YouTube Gold: UNC-Georgetown, 1982

In 1982, UNC and Georgetown met in the NCAA tournament finals. The talent was impressive: UNC had James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan while Georgetown had Patrick Ewing and an excellent supporting cast.

Both Ewing and Jordan were freshmen but at that point, very few people understood Jordan’s immense potential.

Ewing’s, however, was clear. He was like a more ferocious Bill Russell. Against one team in that tournament he blocked an early shot then beat everyone down court and got a dunk.

That game was over in about three minutes.

So when the Tar Heels and the Hoyas met in the title game, anticipation was high. And for a few minutes, Ewing was sky high, blocking every shot he could get near, whether it was goal tending or not. Only later did we learn that Hoya coach John Thompson told him to.

It was a very tight game with Georgetown up 62-61 with :32 left and then Jordan hit his first great clutch shot with :15 left.

Then one of the most shocking plays in NCAA history happened: with :07 left, Hoya Fred Brown had a brain fart and passed the ball to Worthy. Georgetown fouled Worthy with two left and he missed them both. But :02 seconds wasn’t enough time for Georgetown to get a shot off.

Keep in mind there was no shot clock and no three point shot.

Georgetown would get back to the Finals twice more with Ewing and would win in 1984 over Houston and yet another rising star, Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.