1987 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1987 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1987, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A total of 63 games were played.

1987 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	1986–87
Teams	64
Finals site	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Indiana Hoosiers (5th title, 5th title game, 6th Final Four)
Runner-up	Syracuse Orange (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Providence Friars (2nd Final Four) UNLV Runnin' Rebels (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Bob Knight (3rd title)
MOP	Keith Smart (Indiana)
Attendance	654,744
Top scorers	Steve Alford Indiana Rony Seikaly Syracuse (138 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «1986 1988»

Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 74–73 victory in the final game over Syracuse, coached by Jim Boeheim. Keith Smart of Indiana, who hit the game-winner in the final seconds, and intercepted the full court pass at the last second, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The tournament also featured a "Cinderella team" in the Final Four, as Providence College, led by a then-unknown Rick Pitino, made their first Final Four appearance since 1973.

One year after reaching the Final Four as a #11 seed, LSU made another deep run as a #10 seed in the Midwest region. The Tigers ousted #2 seed Temple in the second round and #3 seed DePaul in the Sweet 16 before losing 77-76 to top seeded Indiana in the Elite Eight.

This was the last tournament 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. Under rules adopted in 1988, teams cannot play in a facility in which they play four or more regular season games.

The 1987 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was also the first tournament to use the three-point shot.

Locations

Atlanta

Indianapolis

Charlotte

Syracuse

Rosemont

Birmingham

Tucson

Salt Lake City

1987 first and second rounds

Seattle

Louisville

Cincinnati

E. Rutherford

New Orleans

1987 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First & Second Rounds

Region	Site	Venue
East	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum
	Syracuse, New York	Carrier Dome
Midwest	Indianapolis, Indiana	Hoosier Dome
	Rosemont, Illinois	Rosemont Horizon
Southeast	Atlanta, Georgia	Omni Coliseum
	Birmingham, Alabama	BJCC Coliseum
West	Salt Lake City, Utah	Special Events Center
	Tucson, Arizona	McKale Center

Regional Sites and Final Four

Region	Site	Venue
East	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena
Midwest	Cincinnati, Ohio	Riverfront Coliseum
Southeast	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall
West	Seattle, Washington	The Kingdome
Final Four	New Orleans, Louisiana	Louisiana Superdome

For the second time, the Louisiana Superdome hosted the Final Four. There were four domed stadiums in the 1987 tournament, including Indianapolis, New Orleans, Seattle and Syracuse. There were two new venues, the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis and the Rosemont Horizon, located in suburban Chicago. This marked the first time the Tournament returned to the Chicago area in twenty years. This also marked the last appearance of the original Charlotte Coliseum, moving to the new Coliseum in 1991.

