|
ALSO SEE
Classic 64 - Final Four results
Classic 64 - Sweet 16 results
Classic 64 - 2nd round results
Classic 64 - 1st round results
|
|
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Classic 64 - Elite Eight
Remember the buzzer beating shots, stunning upsets, near misses and great players of NCAA tournaments past? Well, now you can relive the excitement. ESPN Classic will celebrate the NCAA basketball tournament each Friday in February by presenting three classic games from tournaments past. Only games since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 have been included. Each week Classic 64, presented by Subaru, will spotlight a different round. The Classic 64 Elite Eight selections will air on Friday, February 23.
ESPN Classic wants your help in selecting the games. Here is our list of ten memorable Elite Eight games. Vote for your favorite game. The three highest vote getters will be shown on Feb. 23. If you need a reminder about the games, check out the recaps listed below. Please check back on Monday, Feb. 19 to see who you have selected and to vote on the Final Four games.
Elite Eight winners
Our users have selected these three games for the Elite Eight round of our Classic 64 tournament. With a whopping 43.8% of the vote, Duke's thrilling 104-103 OT win over Kentucky in 1992 was our leading vote getter. Second with 13.8% was Kentucky's 86-84 win over Duke in 1998. Michigan's 75-71 OT win over rival Ohio State in 1992 was third with 8.8%. Here is the lineup:
Friday, Feb. 23
7:30 a.m. ET - 1992: Michigan 75, Ohio State 71 (OT)
1 p.m. ET - 1998: Kentucky 86, Duke 84
3:30 p.m. ET - 1992: Duke 104, Kentucky 103 (OT)
#2 Memphis State 63 #1 Oklahoma 61
March 23, 1985
Dallas, TX
Memphis State All-America Keith Lee had 23 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Tigers to a 63-61 NCAA Midwest Regional championship victory over Oklahoma. Lee scored the Tigers last 10 points. Memphis State point guard Andre Turner finished with 12 points, 12 assists and two steals and was named the regional's outstanding player. Oklahoma All-America Wayman Tisdale was held to 11 points.
Did You Know?
Lee had fouled out four times in the last 11 games and finished with four fouls all but once in that span, including this game.
Tisdale, who played on the Olympic team, averaged 26.6 points in three previous tournament games. His 10 points in the game tied his season low.
Oklahoma (31-6) was the highest-scoring team in the nation during the regular season, averaging 91 points per game.
Since 1985, No. 1 seeds hold a 14-9 advantage when playing No. 2 seeds in the Elite Eight.
#11 LSU 59 #1 Kentucky 57
March 22, 1986
Atlanta, GA
LSU center Ricky Blanton scored eight of LSU's final 12 points to spark the upset victory. He finished 5-for-5 from the field. Kentucky (32-4) led 51-47 when Blanton came alive. He scored on a layup with 5 minutes 31 seconds left, then tied it on a pass from Don Redden with 4:34 to go. Blanton gave the Tigers the lead for good at 55-53 by hitting two free throws with 2:31 remaining. Redden had 15 points. John Williams led LSU with 16 points but missed the front end of a one-and-one with five seconds to go. However, Kentucky's James Blackmon's 40-foot shot bounced off the front rim and LSU was victorious. Kentucky's Kenny Walker scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half.
Did You Know?
Kentucky, which had won 14 in row, had just two field goals over the last 5 1/2 minutes.
The victory gave LSU its third appearance in the Final Four.
When Kentucky won the Southeastern Conference championship, Brown, in his 14th season, paid $680 to take out a full-page ad in the Lexington paper and congratulate the Wildcats.
No. 11 seeds are 1-1 against No. 1 teams in the Elite Eight.
#1 Indiana 77 #10 LSU 76
March 22, 1987
Cincinnati, OH
Ricky Calloway caught an airball by teammate Daryl Thomas and banked it in with seven seconds to play to lift Indiana past LSU, 77-76. LSU lead 75-66 with 4:38 to play. The Tigers didn't have a shot in the final 4:18. In its seven possessions before running out of time, LSU had four turnovers, one missed field goal and two trips to the foul line to make one of three shots. Indiana's Steve Alford scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half and the Hoosiers' Dean Garrett finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. Nikita Wilson led LSU with 20 points.
