1983 NCAA Division I Men 's basketball tournament - wikipedia 1983 NCAA Division I Men 's basketball tournament 1983 NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament Season 1982 -- 83 Teams 52 Finals site The Pit Albuquerque, New Mexico Champions NC State Wolfpack ( 2nd title, 2nd title game, 3rd Final Four ) Runner - up Houston Cougars ( 1st title game, 4th Final Four ) Semifinalists Georgia Bulldogs ( 1st Final Four ) Louisville Cardinals ( 6th Final Four ) Winning coach Jim Valvano ( 1st title ) MOP Akeem Olajuwon ( Houston ) Attendance 364,356 Top scorer Dereck Whittenburg NC State ( 120 points ) NCAA Division I Men 's Tournaments `` 1982 1984 '' The 1983 NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament involved 52 schools playing in single - elimination play to determine the national champion of men 's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1983, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at The Pit, then officially known as University Arena, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. A total of 51 games were played. North Carolina State, coached by Jim Valvano, won the national title with a 54 -- 52 victory in the final game over Houston, coached by Guy Lewis. The ending of the final game is one of the most famous in college basketball history, with a buzzer - beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles off a desperation pass from 30 feet out by Dereck Whittenburg. Both Charles 's dunk and Valvano 's running around the court in celebration immediately after the game have been staples of NCAA tournament coverage ever since. North Carolina State 's victory has often been considered one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history, and is the fourth biggest point - spread upset in Championship Game history. Akeem Olajuwon of Houston was named the tournament 's Most Outstanding Player, becoming the last player to date to earn this award while playing for a team that failed to win the national title. Contents 1 National championship game 2 Locations 2.1 Play - In Round 2.2 First & Second Rounds 2.3 Regional Sites and Final Four 3 Teams 4 Bracket 4.1 Preliminary round 4.2 East region 4.3 West region 4.4 Mideast region 4.5 Midwest region 4.6 Final Four 5 Tournament notes 6 See also 7 References National championship game Main article : 1983 NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Championship Game In the final game, played in Albuquerque, New Mexico, NC State led at halftime by a score of 33 -- 25. Houston was hampered by foul trouble that plagued star Clyde Drexler, who picked up four first half fouls. In the second half, the Cougars came out with a second wind and established control of the game, eventually taking a seven - point lead. However, things were not all good for Houston. Since the game was played in Albuquerque, players had to deal with the city 's mile - high altitude. The Cougars ' star center, Akeem Olajuwon, had problems adjusting to the environment and tired quickly, needing to check out of the game multiple times so he could put on an oxygen mask and recover. With Olajuwon on the bench, Houston head coach Guy Lewis decided that in order to protect the lead and the health of his big man at the same time, the Cougars needed to start slowing the game down. Once again, this enabled the Wolfpack to return to their standby strategy of extending the game. Houston 's free throw shooting was very suspect entering the game, which worked greatly in NC State 's favor as they were able to rally back and even the score at 52 in the final two minutes. On what would be the last Houston possession, Valvano called for his players to back off and let freshman guard Alvin Franklin bring the ball up the court. The Wolfpack defenders would let the Cougars employ their slowdown strategy of passing it around. Once the ball got back to Franklin he was to be fouled immediately. With 1 : 05 left, the freshman was fouled and sent to the line