On This Date in Sports March 21, 1964: The Dawning of the Age of UCLA

In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com

It is the dawning of the age of UCLA, as the Bruins win their first NCAA Tournament, beating Duke 98-83 in the final in Kansas City. Under Coach John Wooden, UCLA would come to dominate college basketball over the next decade, winning 10-of-12 NCAA Tournaments from 1964-1975. Despite falling short in the title game Jeff Mullins of Duke is named Most Outstanding Player for the tournament.

John Wooden in his own right was a terrific basketball player. Born on October 14, 1910, in Hall, Indiana he was a star at Purdue after graduating high school in 1928. He later played professionally in the Indianapolis Kautskys. At the time, he also coached and taught at local Indiana high school. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Wooden began his college coaching career at Indiana State in 1946. After two successful, John Wooden moved on to UCLA.

The Bruins breakout season was in 1962 when they played in their first Final Four. Two years later, they became the top team in the nation, posting a perfect record of 26-0 during the regular season. At the time 25 teams participated the in the NCAA Tournament, with UCLA getting a bye into the Regional Semifinals. The Bruins were tested on the way to the Final Four, beating Seattle 95-90 in the Western Semifinals in Corvallis, Oregon. The Western Regional Final was not any easier as they defeated San Francisco 76-72.

Joining UCLA at the Final Four in Kansas City were Kansas State who won the Midwest Region by beating Texas Western 64-60 and Wichita State 94-86. Michigan came out of the Mideast Region with an 84-80 win over defending champion Loyola-Illinois and a 69-57 win over Ohio. While Duke beat Villanova 87-73 and UConn 101-54 to win the East Region. In the National Semifinals, Duke upended Michigan 91-80, while UCLA beat K-State 90-84.

Duke coached by Vic Bubas came into the championship game with a record of 26-3, while UCLA was 29-0. Each team was looking for its first title. UCLA looking to pick up the pace, employed the zone press, which allowed them to take control of the game quickly. The Bruins would outscore the Blue Devils 50-38 in the first half and never looked back, winning with relative ease 98-83.

While Jeff Mullins of Duke was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, scoring 22 points in the championship game, UCLA was led by Gail Goodrich, who had a game-high 27 points. Kenny Washington also had a big game off the bench with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Doug McIntosh also had 11 boards off the bench, while Walt Hazzard the Bruins top player most of the season was held to 11 points, with eight assists.

UCLA would win the NCAA Tournament again in 1965. After missing the tournament in 1966, the Bruins dynasty resumed with Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as they won the tournament seven straight seasons from 1967-1973. After falling in the semifinals in 1974, the Bruins claimed one last championship for John Wooden in 1975 in his finals season before retiring.