Did You Know?
Indiana also beat LSU in the national semifinals in 1981, 67-49, the previous time Indiana won the national championship.
On that night, Indiana coach Bobby Knight tossed a heckling LSU fan into a trash can in Philadelphia.
No. 10 seeds have never knocked off a top seed in the Elite Eight, going 0-3.
#4 Georgia Tech 93 #6 Minnesota 91
March 25, 1990
New Orleans, LA
Faced with stopping Minnesota in the final seconds, Johnny McNeil came up with an alert defensive play to disrupt Kevin Lynch's shot that helped the ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets preserve a 93- 91 victory. Georgia Tech's Lethal Weapon 3 -- junior forward Dennis Scott, freshman guard Kenny Anderson and senior guard Brian Oliver -- chilled No. 20 Minnesota by collecting 89 of the winners' points while taking 52 of their 56 shots. Scott had 40 points, Anderson 30, including the eventual game-winner, and Oliver added 19. Minnesota led 44-32 with 3:33 left in the first half, but Georgia Tech began a run that continued into the second half, outscoring the Gophers 24-7 in 6 1/2 minutes to claim a 56-51 advantage.
Did You Know?
The victory earned Georgia Tech and coach Bobby Cremins their first trip ever to the Final Four.
Georgia Tech, which finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference but won the ACC Tournament, was on an eight game winning streak.
Georgia Tech became only the second fourth-seeded team to reach the Final Four. Georgia was the other in 1983. It has happened five more times since 1990 (Cincinnati '92, Oklahoma State '95, Syracuse '96, Arizona '97 and Ohio State in '99).
No. 4 teams hold a 2-1 edge over No. 6 teams when squaring off in the Elite Eight.
#3 Duke 79 #1 UConn 78 (OT)
March 24, 1990
East Rutherford, NJ
Christian Laettner's leaning 15-foot jumper, launched after he took an inbounds pass with 2.6 seconds left, dropped through the net at the OT buzzer, ending the top-seeded Huskies' joy ride through the tournament. Laettner finished with 23 points and Duke's Alaa Abdelnaby had 27 points and 14 rebounds. Trailing, 69-64, the Blue Devils, who had lapsed into a 10-minute 11-second slump from the field, rallied to a 71-69 lead when Phil Henderson (21 points) stroked a 3-point dagger with 53 seconds left. Nadav Henefeld and John Gwynn scored 15 each for Connecticut.
Did You Know?
UConn, which lived by the buzzer-beater, died by it. Only two days earlier, Tate George hit a basket at the buzzer to knock out Clemson, 71-70, in the regional semifinals.
The Blue Devils were the first team to make the Final Four three straight years since Houston in 1982-84.
Connecticut's only prior trip to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament ended in a 101-54 loss to Duke in 1964.
No. 3 seeded teams are 3-5 against No. 1 ranked squads in the Elite Eight.
#6 Michigan 75 #1 Ohio State 71 (OT)
March 29, 1992
Lexington, KY
The Wolverines withstood Ohio State's furious defensive pressure to win the NCAA Southeast Regional 75-71 in overtime at Rupp Arena. Michigan's Chris Webber finished with 23 points (9-for-12 from the field), 11 rebounds (five off the offensive glass) and five blocked shots. Guard Jalen Rose added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jim Jackson, the two-time Big Ten Conference player of the year who led his team with 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals, also committed nine of Ohio State's 18 turnovers.
Did You Know?
Ohio State had beaten Michigan, 77-66, back on March 3.
As in 1989, when they beat Seton Hall for the national championship, the Wolverines reached the Final Four by way of two wins in Atlanta and two in Lexington, Ky.
Michigan started five freshmen, a group that became known as the "Fab Five."
It's only the second time a six seed has beaten the top seed. No. 6 teams are 2-4 vs. No. 1 teams in the Elite Eight.