for a one - and - one. The idea to foul Franklin sprung from the enormity of the moment ; NC State believed that the relatively inexperienced Franklin could not withstand the pressure of going to the line with the championship at stake and knowing that fifty million viewers were tuned in to watch the game. The theory proved correct as Franklin failed to convert and the Wolfpack grabbed the rebound. Valvano called timeout with 44 seconds left and drew up a play for senior guard Dereck Whittenburg during the timeout, which called for the team to pass him the ball with ten seconds left on the clock so he could take the final shot. Houston needed a defensive stop so they could get another chance to close out the game. Lewis decided to move from the man - to - man defense his team had been running the whole game to a half court zone trap defense. The Wolfpack, who were not expecting the defensive adjustment, were forced to deviate and began passing the ball around just to keep the Cougars from stealing it. Houston nearly got the turnover it was looking for when Whittenburg made an errant pass to Gannon that Drexler nearly came away with before the sophomore regained control of the ball. The ball eventually wound up in the hands of guard Sidney Lowe, who gave it to forward and fellow senior Thurl Bailey in the corner. Trying to keep the ball moving, as he had been double teamed as soon as he received the pass, Bailey looked back toward Whittenburg, who was approximately thirty feet away from the hoop near midcourt. Bailey threw what Whittenburg would later call a `` poor fundamental '' overhanded pass which Houston 's Benny Anders, guarding Whittenburg on the play, was in position to steal. At this point, Whittenburg hearkened back to his high school days with Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School, where he was taught to always catch the basketball with both hands. If Whittenburg had not attempted to do so in this case, Anders may have gotten the steal and a game - winning breakaway layup. In college basketball at the time, the game clock continued to run after a made field goal, and the Wolfpack likely would not have had time even to inbound the ball. As it was, Anders knocked the ball out of Whittenburg 's hands, but Whittenburg quickly regained control. The clock, meanwhile, had ticked down to five seconds and Whittenburg was still standing a significant distance from the goal. Once he regained control, Whittenburg turned and launched a desperation shot, later claimed by Whittenburg to be a pass, to try and win the game for NC State. The shot 's trajectory took it to the front of the basket where Olajuwon was covering Wolfpack center Lorenzo Charles. As he watched the shot, Olajuwon said he knew the shot was going to come up short but he also did not want to go for the ball too early because of the potential for goaltending. Charles took advantage of the indecision by Olajuwon and went up for the air ball, and, in one motion, he scored the go - ahead points with a two - handed dunk. The final second ticked off the clock before Houston could inbound the ball, and with that, the game ended, and the Wolfpack were the national champions. Locations Dayton Philadelphia Greensboro Evansville Corvallis Boise Hartford Houston Louisville Tampa 1983 sites for play - in ( orange ) and first and second ( green ) rounds Syracuse Knoxville Kansas City Ogden Albuquerque 1983 Regionals ( blue ) and Final Four ( red ) Play - In Round Regions Site Venue Host East & West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Palestra Pennsylvania / Temple Mideast & Midwest Dayton, Ohio University of Dayton Arena Dayton First & Second Rounds Region Site Venue Host East Hartford, Connecticut Hartford Civic Center Connecticut Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Atlantic Coast Conference Mideast Evansville, Indiana Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville Tampa, Florida USF Sun Dome South Florida Midwest