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1977 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

75 Years of March Madness (NCAA)

1977 NCAA Tournament | Bracket

Champion: Marquette

Most Outstanding Player: Butch Lee, Marquette

Final Four: Marquette, North Carolina, UNLV, Charlotte

Shining Moments

  • One of the most beloved coaches in basketball history, Al McGuire, earns his only championship by earning a big upset over Dean Smith’s Tar Heels. It boosts his credibility and profile. McGuire would retire following winning this title and go on to work in TV for nearly two decades.
  • North Carolina almost doesn’t get out of the first round when freshman Mike O’Koren misses the front end of a one-and-one in the final minute against Purdue. O’Koren forces a turnover on the next possession, which leads to a Phil Ford basket, clinching the close-call win.
  • The myth and shine is officially off of UCLA in its post-Wooden existence, as the Bruins topple in the Sweet 16 to Idaho State, of all teams. The loss forces Gene Bartow to exit left after two seasons and a 52-9 record. But no titles. And the pressure’s too much in LA to keep going. Bartow takes the job as UAB’s head coach the following season.
  • Who was Kentucky before Kentucky? Try UNLV, which boasted NBA draft picks on its Final Four team that fell 84-83 to UNC. It is Jerry Tarkanian’s first Final Four.
- Matt Norlander

Championship Game

Location: Atlanta

Marquette (67)
Player Min. FG-A FT-A Reb. A PF Pts.
Bo Ellis 39 5-9 4-5 9 3 4 14
Bill Neary 12 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Jerome Whitehead 39 2-8 4-4 11 2 2 8
Butch Lee 40 6-14 7-7 3 2 1 19
Jim Boylan 33 5-7 4-4 4 0 3 14
Gary Rosenberger 8 1-1 4-4 1 1 1 6
Bernard Toone 29 3-6 0-1 0 0 1 6
Totals 200 22-47 23-25 29 8 13 67
 
North Carolina (59)
Player Min. FG-A FT-A Reb. A PF Pts.
Walter Davis 33 6-13 8-10 8 3 4 20
Mike O'Koren 31 6-10 2-4 11 1 5 14
Rich Yonakor 25 3-5 0-0 4 1 0 6
Phil Ford 38 3-10 0-0 2 5 3 6
John Kuester 31 2-6 1-2 0 6 5 5
Steve Krafcisin 10 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Tom Zaliagiris 10 2-3 0-0 0 0 3 4
Dudley Bradley 5 1-1 0-0 0 0 2 2
Bruce Buckley 10 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Jeff Wolf 3 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0
Dave Colescott 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Woody Coley 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Ged Doughton 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
John Virgil 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 200 24-51 11-16 28 16 24 59

National semifinals

North Carolina 84, UNLV 83
NORTH CAROLINA (84): Davis 7-7 5-6 19, O'Koren 14-19 3-5 31, Yonakor 5-7 1-4 11, Ford 4-10 4-5 12, Kuester 2-5 5-7 9, Zaliagiris 0-1 0-0 0, Krafcisin 0-0 0-1 0, Buckley 1-5 0-0 2, Bradley 0-1 0-0 0, Wolf 0-1 0-0 0, Colescott 0-0 0-0 0. Team 33-56 (.589) 18-28 (.643) 84.

UNLV (83): Owens 7-15 0-0 14, Gondrezick 4-8 0-0 8, Moffett 6-9 1-2 13, R. Smith 4-11 0-1 8, S. Smith 10-18 0-0 20, T. Smith 6-8 0-2 12, Theus 4-11 0-0 8, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Team 41-80 (.513) 1-5 (.200) 83.

Halftime: UNLV 49-43.

Marquette 51, UNC Charlotte 49
MARQUETTE (51): Ellis 2-8 0-0 4, Neary 0-1 0-0 0, Whitehead 10-16 1-2 21, Lee 5-18 1-1 11, Boylan 4-9 0-0 8, Toone 2-6 2-2 6, Rosenberger 0-0 1-2 1. Team 23-58 (.397) 5-7 (.714) 51.

UNC CHARLOTTE (49): Massey 7-13 0-0 14, King 2-7 0-0 4, Maxwell 5-6 7-9 17, Kinch 1-7 2-2 4, Watkins 2-4 2-3 6, Gruber 2-6 0-0 4, Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Team 19-43 (.442) 11-14 (.788) 49.

Halftime: Marquette 25-22.

All-Tournament Team

Player Pos. Yr. School Statistics
Walter Davis F Sr. North Carolina (39 pts, 13 rebs)
Bo Ellis F Sr. Marquette (18 pts, 14 rebs)
Butch Lee G Jr. Marquette* (30 pts, 6 rebs)
Cedric Maxwell C Sr. UNC Charlotte (47 pts, 28 rebs)
Mike O'Koren F Fr. North Carolina (45 pts, 19 rebs)
Jerome Whitehead C Jr. Marquette (29 pts, 27 rebs)
*Named Most Outstanding Player.
  • Scoring Leader: Cedric Maxwell, UNC Charlotte (123 points, 24.6 ppg).
  • Highest Scoring Average: Mike Glenn, Southern Illinois (65 points, 32.5 ppg).
  • Rebounding Leader: Cedric Maxwell, UNC Charlotte (64 rebounds, 12.8 rpg).
  • Highest Rebounding Average: Phil Hubbard, Michigan (45 rebounds, 15 rpg).

    • 1977 Tournament Scores

    FIRST ROUND
    East
    Virginia Military 73, Duquesne 66
    Kentucky 72, Princeton 58
    Notre Dame 90, Hofstra 83
    North Carolina 69, Purdue 66

    West
    UCLA 87, Louisville 79
    Idaho State 83, Long Beach State 72
    Utah 72, St. John's 68
    UNLV 121, San Francisco 95

    Mideast
    Michigan 92, Holy Cross 81
    Detroit 93, Middle Tennessee State 76
    UNC Charlotte 91, Central Michigan 86 (OT)
    Syracuse 93, Tennessee 88 (OT)

    Midwest
    Marquette 66, Cincinnati 51
    Kansas State 87, Providence 80
    Wake Forest 86, Arkansas 80
    Southern Illinois 81, Arizona 77


    SECOND ROUND
    East
    Kentucky 93, Virginia Military 78
    North Carolina 79, Notre Dame 77

    West
    Idaho State 76, UCLA 75
    UNLV 88, Utah 83

    Mideast
    Michigan 86, Detroit 81
    UNC Charlotte 81, Syracuse 59

    Midwest
    Marquette 67, Kansas State 66
    Wake Forest 86, Southern Illinois 81


    REGIONAL FINALS
    East
    North Carolina 79, Kentucky 72

    West
    UNLV 107, Idaho State 90

    Mideast
    UNC Charlotte 75, Michigan 68

    Midwest
    Marquette 82, Wake Forest 68


    NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
    Marquette 51, UNC Charlotte 49
    North Carolina 84, UNLV 83

    NATIONAL THIRD PLACE
    UNLV 106, UNC Charlotte 94

    NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
    Marquette 67, North Carolina 59

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