#1 Duke 104 #2 Kentucky 103 (OT)
March 28, 1992
Philadelphia, PA
Once again Christian Laettner came through for the Blue Devils. Kentucky point guard Sean Woods hit a running one-hander in the lane with 2.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Wildcats a 103-102 lead. Then, after a Duke timeout with 2.1 to go, it came down to Blue Devils forward Grant Hill hurling a pass far down the court, Laettner collecting it with his back to the basket, turning calmly to his left and going up to bury his jumper over Kentucky's Deron Feldhouse and John Pelphrey. Laettner ended his afternoon 10 of 10 from the field and 10 of 10 from the line for 31 points.
Did You Know?
The victory sent Duke on to its fifth consecutive Final Four.
Duke went 20-2 in NCAA Tournament games in Laettner's four years at the school.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski improved to 6-0 in regional championship games ... It was the 21st straight win for Duke against non-conference competition.
Duke's win marked the end of Kentucky broadcaster Cawood Ledford's legendary career. He had been covering the Wildcats' games since 1953.
#4 Arizona 96 #10 Providence 92 (OT)
March 23, 1997
Birmingham, AL
Miles Simon, who had four 3-pointers, equaled his career high with 30 points against the gritty Friars, including a basket with 2:53 left in overtime that put Arizona ahead to stay. God Shammgod and Jamel Thomas each scored 23 points for Providence, while the Friars' Ruben Garces was a demon on the boards with 19 rebounds, including nine at the offensive end. Besides Simon, Arizona had five other players in double figures.
Did You Know?
The Wildcats, who also reached the Final Four in 1988 and '94 but have never been to the championship game, have finally erased the memory of three first-round losses in the previous five seasons. Arizona goes on to win the national championship, 84-79, over Kentucky in OT.
Arizona, which finished fifth in the Pac-10, squandered a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes of regulation before rebounding to beat Providence.
No. 4 teams are 2-0 against No. 10 ranked opponents in the Elite Eight.
#2 Kentucky 86 #1 Duke 84
March 22, 1998
St. Petersburg, FL
Scott Padgett's three-pointer from the top of the circle will long be remembered for giving the Wildcats an 86-84 victory over Duke in the NCAA South Regional championship game. That shot capped a dramatic rally from 17 points down and put Kentucky back in the Final Four for the third consecutive year. The Blue Devils had very little trouble scoring against a defense that had given other teams fits and took a 69-52 lead on Roshown McLeod's basket with 11 minutes to play. Then Wayne Turner, the Wildcats' junior point guard, got his team going. He got in the lane and created scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, who responded with a 19-3 run.
Did You Know?
Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski lost for the first time in eight regional final appearances.
Now Duke knows how Kentucky felt in 1992. Christian Laettner's turnaround jumper doomed Kentucky in the East Regional final on that day.
Krzyzewski's .781 winning percentage (50-14) in the NCAA Tournament is the highest among active NCAA coaches. Steve Fisher's .769 winning percent (20-6) is second.
#3 Stanford 79 #8 Rhode Island 77
March 22, 1998
St. Louis, MO
Arthur Lee began Stanford's stirring comeback by swishing a 3-pointer with a defender draped all over him, set up a teammate's basket with a nifty pass and lofted in a layup over outstretched arms. He used his quick hands to cause the decisive turnover, gave an opposing player the choke sign and made the free throws that clinched the Cardinal's first Final Four appearance in five decades. And he did it all in the final 52 seconds. Lee carried Stanford to a 79-77 victory over Rhode Island for the NCAA Midwest Regional title. He scored 26 points, including 13 in the last 2:04 and eight in the final minute. Tyson Wheeler scored 24 points for Rhode Island.
Did You Know?
Stanford's last trip to the Final Four was 56 years ago back in 1942.
Jim Harrick, who won a national title at UCLA in 1995, got to a within a game of the Final Four in his first season at Rhode Island.
It's the only time a No. 3 seed has faced a No. 8 team in the Elite Eight.
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