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Regional Runner-up	2 Syracuse	L 79–75
East	2	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Runner-up	1 Indiana	L 74–73
East	3	Purdue	Gene Keady	Round of 32	6 Florida	L 85–66
East	4	TCU	Jim Killingsworth	Round of 32	5 Notre Dame	L 58–57
East	5	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Sweet Sixteen	1 North Carolina	L 74–68
East	6	Florida	Norm Sloan	Sweet Sixteen	2 Syracuse	L 87–81
East	7	West Virginia	Gale Catlett	Round of 64	10 Western Kentucky	L 64–62
East	8	Navy	Pete Herrmann	Round of 64	9 Michigan	L 97–82
East	9	Michigan	Bill Frieder	Round of 32	1 North Carolina	L 109–97
East	10	Western Kentucky	Murray Arnold	Round of 32	2 Syracuse	L 104–86
East	11	NC State	Jim Valvano	Round of 64	6 Florida	L 82–70
East	12	Middle Tennessee State	Bruce Stewart	Round of 64	5 Notre Dame	L 84–71
East	13	Marshall	Rick Huckabay	Round of 64	4 TCU	L 76–60
East	14	Northeastern	Karl Fogel	Round of 64	3 Purdue	L 104–95
East	15	Georgia Southern	Frank Kerns	Round of 64	2 Syracuse	L 79–73
East	16	Penn	Tom Schneider	Round of 64	1 North Carolina	L 113–82
Midwest
Midwest	1	Indiana	Bob Knight	Champion	2 Syracuse	W 74–73
Midwest	2	Temple	John Chaney	Round of 32	10 LSU	L 72–62
Midwest	3	DePaul	Joey Meyer	Sweet Sixteen	10 LSU	L 63–58
Midwest	4	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Round of 64	13 Xavier	L 70–69
Midwest	5	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Sweet Sixteen	1 Indiana	L 88–82
Midwest	6	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Round of 32	3 DePaul	L 83–75
Midwest	7	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	Round of 64	10 LSU	L 85–79
Midwest	8	Auburn	Sonny Smith	Round of 32	1 Indiana	L 107–90
Midwest	9	San Diego	Hank Egan	Round of 64	8 Auburn	L 62–61
Midwest	10	LSU	Dale Brown	Regional Runner-up	1 Indiana	L 77–76
Midwest	11	Wichita State	Eddie Fogler	Round of 64	6 St. John's	L 57–55
Midwest	12	Texas A&M	Shelby Metcalf	Round of 64	5 Duke	L 58–51
Midwest	13	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Round of 32	5 Duke	L 65–60
Midwest	14	Louisiana Tech	Tommy Joe Eagles	Round of 64	3 DePaul	L 76–62
Midwest	15	Southern	Ben Jobe	Round of 64	2 Temple	L 75–56
Midwest	16	Fairfield	Mitch Buonaguro	Round of 64	1 Indiana	L 92–58
Southeast
Southeast	1	Georgetown	John Thompson	Regional Runner-up	6 Providence	L 88–73
Southeast	2	Alabama	Wimp Sanderson	Sweet Sixteen	6 Providence	L 103–82
Southeast	3	Illinois	Lou Henson	Round of 64	14 Austin Peay	L 68–67
Southeast	4	Clemson	Cliff Ellis	Round of 64	13 Southwest Missouri State	L 65–60
Southeast	5	Kansas	Larry Brown	Sweet Sixteen	1 Georgetown	L 70–57
Southeast	6	Providence	Rick Pitino	National Semifinals	2 Syracuse	L 77–63
Southeast	7	New Orleans	Benny Dees	Round of 32	2 Alabama	L 101–76
Southeast	8	Kentucky	Eddie Sutton	Round of 64	9 Ohio State	L 91–77
Southeast	9	Ohio State	Gary Williams	Round of 32	1 Georgetown	L 82–79
Southeast	10	BYU	LaDell Andersen	Round of 64	7 New Orleans	L 83–79
Southeast	11	UAB	Gene Bartow	Round of 64	6 Providence	L 90–68
Southeast	12	Houston	Pat Foster	Round of 64	5 Kansas	L 66–55
Southeast	13	Southwest Missouri State	Charlie Spoonhour	Round of 32	5 Kansas	L 67–63
Southeast	14	Austin Peay	Lake Kelly	Round of 32	6 Providence	L 90–87
Southeast	15	North Carolina A&T	Don Corbett	Round of 64	2 Alabama	L 88–71
Southeast	16	Bucknell	Charles Woollum	Round of 64	1 Georgetown	L 75–53
West
West	1	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	National Semifinals	1 Indiana	L 97–93
West	2	Iowa	Tom Davis	Regional Runner-up	1 UNLV	L 84–81
West	3	Pittsburgh	Paul Evans	Round of 32	6 Oklahoma	L 96–93
West	4	UCLA	Walt Hazzard	Round of 32	12 Wyoming	L 78–68
West	5	Virginia	Terry Holland	Round of 64	12 Wyoming	L 64–60
West	6	Oklahoma	Billy Tubbs	Sweet Sixteen	2 Iowa	L 93–91
West	7	UTEP	Don Haskins	Round of 32	2 Iowa	L 84–82
West	8	Georgia	Hugh Durham	Round of 64	9 Kansas State	L 82–79
West	9	Kansas State	Lon Kruger	Round of 32	1 UNLV	L 80–61
West	10	Arizona	Lute Olson	Round of 64	7 UTEP	L 98–91
West	11	Tulsa	J. D. Barnett	Round of 64	6 Oklahoma	L 74–69
West	12	Wyoming	Jim Brandenburg	Sweet Sixteen	1 UNLV	L 92–78
West	13	Central Michigan	Charlie Coles	Round of 64	4 UCLA	L 92–73
West	14	Marist	Dave Magarity	Round of 64	3 Pittsburgh	L 93–68
West	15	Santa Clara	Carroll Williams	Round of 64	2 Iowa	L 99–76
West	16	Idaho State	Jim Boutin	Round of 64	1 UNLV	L 95–70

