Wolfpack Flashback: Prelude to a Miracle
The only Madness going on this March is taking place off the court, with the NCAA tournament cancelled in response to the growing coronavirus crisis. With no actual games to report on, SI All Wolfpack is looking back in time to remember some of NC State's best postseason games from the past. On this date in 1983, the Wolfpack beat Georgia to earn a shot at the national title two nights later
There is no more iconic image in college basketball history than that of NC State coach Jim Valvano running around the court in Albuquerque, N.M., looking for somebody to hug after Lorenzo Charles' buzzer-beating dunk won the 1983 national championship for his Wolfpack.
But Charles would never have gotten the opportunity to covert teammate Dereck Whittenburk's missed shot/pass and Valvano would never have had a reason to celebrate if State hadn't have beaten Georgia in a national semifinal two days earlier,
It was a game considered by many as the "junior varsity" matchup compared to the other semifinal between perennial powers Houston and Louisville. But the Wolfpack clearly took it seriously, jumping out early behind Whittenburg's perimeter shooting prowess and the inside strength of big man Thurl Bailey.
The two led all scorers with 20 points apiece and Sidney Lowe added 11 assists as State show 53.8% from the floor. Still, it was defense that carried the day against the Bulldogs -- whose run to the Final Four was just as big a surprise as the Wolfpack's
Georgia missed 19 of its first 23 field goal attempts (27.8%), a frigid pace that allowed State to build a 33-22 halftime lead. The lead eventually ballooned to 18 at 59-41 with around five minutes to play before the Bulldogs began pressing fullcourt and the Wolfpack took its foot off the accelerator.
It's a combination that helped cut State's lead to just six with under two minutes left. But with Cozell McQueen dominating the boards for a career-high 13 rebounds and Whittenburg hitting his free throws down the stretch, that's as close as Georgia would get."
"The dream continues," a happy Valvano said afterward.
And it would only get better.
