1984 NCAA Tournament Review
Ewing Takes Georgetown To First Title Over Olajuwon, Houston
Apr 2, 2009
John Thompson became the first African American to lead his team to a NCAA men's basketball title as Georgetown won its first NCAA crown by knocking off the Houston Cougars 84-75 thanks to a combined 33 points and 12 rebounds from freshman forwards Reggie Williams and Michael Graham. Future NBA Hall of Fame centers Patrick Ewing for Georgetown and Houston's Akeem Olajuwon pretty much neutralized each other.
53 Teams, Five Play-In Games For 48-Team Field
There were 53 teams in the field, including 10 competing in a preliminary round to decide which schools would be the four No. 12 seeds and the No. 11 seed in the East. The tournament ran from March 2 to April 2, 1983 with the Final Four being played in the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington.
Georgetown No. 1 In West
Thompson's Hoyas were seeded No. 1 in the West Regional. But Georgetown struggled mightily against SMU, needing a Ewing tip-in with 51 seconds left for a 37-36 victory in the second game. The Hoyas then beat UNLV by 14 points (62-48) in the Sweet 16 and Dayton by 12 points (61-49) in the Elite Eight.
No. 1 North Carolina Upset, Ray Meyer Coaches Final Game
The nationally ranked number one team North Carolina was favored to win the title but Michael Jordan's Tar Heels were upset by Indiana in the East region semifinals. Also in the Sweet 16, Midwest top seed DePaul was beaten by Wake Forest 73-71 in overtime, marking the 1,078th and final game for legendary coach Ray Meyer. His record after 42 seasons on the sidelines was 724-354.
Georgetown Dominates Kentucky In Final Four
In the national semifinals, the Hoyas eased past Mideast No. 1 seed Kentucky 53-40 as the Wildcats shot just 3 for 33 (0 of 21 by the starting five) in scoring just 11 points in the second half. Kentucky actually led 27-15 with three minutes left in the first half with Ewing having three fouls. But the Hoyas advanced to meet up in the final against the Houston Cougars, who needed overtime to win 49-47 over Virginia, which in its first season after Ralph Sampson left managed to upset No. 8 Arkansas and No. 18 Syracuse to reach the Final Four.
Georgetown Hands Houston Second Straight Final Defeat
Houston and Akeem Olajuwon were back in the NCAA Final Four for the third straight year and their second consecutive final. Georgetown was back in the final for the third time, and first since 1982 when North Carolina beat the Hoyas on a Michael Jordan jumper and a Fred Brown turnover. The Battle in Seattle turned out to be an even fight with both Ewing and Olajuwon having similar numbers - 10 points, nine rebounds, four blocks for Ewing; 15, 9, 2 for Olajuwon. But Thompson's 10-man rotation wore down Houston. And the freshman duo of Reggie Williams and Michael Graham collected 33 points and 12 rebounds to provide the difference in an 84-75 victory - though Ewing collected Most Outstanding Player honors.
Ewing-Akeem Did Not Carry On Into NBA
Though Ewing-Akeem was the marque matchup in the game - a bit like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in 1979 - the rivalry did not extend to the NBA. Olajuwon did however get his revenge on Ewing by winning the 1994 NBA Finals between his Houston Rockets and Ewing's Knicks.
