re: LSU v. Indiana 1981 Final Four

Dale Brown lost the 87 game with his 4 corners offense late in the game. Bobby Knight owned Dale and Dale knew it.

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No, the phone slam was 1987. Indiana beat us in 1981. We were robbed by the refs in 1987. Knight should have been ejected, we should have gotten technical points off of that and they should have called the foul towards the end to put Fess Irvin on the line to win.

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Dead
Solid
Perfect

I was a student at LSU then and was at the game in Philly. We were the best team in the country that year and were on a roll. Macklin's hand injury cost us the National Championship.

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We were the best team in the country that year and were on a roll.

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They were not on a roll. The team lost four of their final eight games.

LSU had a very talented team that year but played a pretty easy schedule.
The season started in Alaska for the Shootout. LSU lost in the semifinals against Arkansas. LSU then won the next 26 games in a row with only three games against ranked opponents. This was not a great year for the SEC as only Tennessee and Kentucky were ranked when they played the Tigers. LSU ends the regular season losing at Kentucky. LSU wins one SEC tournament game before losing to Georgia. LSU plays one ranked team, #20 Arkansas, on the way to the Final Four. LSU loses both games in Philadelphia to finish the year 31-5.

LSU was unfortunate to not play against some of the best teams in the nation that year. They missed playing North Carolina by losing to Arkansas in Alaska. Both Kentucky and Tennessee lose in the second round of the SEC tournament. In the Midwest regional LSU was the top seed. #2 Arizona St., #3 Iowa and #4 Louisville all lost their opening games. In the final AP poll for the year Arizona St. was ranked #3 and LSU was ranked #4. Would have been a hell of a game in the Superdome.

We were 31-3 with a healthy Macklin, and you can't hold the last loss vs wahoo against LSU because there had to be a letdown after the natty hopes being dashed. There's a reason that was the last 3rd place game ever played. No one cares to play it.

I loved LSU basketball as a kid, but Dale Brown broke me of that...he could do the most with the least amount of talent, and the least with the most amount of talent. I'd love to see W.Wade bring it back.

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Dale Brown lost the 87 game with his 4 corners offense late in the game. Bobby Knight owned Dale and Dale knew it.

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A Hall of Fame Coach at a blue blood program and Dale and upstart LSU leads you until 6 seconds left in the game and you call that owning Dale? Had the officials taken charge of the game when Hall of Fame coach went on his rampage LSU wins by 8 to 10 point.

I had never seen the game since it aired when I was a kid, and I made it through the whole thing.

The collapse in the second half was so severe that they scored 9 points in 17 minutes of play.

Never saw anything like it, and no wonder Dale called it the most bitter loss of his career.

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LSU v. Indiana 1981 Final Four

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Arguably LSU's greatest basketball team versus Knight, Zeke, Ray Tolbert, Landon Turner, Randy Wittman, etc. during one of college basketball's most exciting, talent-filled, and eventful tournaments, doesn't get much better than that, luck of the draw for us at least we lost to the eventual champ

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Scott Hastings?

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That's probably him. My memory is too fuzzy and I don't recall watching the game, just reading about it at the time.

Yesterday I wound up watching the 1981 final between Indiana and North Carolina. I was surprised to see almost the same dynamics in the game. The game was tight at half time with NC leading most of the first half but then Indiana going on a run at the beginning of the second half and pulling away for an easy win. That was a Dean Smith-coached team with an even better front line than LSU - future NBA greats James Worthy and Sam Perkins, and college star and would-have-been 1980 Olympian Al Wood.

Another interesting thing about the game that I had not remembered is that it happened on the day Reagan was shot. He had only been in office less than two months. Here's the link to that game.

As I look at that Indiana team, in hindsight it was formidable - all-time great Isaiah Thomas, future NBA players in Randy Whittman and Ray Tolbert and a would-have-been NBA star Landon Turner - drafted in the 2nd round of an NBA draft by the Celtics even after he had been paralyzed. Shows you how much they thought of his talent - hoping that somehow he could have recovered. Turner looked really good going against Worthy in this game.

LINK