March 26, 1973

In the NCAA Tournament final in St. Louis, Bill Walton has the game of his life. No matter how Memphis State attempts to defense him, the UCLA center finds a way to beat it.

Driving one-on-one, hitting jump shots, guiding teammates' lob passes into the basketball, Walton scores 44 points, breaking Gail Goodrich's NCAA championship game record of 42. Incredibly, Walton misses only one of 22 field-goal attempts. (From the foul line, he is 2-of-5.)

The game is tied at 39 at halftime before UCLA, led by Walton, blows away Memphis State in the second half to coast to an 87-66 victory. Walton finishes with a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bruins win their seventh consecutive NCAA title.

"He [Walton] is about as physical a big man as I've ever seen," Memphis State coach Gene Bartow says. "He did so many things so well that we just couldn't stop him. He?s super ? the best collegiate player I've ever seen. We played him wrong. We tried three or four things, but I guess we didn?t try the right one. If you let him have the ball, he'll kill you."