The 1987 NCAA Final Four: A Defining Moment in College Basketball

The 1987 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a captivating event, featuring 64 schools vying for the national championship. The tournament, the 49th annual edition, commenced on March 12, 1987, and culminated with the championship game on March 30 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Indiana Hoosiers, under the guidance of coach Bob Knight, emerged victorious, defeating the Syracuse Orangemen, led by coach Jim Boeheim, with a score of 74-73.

Tournament Overview

The 1987 tournament was the last one in which teams were allowed to have home court advantage. National runner-up Syracuse (2E), DePaul (3MW), Arizona (10W) and UAB (11SE) all opened the tournament playing on their home courts. UAB and Arizona each lost in the first round, while DePaul won twice at the Rosemont Horizon.

Memorable Moments and Rule Changes

The tournament was also memorable for being the first to feature the 3-point shot.

For the second time in 5 years, a rule involving how the clock would run after a made basket played a massive role at the end of a title game. In 1983, N.C. State won the title on a dunk with 1 second left, as the clock ran through the dunk and ran out before Houston could do anything. In 1987, Syracuse players (either unaware of the clock-running post basket or freezing under pressure) let 4 seconds run off the clock after Keith Smart's made jumper; only 1 second was left when a timeout was called, and the Orangemen's last shot was missed to give Indiana the national title.

OrangeHoops.org tells us that the Orangemen, who were trying to snap a streak of four straight second-round losses in the NCAAs, struggled with George Southern in the first round, however, had no trouble with the Hilltoppers.

This game is noteworthy in that Western Kentucky decided the only way they could get back into the game was to deliberately foul Derek Brower, a notoriously poor free throw shooter. The end result was Brower (without the ball) was running around the court, trying to avoid getting intentionally fouled by the Hilltopper’s Brett McNeal. McNeal eventually succeeded in catching Brower, and sending Brower to the line. Brower would go 0-6 from the charity stripe. Over the summer the NCAA would change the rules regarding ‘intentional’ fouls, awarding free throws and the ball back to the team that was fouled.

Controversies and Missed Opportunities

During the selection show, there was a spot left open for the #12 seed in the Southeast Region. Kansas, the 5th seed in the region, was due to face either Washington or Houston in the first round. Washington was facing UCLA in the finals of the Pac-10 tournament at the time the selections were announced.

There were no teams from the Metro Conference, Big South Conference or Gulf Star Conference in the tournament. The Metro Conference allowed Memphis State, which was serving an NCAA tournament ban that year, to compete in its conference tournament, which it won by defeating the defending 1986 National Champion Louisville Cardinals by the lopsided score 75 to 52 on the Cardinals' home court, Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The NCAA basketball tournament committee said as the conference had committed its automatic berth would go to its conference tournament winner, the conference lost its automatic berth that year, and no other schools received an at-large entry. Most conferences now prohibit teams on postseason bans from participating in conference tournaments as a result, or have provisional automatic bids awarded to the eligible team that advanced the most.

Cinderella Stories and Coaching Legacies

One year after reaching the Final Four as a #11 seed, LSU made another deep run as a #10 seed in the Midwest region. Tenth seeded LSU reached the Elite Eight for the second straight year without being favored to win a game. This time, the Tigers did not have the advantage of playing their first- and second-round games on their home court. They had previously reached the Final Four as an 11-seed in 1986, losing to eventual national champion Louisville Cardinals. The Tigers missed a shot at the buzzer and fell short of another trip to the Final Four, losing 77-76 to eventual national champion Indiana. It marked the fifth time in seven tournament appearances between 1979 and 1987 LSU was eliminated by the eventual national champion.

Providence, "the Cinderella" of the tournament, was led by head coach Rick Pitino and point guard Billy Donovan. The Friars upset Georgetown, 88-73, in Louisville, in the Southeast Regional Final, to advance to the Final Four. Two weeks before reaching the Final Four, Pitino's six-month-year-old son, Daniel, passed away from a sickness.

The three losing coaches in the Final Four all eventually won national titles. Jerry Tarkanian was the first to do so, winning in 1990 with UNLV defeating Duke 103-73. Rick Pitino followed in 1996 with Kentucky, defeating Jim Boeheim's Syracuse in the final.

Florida made the NCAA Tournament for the first time, making it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Indiana's Road to the Championship

Steve Alford hits a last second shot to propel Indiana to victory over the host Wolverines, 85-84.

