NCAA 1983-84 Season: Final Four vs Rice (31-3)
The Final Four, held in East Rutherford, NJ this year, is more home for George Washington than Rice. Of course, Princeton is the de facto home team here.
The Rice Owls have been ranked #2 for most of the season, save for a couple of weeks, if that, at #1. They actually have a youthful roster, starting a senior, two juniors, a redshirt freshman, and a true frosh. For four of these players, this is their first season as a starter. That center, Joseph Kujawa, is the Owls' top player, averaging 14.3 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. Freddie Thompson averages 14 points even from the guard spot. They get contributions from several others on the roster, but those are the two big guns on offense.
They have the seventh-best defense in the country, though they don't keep teams off the boards. They do force teams into bad shooting days, and GW is one constant bad shooting day. GW has more than a chance, especially if they continue their rebounding prowess (ie keeping the other team from getting the rebound). They are the best blocking team in the nation. Just one more stat to share.
The early prediction: Rice 67, GW 63. I think it'll be close throughout, but Rice has been here (five final fours in the last six years). This is their year to finally get to the promised land.
GW has a decided height advantage in this game. Woods and Armbruster immediately foul, and Thompson hits a three. Jack misses GW's first shot. Michael Drake finds Jonathan Shriver, but Davis responds with a three off a Jack pass for GW. Davis ties it, and Sandy, who comes in early, gets his first foul. Sandy gets his second, and that's not good news. Thompson hits another three, and it's 10-6 with 16:22 left. Jack draws a charge, then finds Patterson for the basket. Patterson then ties the game, and Hulett gives GW a 12-10 lead with 15:16 left.
Jack finds Hulett. He has yet to score himself, until he just now gets a steal and a layup. GW leads 16-10. Jack's got a 2-3-3 line. Michael Mitchell scores Rice's first points in four minutes. Jack scores from the corner, and Kujawa responds. Odd, Hulett is the SF, Jack the off-guard. Rice gets it to 18-16 with 12:04 left.
Ali comes in...here comes a three. Drake ties it on Armbruster's second foul, but Hector scores again. He's got six early points. Thompson scores to tie it at 20-20. Michael King is in. Davis hits a three, but Thompson responds. Seems like both teams have their wits about them now. Davis hits another three. He has 11, and Jack finds Ali. 28-23, GW with 9:49 left. Ali drills a three off a Jack pass. It's 31-23...Jack finds Davis. He has a 4-8-6 line, and GW has a 33-23 lead with 7:39 left. Unbelievable!
Sandy gets a steal and a dunk...he's back despite two fouls. Rice is shooting 40% right now. Armbruster came back, but got his third foul. Drake hits a three, but Kujawa fouls Jack. He hits both, and Kujawa has two fouls. Sandy gets an offensive rebound, and nails a three. Davis hits another three! They're shooting 55% from three. Unbelievable. Drake gets two free throws, but Jack gets a foul AND THE BUCKET! It's 46-34, and Jack has a 9-9-6 in the first half. Jack scores again...48-34!
Hulett scores...they're shooting 67%. They're going to need this lead, because when they come back to earth...Ali heads to the line. He hits both. He has seven points. Kujawa scores, but Hulett drains another three! Grayson with a steal, and he gets it to Hulett for a layup...it's 57-37. Unfreakingreal. Thompson hits a three, but Grayson responds. Mitchell scores...Chris Davis is in! That's how many fouls GW has. Jack blocks a dunk attempt, then finds Hulett for the score. It's 61-42 at the half, and this crowd is in a stunned frenzy. GW just hung 61 on Rice in one half. Jack has an 11-11-7 line, Hulett has 13..after that early deficit, GW was outright dominant. Thompson had 15 for Rice.
Shriver is fouled by Hulett to start. He makes one of two...and GW comes out shaky. Shriver hits a jumper, and GW has two turnovers. Rice gets it to 61-47 before Armbruster, freshman idiot, hits a three. Drake finds Mitchell, then finds Kujawa. It's 64-51...and Hulett drains a three. Kim Reynolds scores, and Armbruster is fouled. He hits one of two. 68-53 with 14:54 left.
Jack is off to start this half, missing four shots. Thompson scores...Jack misses a three. Drake hits, and the lead is 11, 68-57. Davis beats Rice's press and gets a layup. Armbruster gets his fourth foul. Kujawa hits...Hulett is fouled by Drake, AND THE BUCKET. He hits...he has 19, and it's 73-59. Jack finds Davis...Jack has yet to score this half. Kujawa scores, and Jack responds by finding Davis. They have 41 between them. Jack has an 11-13-9 number. With 11 left, it's 77-62.