Houston, Texas The Summit Houston / Rice / Texas Southern Louisville, Kentucky Freedom Hall Louisville West Boise, Idaho BSU Pavilion Boise State Corvallis, Oregon Gill Coliseum Oregon State Regional sites and final Four Region Site Venue Host East Syracuse, New York Carrier Dome Syracuse Mideast Knoxville, Tennessee Stokely Athletic Center Tennessee Midwest Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena Big 8 Conference West Ogden, Utah Dee Events Center Weber State Final Four Albuquerque, New Mexico University Arena ( `` The Pit '' ) New Mexico Albuquerque became the 20th host city, and The Pit the 21st host venue, for the Final Four. Albuquerque was the third smallest metropolitan area to host a Final Four, ahead of only Lexington and Greensboro. While it is not on the main campus of the University of New Mexico, the arena is part of the south campus of the school ( which includes Dreamstyle Stadium, Santa Ana Star Field, and most other campus athletics facilities, as well as neighboring Isotopes Park ), making this the last Final Four held on a campus of any kind. The 1983 tournament saw five new host cities - Boise, Evansville, Hartford, Syracuse and Tampa. Of the five, only Evansville has not repeated as a host city yet. The tournament also saw two venues returning after long absences, with Kansas City ( first time since 1964 ) and Corvallis, Oregon ( first time since 1967 ). While Kansas City, Kemper Arena and its successor venue the Sprint Center have continued to host tournament games, this would be the last time Corvallis has hosted since. Any future tournament games to be played in Tampa would be at the Amalie Arena or Tropicana Field. Teams Region Seed Team Coach Finished Final Opponent Score East East St. John 's Lou Carnesecca Sweet Sixteen 4 Georgia L 70 -- 67 East North Carolina Dean Smith Regional Runner - up 4 Georgia L 82 -- 77 East Ohio State Eldon Miller Sweet Sixteen 2 North Carolina L 64 -- 51 East Georgia Hugh Durham Final Four 6 NC State L 67 -- 60 East 5 VCU J.D. Barnett Second Round 4 Georgia L 56 -- 54 East 6 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Second Round 3 Ohio State L 79 -- 74 East 7 West Virginia Gale Catlett First Round 10 James Madison L 57 -- 50 East 8 Southwestern Louisiana Bobby Paschal First Round 9 Rutgers L 60 -- 53 East 9 Rutgers Tom Young Second Round 1 St. John 's L 66 -- 55 East 10 James Madison Lou Campanelli Second Round 2 North Carolina L 68 -- 49 East 11 Morehead State Wayne Martin First Round 6 Syracuse L 74 -- 59 East 12 Boston University Rick Pitino Preliminary Round 12 La Salle L 70 -- 58 East 12 La Salle Lefty Ervin First Round 5 VCU L 76 -- 67 Mideast Mideast Louisville Denny Crum Final Four 1 Houston L 94 -- 81 Mideast Indiana Bob Knight Sweet Sixteen 3 Kentucky L 64 -- 59 Mideast Kentucky Joe B. Hall Regional Runner - up 1 Louisville L 80 -- 68 Mideast Arkansas Eddie Sutton Sweet Sixteen 1 Louisville L 65 -- 63 Mideast 5 Purdue Gene Keady Second Round 4 Arkansas L 78 -- 68 Mideast 6 Illinois State Bob Donewald First Round 11 Ohio L 51 -- 49 Mideast 7 Oklahoma Billy Tubbs Second Round 2 Indiana L 63 -- 49 Mideast 8 Tennessee Don DeVoe Second Round 1 Louisville L 70 -- 57 Mideast 9 Marquette Hank Raymonds First Round 8 Tennessee L 57 -- 56 Mideast 10 UAB Gene Bartow First Round 7 Oklahoma L 71 -- 63 Mideast 11 Ohio Danny Nee Second Round 3 Kentucky L 57 -- 40 Mideast 12 Georgia Southern Frank Kerns Preliminary Round 12 Robert Morris L 64 -- 54 Mideast 12 Robert Morris Matt Furjanic First Round 5 Purdue L 55 -- 53 Midwest Midwest Houston Guy Lewis Runner Up 6 NC State L 54 -- 52 Midwest Missouri Norm Stewart Second Round 7 Iowa L 77 -- 63 Midwest Villanova Rollie Massimino Regional Runner - up 1 Houston L 89 -- 71 Midwest Memphis State ( Vacated ) Dana Kirk Sweet Sixteen 1 Houston L 70 -- 63 Midwest 5 Georgetown John Thompson Second Round 4 Memphis State L 66 -- 57 Midwest 6 Alabama Wimp Sanderson First Round 11 Lamar L 73 -- 50 Midwest 7 Iowa Lute