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	North Carolina	113
	16	Penn	82
						1	North Carolina	109
	Charlotte
						9	Michigan	97
	8	Navy	82
	9	Michigan	97
											1	North Carolina	74
											5	Notre Dame	68
	5	Notre Dame	84
	12	Middle Tennessee State	71
						5	Notre Dame	58
	Charlotte
						4	TCU	57
	4	TCU	76
	13	Marshall	60
																1	North Carolina	75
																2	Syracuse	79
	6	Florida	82
	11	NC State	70
						6	Florida	85
	Syracuse
						3	Purdue	66
	3	Purdue	104
	14	Northeastern	95
											6	Florida	81
											2	Syracuse	87
	7	West Virginia	62
	10	Western Kentucky	64
						10	Western Kentucky	86
	Syracuse
						2	Syracuse	104
	2	Syracuse	79
	15	Georgia Southern	73

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 21

box score

#2 Syracuse Orangemen 79, #1 North Carolina Tar Heels 75
Pts: R. Seikaly – 26 Rebs: D. Coleman – 14 Asts: S. Douglas – 9		Pts: K. Smith – 25 Rebs: J. Wolf – 10 Asts: K. Smith – 7 Halftime Score: Syracuse, 41-30

Brendan Byrne Arena – East Rutherford, New Jersey Referees: Tyler Honsen

Southeast Regional – Louisville, Kentucky

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Georgetown	75
	16	Bucknell	53
						1	Georgetown	82
	Atlanta
						9	Ohio State	79
	8	Kentucky	77
	9	Ohio State	91
											1	Georgetown	70
											5	Kansas	57
	5	Kansas	66
	12	Houston	55
						5	Kansas	67
	Atlanta
						13	Southwest Missouri State	63
	4	Clemson	60
	13	Southwest Missouri State	65
																1	Georgetown	73
																6	Providence	88
	6	Providence	90
	11	UAB	68
						6	Providence	90
	Birmingham
						14	Austin Peay	87*
	3	Illinois	67
	14	Austin Peay	68
											6	Providence	103
											2	Alabama	82
	7	New Orleans	83
	10	BYU	79
						7	New Orleans	76
	Birmingham
						2	Alabama	101
	2	Alabama	88
	15	North Carolina A&T	71

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 21

box score

#6 Providence Friars 88, #1 Georgetown Hoyas 73
Pts: B. Donovan – 20 Rebs: D. Kipfer – 5 Asts: B. Donovan – 6		Pts: R. Williams – 25 Rebs: P. McDonald – 10 Asts: B. Winston – 4 Halftime Score: Providence, 54-37

Freedom Hall – Louisville, Kentucky

Midwest Regional – Cincinnati, Ohio

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Indiana	92
	16	Fairfield	58
						1	Indiana	107
	Indianapolis
						8	Auburn	90
	8	Auburn	62
	9	San Diego	61
											1	Indiana	88
											5	Duke	82
	5	Duke	58
	12	Texas A&M	51
						5	Duke	65
	Indianapolis
						13	Xavier	60
	4	Missouri	69
	13	Xavier	70
																1	Indiana	77
																10	LSU	76
	6	St. John's	57
	11	Wichita State	55
						6	St. John's	75*
	Rosemont
						3	DePaul	83
	3	DePaul	76
	14	Louisiana Tech	62
											3	DePaul	58
											10	LSU	63
	7	Georgia Tech	79
	10	LSU	85
						10	LSU	72
	Rosemont
						2	Temple	62
	2	Temple	75
	15	Southern	56