Grayson gets two fouls in fifteen seconds. Ali fouls James Halcomb. Rice cuts it back to 14. Grayson scores, and Jack has a triple-double. Mitchell scores, and Grayson scores again, with a foul by Kujawa. Thompson scores. It's 82-67. Thompson fouls Davis, who makes one of two. Jack finds Davis for another basket. Then he blocks Reynolds' shot attempt. He has not scored this half, but GW continues to dominate through him.
Drake hits a three, and with 6:42 left, it's 85-70. Jack misses again. Maximo Joseph hits two free throws. Hulett misses a three. Chris Davis is back...for five seconds. GW has come back to earth from the heaven of three. Reynolds hits two free throws, and it's 85-74 with four minutes left. Rice is called for a violation. Davis gets inside and gets Thompson's fourth foul, and the bucket. He hits the free throw...it's 87-74, and Davis has 27. Hulett has 19.
Halcomb hits...and Jack finally scores, getting a three-point play with 1:33 left. He has a 14-15-11 line. Sandy is fouled...he makes one of two. GW is going to win this game, despite Jack scoring three points in the second half. Unbelievable. The final is 91-79. This is incredible. They're going to the NCAA Championship, and it's because of way more than Jack.
In the end, Jack went for 14-17-11, with five blocks, one steal, and one turnover. He shot 5-14, by far his worst shooting day. But his team marches on. Pretty sure he's okay with that trade-off. Davis (27) and Hulett (19) finally showed why they get the bulk of the time at the guard spots, despite bouts of inconsistency.
Code:
George Washington 91, Rice 79
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George Washington (34-1, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Bruce Woods C 18 0-3 0-0 2 2 0 4 0
Brian Armbruster PF 21 1-4 2-4 0 5 0 4 5
Jack Dawkins PF 36 5-14 4-4 2 17 11 2 14
Dwight Davis SG 28 11-16 1-3 3 8 4 3 27
Richie Hulett PG 33 8-12 1-2 2 2 3 3 19
John Sandy SF 20 2-5 1-2 2 4 2 2 6
Hector Patterson PG 12 3-5 0-0 0 0 1 0 6
Michael King PG 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Porter Ali SF 9 2-3 2-2 0 0 2 1 7
Glenn Grayson C 17 3-4 1-1 0 1 1 3 7
Chris Davis SG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 14 (B.Woods 3, J.Dawkins 1, D.Davis 3,
R.Hulett 2, H.Patterson 3, G.Grayson 2)
Blocked Shots: 5 (J.Dawkins 5)
Steals: 4 (J.Dawkins 1, R.Hulett 1, J.Sandy 1,
G.Grayson 1)
3P FGs: 9-21 (B.Armbruster 1-2, J.Dawkins 0-3, D.Davis
4-4, R.Hulett 2-6, J.Sandy 1-2, H.Patterson 0-2, P.Ali
1-2)
Rice (31-4, 12-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Joseph Kujawa C 35 5-7 2-2 1 6 1 3 12
Kim Reynolds PF 35 2-6 2-2 3 6 2 2 6
Joshua Shriver SF 31 3-10 1-2 2 7 2 3 7
Freddie Thompson SG 25 7-17 1-2 1 5 1 5 19
Michael Drake PG 35 4-9 3-5 2 5 7 3 13
Lowell Eveland C 9 0-2 0-0 2 3 0 0 0
Micheal Mitchell PG 12 5-11 4-4 0 1 3 1 14
Maximo Joseph SG 8 0-1 2-2 0 1 2 0 2
Jordan Maus PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
James Halcomb SF 9 1-2 4-6 0 1 1 2 6
Turnovers: 11 (J.Kujawa 2, K.Reynolds 2, J.Shriver 1,
F.Thompson 3, M.Drake 1, M.Mitchell 1, J.Maus 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (J.Kujawa 2, K.Reynolds 3)
Steals: 1 (M.Mitchell 1)
3P FGs: 6-21 (J.Shriver 0-4, F.Thompson 4-11, M.Drake
2-2, M.Mitchell 0-3, M.Joseph 0-1)
Player of Game: PF Jack Dawkins (GW)