Olson Sweet Sixteen 3 Villanova L 55 -- 54 Midwest 8 Maryland Lefty Driesell Second Round 1 Houston L 60 -- 50 Midwest 9 Chattanooga Murray Arnold First Round 8 Maryland L 52 -- 51 Midwest 10 Utah State Rod Tueller First Round 7 Iowa L 64 -- 59 Midwest 11 Lamar Pat Foster Second Round 3 Villanova L 60 -- 58 Midwest 12 Alcorn State Davey Whitney First Round 5 Georgetown L 68 -- 63 Midwest 12 Xavier Bob Staak Preliminary Round 12 Alcorn State L 81 -- 75 West West Virginia Terry Holland Regional Runner - up 6 NC State L 63 -- 62 West UCLA Larry Farmer Second Round 10 Utah L 67 -- 61 West UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Second Round 6 NC State L 71 -- 70 West Boston College Gary Williams Sweet Sixteen 1 Virginia L 95 -- 92 West 5 Oklahoma State Paul Hansen First Round 12 Princeton L 56 -- 53 West 6 NC State Jim Valvano Champion 1 Houston W 54 -- 52 West 7 Illinois Lou Henson First Round 10 Utah L 52 -- 49 West 8 Washington State George Raveling Second Round 1 Virginia L 54 -- 49 West 9 Weber State Neil McCarthy First Round 8 Washington State L 62 -- 52 West 10 Utah Jerry Pimm Sweet Sixteen 6 NC State L 75 -- 56 West 11 Pepperdine Jim Harrick First Round 6 NC State L 69 -- 67 West 12 North Carolina A&T Don Corbett Preliminary Round 12 Princeton L 53 -- 41 West 12 Princeton Pete Carril Second Round 4 Boston College L 51 -- 42 Bracket * -- Denotes overtime period Preliminary round East # 12 Seed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 12 La Salle 70 12 Boston University 58 Mideast # 12 Seed Dayton, Ohio 12 Robert Morris 64 12 Georgia Southern 54 Midwest # 12 Seed Dayton, Ohio 12 Alcorn State 81 12 Xavier 75 West # 12 Seed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 12 Princeton 51 12 North Carolina A&T 42 East region First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals 8 Southwest Louisiana 53 9 Rutgers 60 9 Rutgers 55 St. John 's 66 St. John 's 67 Georgia 70 Georgia 56 5 VCU 54 5 VCU 76 12 La Salle 67 Georgia 82 North Carolina 77 6 Syracuse 74 11 Morehead State 59 6 Syracuse 74 Ohio State 79 Ohio State 51 North Carolina 64 North Carolina 68 10 James Madison 49 7 West Virginia 50 10 James Madison 57 West region First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals 8 Washington State 62 9 Weber State 52 8 Washington State 49 Virginia 54 Virginia 95 Boston College 92 Boston College 51 12 Princeton 42 5 Oklahoma State 53 12 Princeton 56 Virginia 62 6 NC State 63 6 NC State 69 * * 11 Pepperdine 67 6 NC State 71 UNLV 70 6 NC State 75 10 Utah 56 UCLA 61 10 Utah 67 7 Illinois 49 10 Utah 52 Mideast region First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals 8 Tennessee 57 9 Marquette 56 8 Tennessee 57 Louisville 70 Louisville 65 Arkansas 63 Arkansas 78 5 Purdue 68 5 Purdue 55 12 Robert Morris 53 Louisville 80 * Kentucky 68 6 Illinois State 49 11 Ohio 51 11 Ohio 40 Kentucky 57 Kentucky 64 Indiana 59 Indiana 63 7 Oklahoma 49 7 Oklahoma 71 10 UAB 63 Midwest region First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals 8 Maryland 52 9 Chattanooga 51 8 Maryland 50 Houston 60 Houston 70 Memphis State 63 Memphis State 66 5 Georgetown 57 5 Georgetown 68 12 Alcorn State 63 Houston 89 Villanova 71 6 Alabama 50 11 Lamar 73 11 Lamar 58 Villanova 60 Villanova 55 7 Iowa 54 Missouri 63 7 Iowa 77 7 Iowa 64 10 Utah State 59 Final Four National Semifinals National Championship Game E4 Georgia 60 W6 NC State 67 W6 NC State 54 MW1 Houston 52 ME1 Louisville 81 MW1 Houston 94 Tournament notes The Louisville vs. Houston semi-final was a matchup of the # 1 vs. # 2 team. The # 1 ranked Houston Cougars ( nicknamed Phi Slama Jama ) vs. # 2 the Louisville Cardinals ( nicknamed `` The Doctors of Dunk '' ) was considered likely to produce the national champion. It featured two strong offensive teams that specialized in the slam dunk. Both teams put on a show of offense, with Houston winning out over Louisville 94 - 81. This would have been the biggest game of the tournament had it not been eclipsed