - was tight throughout. With the Tar Heels trailing by one point, the freshman Jordan nailed a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline with 17 seconds left for a 63-62 lead. The Hoyas rushed the ball up the court with a chance to win the game. Fred Brown picked up his dribble and was looking to pass to teammate Eric Smith with five seconds left. But the ball went directly to a shocked Worthy, who was then fouled but missed two free throws and the game ended. It was the first one-point championship game since California defeated West Virginia, 71-70, in 1959.
Worthy Most Outstanding Player
Worthy picked up Most Outstanding Player honors after scoring a career-high 28 points on 13 of 17 shooting. Besides the game-winning jumper, Jordan collected 16 points and nine rebounds and Sam Perkins chipped in 10 points. Ewing did all he could with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Sleepy Floyd scored 18 points and Eric Smith had 14 points.
