In 1982, Houston put on a devastating display in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament against Louisville.
It was an astonishing performance, an aerial assault of epic proportions. It was so wild that Louisville players were going to the monitors to see replays of what Houston was doing.
That team also had historic Hall of Fame talents Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
On the other side of the bracket, NC State had been winning, but barely. State beat Pepperdine in the first round, 69-67 in double
overtime; UNLV, 71-70; Utah, 75-56; ACC rival Virginia with Ralph Sampson, 63-62; and Georgia, 67-60 before facing Houston.
And after the Phi Slamma Jamma performance awed the nation on Saturday, what chance did State have on Monday night?
A pretty good chance, as it turned out.
In the championship game, State somehow managed to keep Houston from dunking. In fact, we think the only dunk in the entire game was the final, legendary shot that Lorenzo Charles dunked when he caught Dereck Whittenburg’s last-gasp attempt that came up quite short.
It was a classic example of an overwhelming favorite that ultimately couldn’t close the deal.
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