1973–74 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team

1973–74 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
ACC tournament champions
ACC regular season champions
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record30–1 (12–0 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainGame captains
Home arenaReynolds Coliseum
Seasons
1973–74 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 NC State † 12 – 0   1.000 30 – 1   .968
No. 4 Maryland 9 – 3   .750 23 – 5   .821
No. 12 North Carolina 9 – 3   .750 22 – 6   .786
Virginia 4 – 8   .333 11 – 16   .407
Clemson 3 – 9   .250 14 – 12   .538
Wake Forest 3 – 9   .250 13 – 13   .500
Duke 2 – 10   .167 10 – 16   .385
† 1974 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1973–74 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 1973-74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolfpack played their home games at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina, and competed as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. While losing only one game throughout the season, the team finished undefeated in the ACC conference play, and went on to win the 1974 ACC men's basketball title. The Wolfpack then won the NCAA tournament, finishing the season as the national champions.

Season summary

NC State had several highly rated players, including star high-jumping forward David Thompson, 7-foot-4 center Tom Burleson, point guard Monte Towe, and several complementary players, including guard Moe Rivers and forward Phil Spence. The Wolfpack began the season ranked #2 in the nation, behind John Wooden's UCLA. On December 15, 1973, the two top-ranked teams met in St. Louis, with UCLA beating NC State by 84–66 after trailing by one at halftime. It would be the only loss for the Wolfpack that season. NC State later met and defeated the Bruins 80–77 in two overtimes in the NCAA tournament semi-final game, ending UCLA's streak of seven straight national championships. Two nights later, NC State won its first NCAA championship by beating Marquette, 76–64.

Roster

1973–74 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C 24 Tommy Burleson 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Newland, North Carolina
C 50 Mike Buurma 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Willard, Ohio
G 32 Bruce Dayhuff 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Walkerton, Indiana
F 14 Greg Hawkins 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Huntington, West Virginia
G 22 Dwight Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Raleigh, North Carolina
G 34 Craig Kuszmaul 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 181 lb (82 kg) Jr Warren, Ohio
C 35 Bill Lake 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Carmel, Indiana
G 40 Mark Moeller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Canfield, Ohio
F 52 Steve Nuce 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Rockville, Maryland
G 10 Moe Rivers 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Brooklyn, New York
F 30 Phil Spence 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Raleigh, North Carolina
F 42 Tim Stoddard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr East Chicago, Indiana
F 44 David Thompson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Shelby, North Carolina
G 25 Monte Towe 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Jr Converse, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[1]

Schedule

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
December 5*
 No. 2 East Carolina W 79–47  1–0
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
December 7*
 No. 2 Vermont W 97–42  2–0
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
December 15*
 ABC 		No. 2 vs. No. 1 UCLA L 66–84  2–1
 St. Louis Arena 
St. Louis, MO
December 18*
 No. 5 Georgia W 94–60  3–1
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
December 28*
 No. 5 vs. Villanova
Sugar Bowl Tournament 		W 97–82  4–1
 Municipal Auditorium 
New Orleans, LA
December 29*
 No. 5 vs. No. 18 Memphis State
Sugar Bowl Tournament 		W 98–83  5–1
 Municipal Auditorium 
New Orleans, LA
January 4*
 No. 5 No. 4 North Carolina
Big Four Tournament 		W 78–77  6–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
January 5*
 No. 5 vs. Wake Forest
Big Four Tournament 		W 91–73  7–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
January 12
 No. 4 Clemson W 96–68  8–1
(1–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 13
 No. 4 No. 3 Maryland W 80–74  9–1
(2–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 17
 No. 3 at Virginia W 90–70  10–1
(3–0) 		University Hall 
Charlottesville, VA
January 19*
 No. 3 UNC Charlotte W 104–72  11–1
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 22
 No. 3 at No. 4 North Carolina W 83–80  12–1
(4–0) 		Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 26*
 No. 3 at Purdue W 86–81  13–1
 Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
January 30
 No. 2 at No. 6 Maryland W 86–80  14–1
(5–0) 		Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
February 2
 No. 2 Virginia W 105–93  15–1
(6–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
February 4
 No. 2 at Duke W 92–78  16–1
(7–0) 		Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 8*
 No. 2 vs. Georgia Tech
North-South Doubleheader 		W 98–54  17–1
 Charlotte Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
February 9*
 No. 2 vs. Furman
North-South Doubleheader 		W 111–91  18–1
 Charlotte Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
February 13*
 No. 2 Davidson W 105–78  19–1
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
February 16
 No. 2 Wake Forest W 111–96  20–1
(8–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
February 20
 No. 1 Duke W 113–87  21–1
(9–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
February 23
 No. 1 at Clemson W 80–75  22–1
(10–0) 		Littlejohn Coliseum 
Clemson, SC
February 26
 No. 1 No. 4 North Carolina W 83–72  23–1
(11–0) 		Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
March 2
 No. 1 at Wake Forest W 72–63  24–1
(12–0) 		Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, NC
ACC tournament
March 8*
 No. 1 vs. Virginia
ACC tournament 		W 87–66  25–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
March 9*
 No. 1 vs. No. 4 Maryland
ACC tournament 		W 103–100 OT 26–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
March 14*
 No. 1 vs. No. 5 Providence
NCAA tournament • Regional semifinals 		W 92–78  27–1
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
March 16*
 No. 1 vs. No. 13 Pittsburgh
NCAA tournament • Regional Final 		W 100–72  28–1
 Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
March 23*
 No. 1 vs. No. 2 UCLA
NCAA tournament • National semifinals 		W 80–77 2OT 29–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
March 25*
 No. 1 vs. No. 3 Marquette
NCAA tournament • National Championship 		W 76–64  30–1
 Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.

[2]

Rankings

Main article: 1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP222555433222111111
CoachesNot released26554332221111Not released

ACC tournament

The 1974 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum from March 7 to 9. NC State defeated Maryland 103–100 in overtime to claim the championship.

The final featured two of the top teams in the country. It has been regarded by many to be the greatest ACC game in histo — and one of the greatest college games ever.[citation needed] The game was instrumental in forcing the expansion of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship to 32 teams, allowing more than one bid from a conference.

NCAA tournament

1974 NCAA tournament championship Game Box Score
Player Min FG FT REB AST PF PTS
D. Thompson 40 7–12 7–8 7 2 3 21
M. Towe 37 5–10 6–7 3 2 1 16
T. Burleson 36 6–9 2–6 11 0 4 14
M. Rivers 40 4–9 6–9 2 5 2 14
T. Stoddard 25 3–4 2–2 7 2 5 8
P. Spence 19 1–2 1–2 3 3 2 3
M. Moeller 3 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0
Totals 200 26–46 24–34 34 14 17 76
  • East
    • North Carolina State 92, Providence 78
    • North Carolina State 100, Pittsburgh 72
  • Final Four
    • North Carolina State 80, UCLA 77
    • North Carolina State 76, Marquette 64[3]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 3 Tommy Burleson Seattle SuperSonics

[5]

References

  1. ^ "1974 NCAA Final Four program". March 1974. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  2. ^ NC State All-Time Results Archived 2018-09-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Jun-29.
  3. ^ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
  4. ^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  5. ^ "1974 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.