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Syracuse's Journey to the Final

The Syracuse Orange will be making their fifth trip to the Final Four on Saturday when they take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Georgia Dome. Before they get there, let's take a look back at the previous four trips.On Tuesday, we started with the 1975 team. Today is the 1987 run…

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Head Coach: Jim Boeheim (11th season)Assistant Coach: Bernie FineRecord: 31-7Conference: Big EastLeading Scorer: Sherman Douglas (17.2 PPG)Leading Rebounder: Derrick Coleman (8.8 RPG)Leading Passer: Sherman Douglas (7.6 APG)Starters: Douglas, Coleman, Greg Monroe, Howard Triche, Rony Seikaly (Derek Brower started three games)Record vs. G’town: 0-3

Regular Season: The Orangemen entered the season trying to replace three players -- Pearl Washington, Raf Addison and Wendell Alexis -- that ended up in the NBA and helped Syracuse collected a share of the Big East Conference regular-season championship with St. John’s.

With no-so-high expectations, the city of Syracuse was pleasantly surprised when sophomore point guard Sherman Douglas ended up filling in nicely for Washington, and big men, center Ron Seikaly, who recovered quickly from a stress fracture in his left foot, and freshman Derrick Coleman, played really well.

The trio, along with seniors Howard Triche and Greg Monroe, helped the Orangemen begin the season 15-0 overall and climb all the way up to No. 5 in the nation. At the time, it was the best start under Boeheim ever.

SU’s first loss of the season came in a game at the Michigan Wolverines - a nice coincidence, I know. The loss ended up being one of three in a five-game span, however, the Orangemen finished the season with a nice 7-2 run and captured a share of the Big East regular-season crown with Pitt and Georgetown.

In the Big East Tournament, Syracuse defeated Villanova and then Pitt to setup a Championship Game showdown with Georgetown, which defeated the Orangemen twice during the regular season.

Revenge was not in the cards for SU, as the Hoyas’ Reggie Williams scored a game-high 25 points, which included five 3-pointers (back then that was a lot of 3-pointers), and collected nine rebounds to lead his team to a 69-59 victory.

After the game, Boeheim said this about Williams: “He’s just a great player. If there is any better all-around player, I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

Following the loss, Syracuse (26-6) learned it would be the No. 2 seed in the East Region and would host Georgia Southern in round one and then the winner of No. 10-seeded Western Kentucky or No. 7-seeded West Virginia in round two.

The East Region also featured No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 TCU.

Siekaly scored 33 points in a Sweet 16 victory over Floirda and then again went off for 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 79-75 victory over the Tar Heels in the Regional Final. The performance helped Boeheim earn his first trip to the Final Four as a head coach.

Semifinal Showdown: Syracuse vs. Providence

The semifinal featured Syracuse dominating Providence, 77-63.

Excuse me for a second while I ask: what the heck was Derrick Coleman doing?!?!I understand he’s a freshman, but he just throws a haymaker for no reason.I am smiling while writing this, but how does he not get tossed from this game? Luckily, Syracuse lead 49-31 at the time and it may not have mattered either way.

A few quick thoughts on this fight: 1) If this happened today, I don’t know if Derrick Brower and Derrick Coleman would ever see the floor again -- HOLY HAYMAKERS!; 2) The brawl prompted many phone calls to the Cornell athletic department over concerns the program was recruiting “thugs”, because the Big Red were involved in another fight against Canisius five days earlier! Those silly bears.)

The Championship Game: Indiana vs. Syracuse

The championship game between Indiana and Syracuse was a nail-biting affair, broadcast on CBS at the same time as the 59th Academy Awards show on ABC. The game was decided in the final seconds, with Indiana securing a 74-73 victory.

Couple things about the Championship Game: Keith "Effing" Smart scored 15 of 19 points in the second half. Steve Alford went 7-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc and tallied 23 points. Derrick Coleman collected 19 rebounds. Brandon Triche looks so much like Howard Triche (1:53 mark), who scored only five points. Syracuse went 10 of 18 from the free throw line, but before Triche went 1-for-1 at the line and Coleman missed his lone, late attempt, the Orangemen were 7-for-9 in the second half. Boeheim calls timeout with 1:42 to go, up by two, leaving himself with one timeout. Out of the timeout, Syracuse runs a clear-out play for Sherman Douglas, who doesn't come close to making his shot. Back in the day, Jim Boeheim was able throw down some wicked fist-pumps. Hopefully, he gets to show he still has it this weekend.

Syracuse led, 73-72, with 28 seconds remaining, but Derrick Coleman missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting the stage for the game-winner from Keith Smart, who hit a jumper over Howard Triche with four seconds left. By the time Syracuse called timeout to set up a final play, there was one second remaining. ^ Riley, John (March 31, 1987). "Seconds for Syracuse: SU partiers go little wild, even in defeat". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 1.

"One Shining Moment"

This marked the first time that CBS Sports used "One Shining Moment" during their tournament epilogue. Initially, the song was supposed to have been played after Super Bowl XXI (which was also aired on CBS), but due to time constraints, its debut was delayed until the national championship game.

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