by the North Carolina State win over Houston in the championship game. Another historically significant game in this tournament was the Mideast Regional final between Kentucky and Louisville, in - state rivals that had not played one another in basketball since the 1959 NCAA tournament, and had not played in the regular season since 1922. After regulation time ended with Kentucky tying the game at the buzzer, Louisville dominated the overtime to advance to the Final Four. This result directly led to the start of the Battle for the Bluegrass annual basketball series between the two schools that November. A historically significant run in the tournament was that of Georgia, who became the last team to date to advance to the Final Four in its first - ever NCAA Tournament appearance. But the N.C. State team led by Jim Valvano became the archetype of the `` Cinderella team '', the underdog that many fans look to as a possible spoiler over top - ranked teams. This label has, since then, been applied to many programs, including Villanova in 1985, Gonzaga in 1999, George Mason in 2006, Butler in 2010 and 2011, VCU in 2011, and Wichita State in 2013. Not only did N.C. State beat Houston to win the championship, but they also beat # 1 seeded Virginia on their way to the Final Four. The Wolfpack did not assure themselves of a tournament bid until they upset Virginia in the championship game of the ACC tournament. North Carolina State became the first team in tournament history to win six games en route to the title ( the tournament being 32 teams or less prior to 1979, and all champions from 1979 to 1982 had first - round byes ). See also 1983 NCAA Division II Men 's Basketball Tournament 1983 NCAA Division III Men 's Basketball Tournament 1983 NCAA Division I Women 's Basketball Tournament 1983 NCAA Division II Women 's Basketball Tournament 1983 NCAA Division III Women 's Basketball Tournament 1983 National Invitation Tournament 1983 National Women 's Invitation Tournament 1983 NAIA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament 1983 NAIA Division I Women 's Basketball Tournament References Jump up ^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/postseason/1983-ncaa.html Jump up ^ Johnson, Gary K. ; Sean W. Straziscar ; Jeff Williams ; Kevin Buerge ( 2007 ). Official 2007 NCAA Men 's Basketball Records Book. NCAA Records Books. National Collegiate Athletic Association. ISSN 1089 - 5280. ^ Jump up to : Weintraub, Robert -- Jamfest for the Ages. E-Ticket -- ESPN.COM the magazine, March 29, 2007 NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament Tournaments 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Structure Selection process Venues # 1 seeds Opening Round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game Champions & awards Champions Most Outstanding Player Media & culture Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools `` One Shining Moment '' Records & statistics All - time team records Bids by school Bids by school and conference Consecutive appearances Final Four appearances by school Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Upsets NC State Wolfpack men 's basketball 1982 -- 83 NCAA champions 24 Terry Gannon 25 Dereck Whittenburg 35 Sidney Lowe 41 Thurl Bailey 43 Lorenzo Charles 45 Cozell McQueen Head coach Jim Valvano Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1983_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament&oldid=852804637 '' Categories : NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament 1982 -- 83 NCAA Division I men 's basketball season Basketball in Houston Hidden categories : All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from May 2014 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from April 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 31 July 2018, at 13 : 40 ( UTC ). 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Question: who won the 1983 ncaa men's basketball tournament
Answer: NC State Wolfpack