CBS

Sunday, March 22

box score

#1 Indiana Hoosiers 77, #10 LSU Tigers 76
Pts: S. Alford – 20 Rebs: D. Garrett – 15 Asts: S. Alford – 7		Pts: N. Wilson – 20 Rebs: O. Brown, B. Woodside – 7 Asts: O. Brown – 8 Halftime Score: Indiana, 47-46

Riverfront Coliseum – Cincinnati, Ohio Referees: Jim Burr, Tom Frahm, Paul Housman

West Regional – Seattle, Washington

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	UNLV	95
	16	Idaho State	70
						1	UNLV	80
	Salt Lake City
						9	Kansas State	61
	8	Georgia	79*
	9	Kansas State	82
											1	UNLV	92
											12	Wyoming	78
	5	Virginia	60
	12	Wyoming	64
						12	Wyoming	78
	Salt Lake City
						4	UCLA	68
	4	UCLA	92
	13	Central Michigan	73
																1	UNLV	84
																2	Iowa	81
	6	Oklahoma	74
	11	Tulsa	69
						6	Oklahoma	96
	Tucson
						3	Pittsburgh	93
	3	Pittsburgh	93
	14	Marist	68
											6	Oklahoma	91*
											2	Iowa	93
	7	UTEP	98
	10	Arizona	91*
						7	UTEP	82
	Tucson
						2	Iowa	84
	2	Iowa	99
	15	Santa Clara	76

CBS

Sunday, March 22

box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 84, #2 Iowa Hawkeyes 81
Pts: A. Gilliam – 27 Rebs: A. Gilliam – 10 Asts: M. Wade – 12		Pts: K. Gamble, B. J. Armstrong – 18 Rebs: B. Lohaus – 7 Asts: R. Marble – 5 Halftime Score: Iowa, 58-42

Kingdome – Seattle

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E2	Syracuse	77
	S6	Providence	63
						E2	Syracuse	73
						M1	Indiana	74
	M1	Indiana	97
	W1	UNLV	93

Game Summaries

CBS

Saturday, March 28

box score

#1 Indiana Hoosiers 97, #1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 93
Pts: S. Alford – 33 Rebs: D. Garrett – 10 Asts: R. Calloway – 6		Pts: F. Banks – 38 Rebs: A. Gilliam – 10 Asts: M. Wade – 18 Halftime Score: Indiana, 53-47

Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans

CBS

Saturday, March, 28

box score

#2 Syracuse Orangemen 77, #6 Providence Friars 63
Pts: G. Monroe – 20 Rebs: D. Coleman – 12 Asts: S. Douglas – 6		Pts: C. Screen – 18 Rebs: J. Duda – 7 Asts: B. Donovan – 7 Halftime Score: Syracuse, 36-26

Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans

National Championship

Main article: 1987 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

CBS

Monday, March, 30

Box score

#1 Indiana Hoosiers 74, #2 Syracuse Orangemen 73
Pts: S. Alford – 23 Rebs: D. Garrett – 10 Asts: J. Hillman, K. Smart – 6		Pts: S. Douglas – 20 Rebs: D. Coleman – 19 Asts: S. Douglas – 7 Halftime Score: Indiana, 34-33

Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans

Trivia

• The 59th Academy Awards show was broadcast on the ABC network at the same time as CBS network broadcast of the championship game between Indiana and Syracuse. Oscars show host Chevy Chase quipped later in the evening, "Is the game over yet?" The Oscars show would subsequently be scheduled around the tournament broadcast by moving it later in April for two years.
• Tenth seeded LSU reached the Elite Eight for the second straight year without being favored to win a game. 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.
• 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. The opening words for the football version were "The ball is kicked"; in the reworked version, the word "kicked" was changed to "tipped" to suit the tournament.
• 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 the Duke University Blue Devils 103–73. The following year 1991, Duke defeated UNLV in the National Semi-final game to end UNLV's chance to finish undefeated. Rick Pitino followed in 1996 with Kentucky, defeating Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team in the final. Boeheim would win in 2003 with Syracuse by defeating the University of Kansas Jayhawks.
• 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. The Gulf Star and Big South did not have automatic bids to the tournament because many of the schools in these conferences were transitioning from other divisions.
• 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. UCLA held on to defeat Washington 76-62, putting Houston into the field of 64.

Announcers

• Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – First Round (Virginia–Wyoming) at Salt Lake City, Utah; Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana and Rosemont, Illinois; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey; Midwest Regional Final at Cincinnati, Ohio; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn – First (Oklahoma–Tulsa) and Second Rounds at Tucson, Arizona; Southeast Regional Semifinal (Georgetown–Kansas) and Regional Final at Louisville, Kentucky
• Verne Lundquist and Billy Cunningham – Second Round at Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia; Midwest Regional Semifinals at Cincinnati, Ohio; West Regional Final at Seattle, Washington
• Tom Hammond and Larry Conley – Southeast Regional Semifinal (Alabama–Providence) at Louisville, Kentucky
• Tim Brant and Bill Raftery – Second Round at Syracuse, New York; West Regional Semifinals at Seattle, Washington
• Mike Patrick and Larry Conley – First (Alabama–North Carolina A&T, Providence–UAB) and Second Rounds at Birmingham, Alabama
• Gary Bender and Hubie Brown – Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Jim Thacker and Jack Givens – First Round (North Carolina–Pennsylvania, TCU–Marshall) at Charlotte, North Carolina
• Frank Herzog and Bucky Waters – First Round (Notre Dame–Middle Tennessee State, Navy–Michigan) at Charlotte, North Carolina
• Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – First Round (Syracuse–Georgia Southern, Purdue–Northeastern) at Syracuse, New York
• Phil Stone and Bill Raftery – First Round (Florida–N.C. State, West Virginia–Western Kentucky) at Syracuse, New York
• John Sanders and Joe Dean – First Round (Georgetown–Bucknell) at Atlanta, Georgia
• John Sanders and Dave Gavitt – First Round (Kentucky–Ohio State) at Atlanta, Georgia
• Fred White and Joe Dean – First Round (Kansas–Houston) at Atlanta, Georgia
• Fred White and Dave Gavitt – First Round (Clemson–SW Missouri State) at Atlanta, Georgia
• Bob Rathbun and Dan Bonner – First Round (Illinois–Austin Peay, New Orleans–Brigham Young) at Birmingham, Alabama
• Tom Hammond and Jim Gibbons – First Round (Indiana–Fairfield, Missouri–Xavier) at Indianapolis, Indiana
• Ralph Hacker and John Laskowski – First Round (Duke–Texas A&M, Auburn–San Diego) at Indianapolis, Indiana
• Mick Hubert and Gary Thompson – First Round (Temple–Southern, DePaul–Louisiana Tech) at Rosemont, Illinois
• Wayne Larrivee and Bob Ortegel – First Round (St. John's–Wichita State, Georgia Tech–LSU) at Rosemont, Illinois
• Frank Fallon and Lynn Shackelford – First Round (UNLV–Idaho State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Bob Carpenter and Irv Brown – First Round (UCLA–Central Michigan, Georgia–Kansas State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Pete Solomon and Bruce Larson – First Round (Iowa–Santa Clara) at Tucson, Arizona
• Ted Robinson and Dan Belluomini – First Round (Pittsburgh–Marist, UTEP–Arizona) at Tucson, Arizona

See also

• 1987 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 National Invitation Tournament
• 1987 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1987 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 1987 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament

References