# 1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The 1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won a second consecutive NCAA national championship, the fourth in five years under head coach John Wooden, with a win over North Carolina.
UCLA's 47-game winning streak came to an end in January when they were beaten by Houston and All-American Elvin Hayes in the Astrodome 71–69; the game was known as the Game of the Century. The Bruins avenged the loss in a rematch with Houston in the NCAA Final Four, by beating the Cougars 101–69 to become the only team to win consecutive NCAA championships twice.

## Season Summary

This team ushered in a new era of college hoops when it played and lost to Houston in a regular-season game at Houston Astrodome that was seen by a national television audience. The Bruins avenged the only loss in the Final Four, thrashing the Cougars behind Lew Alcindor's 19 points and 18 rebounds. "Big Lew" was even more dominant in the title game, with 34 points and 16 boards in a win over North Carolina. UCLA limited Houston's Elvin Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game but was held to only 10. Bruins coach John Wooden credited his assistant, Jerry Norman, for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes.

## Players

Lew Alcindor would suffer the first major injury of his athletic career. He suffered a scratched left cornea on January 12, 1968, in a game against the California Golden Bears. He got struck by Ted Henderson of Cal in a rebound battle. He would miss the next two games against Stanford and Portland. This happened right before the game against the University of Houston.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| December 2, 1967* | No. 1 | at Purdue | W 73-71 | 1-0 | Purdue Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| December 8, 1967* | No. 1 | Wichita State | W 120-86 | 2-0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| December 9, 1967* 8:00 pm, KTLA (delay) | No. 1 | Iowa State | W 121-80 | 3-0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| December 22, 1967* | No. 1 | No. 10 Bradley | W 109-73 | 4-0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| December 23, 1967* | No. 1 | Notre Dame | W 114-63 | 5-0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| December 27, 1967* | No. 1 | Minnesota Los Angeles Classic | W 95-55 | 6-0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| December 29, 1967* | No. 1 | Saint Louis Los Angeles Classic | W 108-67 | 7-0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| December 30, 1967* | No. 1 | Wyoming Los Angeles Classic | W 104-71 | 8-0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| January 5, 1968 | No. 1 | Washington State | W 97-69 | 9-0 (1-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 6, 1968 | No. 1 | Washington | W 93-65 | 10-0 (2-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 12, 1968 | No. 1 | at California | W 94-64 | 11-0 (3-0) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA |
| January 13, 1968 | No. 1 | at Stanford | W 73-63 | 12-0 (4-0) | Stanford Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| January 18, 1968* | No. 1 | Portland | W 93-69 | 13-0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 20, 1968* TVS | No. 1 | vs. No. 2 Houston Game of the Century | L 69-71 | 13-1 | Houston Astrodome (52,693) Houston, TX |
| January 26, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. Holy Cross | W 90-67 | 14-1 | Madison Square Garden (18,106) New York, NY |
| January 27, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. Boston College | W 84-77 | 15-1 | Madison Square Garden (18,499) New York, NY |
| February 3, 1968 | No. 2 | USC | W 101-67 | 16-1 (5-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 9, 1968 | No. 2 | at Oregon State | W 55-52 | 17-1 (6-0) | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR |
| February 10, 1968 | No. 2 | at Oregon | W 104-63 | 18-1 (7-0) | McArthur Court Eugene, OR |
| February 16, 1968 | No. 2 | Oregon | W 119-78 | 19-1 (8-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 17, 1968 | No. 2 | Oregon State | W 88-71 | 20-1 (9-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 24, 1968 | No. 2 | at Washington | W 84-67 | 21-1 (10-0) | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA |
| February 26, 1968 | No. 2 | at Washington State | W 101-70 | 22-1 (11-0) | Bohler Gymnasium Pullman, WA |
| March 1, 1968 | No. 2 | Stanford | W 100-62 | 23-1 (12-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| March 2, 1968 | No. 2 | California | W 115-71 | 24-1 (13-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| March 9, 1968 | No. 2 | at USC | W 72-64 | 25-1 (14-0) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 15, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. New Mexico State Regional semifinal | W 58-49 | 26-1 | University Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| March 16, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. Santa Clara Regional Final | W 87-66 | 27-1 | University Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| March 22, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. No. 1 Houston National semifinal | W 101-69 | 28-1 | Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| March 23, 1968* | No. 2 | vs. No. 5 North Carolina National Final | W 78-55 | 29-1 | Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific time. ||||||
    Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Coaches | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |