1981 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1980–81 | ||||
| Teams | 48 | ||||
| Finals site |
The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Champions |
Indiana (4th title, 4th title game, 5th Final Four) |
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| Runner-up |
North Carolina (5th title game, 8th Final Four) |
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| Semifinalists | |||||
| Winning coach | Bob Knight (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Isiah Thomas Indiana | ||||
| Attendance | 347,414 | ||||
| Top scorer |
Al Wood North Carolina (109 points) |
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The 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third place game (the last in the NCAA Tournament). It was also the last tournament to be televised on NBC, before CBS took over the following year. Additionally, it was the last season in which the NCAA sponsored championships only in men's sports; the first Division I Women's Tournament would be played the following year.
Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 63–50 victory over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Isiah Thomas of Indiana was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The date of Saturday, March 14, 1981, was noteworthy in that it resulted in three major second round tournament upsets which were decided by last-second baskets.
St. Joseph's trailed No. 1 seed DePaul by seven at about the midway point of the second half, in an early afternoon Mideast Region game from Dayton, Ohio. However, with 48 seconds left, the Hawks had rallied to within 48–47. Blue Demons guard Skip Dillard was fouled with 13 seconds left. Dillard was known as 'Money' for his superb free throw shooting, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and St. Joseph's got the rebound, then quickly passed the ball to the front court without calling a timeout. Guard Bryan Warrick got the ball to freshman Lonnie McFarlan who was wide open in the right corner. McFarlan began to shoot until forward John Smith yelled "Please!" to him. McFarlan passed to Smith, who was open underneath the basket. Smith's layup with two seconds left enabled the Hawks of coach Jim Lynam to stun the Blue Demons of Ray Meyer, 49–48.
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