1983-84 NCAA Tournament: Elite Eight vs California (24-9)
Before we get to California, here is what happened on Saturday.
West: 1) BYU 81, 11) Long Island 53. Cinderella never found her shoe. Long Island fell behind quickly to the Cougars (30-5), and never got on track. Joshau Binkley scored 17 and registered 11 rebounds for BYU. Garret Watson scored 13 for Long Island, who finishes at 24-9.
South: 1) Princeton 98, 6) Penn 74. The Tigers beat Penn twice this year in the regular season in close games. This explosion was a surprise, but the Tigers shot 56% from the floor to crush the Quakers. Princeton (28-6) was led by Travis Cruz' 22, while Charle Snell scored 15 and registered 10 rebounds. The Quakers (23-10) were led by Tony Steinmetz' 21.
California went 24-9 this year, but finished 6-8 in the top-heavy PCC. They do own some solid victories, though they only beat Indiana by 3. They did beat Washington, and beat Columbia and Baylor so far in this tournament. The Golden Bears have an effective offense, ranking in the top 20% in nearly every category. They have a do-enough defense, though they are tough to shoot on (29th in the country in oFG%; 18th in aFG%). GW likes to shoot the three, but teams only shoot 30% against the Golden Bears, while shooting 37% themselves. For the Colonials to get to the Final Four, they're going to have to get to the line.
Forward Raymond Doby leads a relatively experienced team (several players have put two years in the program), averaging 19.7 points a game this year. Guard Adalberto Rubio averages 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists to supplement the attack. They get after the rebounds consistently, so GW will have to battle.
The Bears have reached the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons, but have not reached this stage in school history. Both teams are battling for their first-ever regional championship.
Jack is fouled by Doby on his first possession...he makes one of two. Toby Harrington hits a three, but Jack responds. Jack scores again from inside. All three shots are inside. Rubio hits a three. Doby scores, and Cal has an 8-5 lead. Jack gets a steal...Cal has three blocks so far. And GW is missing free throws left and right. They are caving, while Cal is destroying them.
Hulett and Davis finally get on the board, cutting the deficit to 13-10 with 14 left. Doby scores again...GW is trying threes, but they aren't hitting. This plays into Cal's hands. John Not Bela Fleck hits from the line. Then he hits on a layup, and Rubio gets a steal...Hulett fouls, and the bucket goes. It's 21-10 with 11:00 left. Cal hits a three, but GW gets the next seven points. Jack comes out, and Cal gets it right back out to 12. Jack comes in, gets a steal, and hits from the wing...29-21, and Jack has a 7-5-1 line.
Jack finds Sandy for a basket. Here comes GW. Jack shoots from the wing, and drills it...the lead is back to four for Cal. Sandy goes to the line, and he hits both. Jack gets a steal, and a breakaway dunk, and it's tied. Harrington ends the 12-0 run for GW with a three, and Hulett fouls him on another three. He hits two, Hulett has three fouls...Jack get sa jumper to make it 34-31. Jack is running the point...Davis drills a dunk, and it's 34-33 with 1:50 left.
Hector comes in and gets a steal. Jack gets to the line, and hits both. GW has a 35-34 lead. Armbruster gets a steal, and his hoop makes it 37-34. Harrington hits a three right before the half, tying the game at 37. Jack has a 15-8-2 line. Sandy has 11 points, while Hulett sulks in foul trouble. Harrington had 15 for Cal.
Jack blocks the first shot, and Sandy hits a three off a Davis pass. Cal has a shot-clock violation, and Hulett breaks the press for a layup. Cal has come out very hesitant on offense. Armbruster drills a three. It's 45-37, GW. Hulett hits a three, and Cal leads 48-37. Jack gets a steal, and he gets a layup. Doby ends things with a three, but this is a different game at the moment.
Davis gets his third...Hulett has three as well. Cal has seven blocks on the day, but also thirteen turnovers. Thirteen minutes left, it's 50-40, GW. Jack has gone cold...everyone is cold at the moment. He commits his first foul, and Hulett gets his fourth. That's big. Jack keeps missing shots, but you know he'll start hitting again. Jack gets his second foul. The rim is tight on everyone right now...Fleck is fouled by Hector, and he hits one of two. Jack finally responds. With 9:28 left, it's 52-41, GW. Jack's line is 19-14-2.
Sandy fouls Harrington, who misses both. He has yet to score this half. Doby drillsa three. It's 52-44 with 6:48 left. Dana Cathey scores, and here comes Cal. Jack is out, so the team needs to defend until he returns. They do, and Woods scores. Davis gets his fourth foul, and Jack comes back. It's 54-48 with 5:44 left. Armbruster with a steal, and a layup. He has a 7-5-3 line. Armbruster then fouls Cathey on a three-point play. GW is getting tight again. Ali comes in and does some poor things. Rubio gets two free throws. It's back to three.
Sandy is blocked. Doby hits a three to tie it with 4:04 left. Patterson gets fouled, and he hits both. GW leads 58-56. Armbruster fouls John Parke. He misses both...those are huge. Davis hits from the line. 60-56. Harrington misses a three. Two minutes left, and Cal's going to foul a lot right now. Harrington is up to four fouls. Davis goes one of two from the line. Armbruster goes to the line...he misses the front end. 1:30 left, and it's 61-56, GW. Woods gets to the line. He hits both. 63-56...Jack with a steal, and he goes to the line. He hits both. Up to nine with a minute left. Doby hits a three...Davis goes to the line. He hits one of two...seven-point lead. Fleck misses...Jack gets the rebound. Kelly hits a three, but Hulett hits one of two to ice it...
...George Washington is headed to the Final Four! They overcame a shaky first half with one dominant burst early in the second half. They relied on their defense (outrebounding Cal 43-34) to ride out the final wave. The 67-62 victory sends to the Colonials to their first ladder, and first time cutting down the nets.
Cal ends their season at 24-10, while George Washington stands at 33-1. They will get Rice, who won the Midwest with a 72-61 win over Cornell. They are the only non-top seed left in the tournament.
Code:
George Washington 67, California 62
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California (24-10, 6-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
John Fleck C 27 2-4 1-2 0 10 1 1 5
John Parke PF 33 1-4 0-2 0 6 0 3 2
Raymond Doby SF 34 7-17 0-0 1 6 2 2 19
Adalberto Rubio SG 34 1-2 6-6 1 2 7 3 9
Tony Harrington PG 33 5-15 2-6 1 3 4 5 15
Zachery Kelly PG 12 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 4 3
Dana Cathey C 18 2-4 2-3 1 5 1 2 6
Duncan Franzen PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Beckner SF 6 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
David Housley PF 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Turnovers: 15 (J.Parke 2, R.Doby 3, A.Rubio 6,
T.Harrington 2, Z.Kelly 2)
Blocked Shots: 8 (J.Fleck 3, J.Parke 2, A.Rubio 1,
T.Harrington 1, D.Cathey 1)
Steals: 2 (A.Rubio 1, D.Cathey 1)
3P FGs: 11-28 (J.Fleck 0-1, R.Doby 5-13, A.Rubio 1-2,
T.Harrington 3-8, Z.Kelly 1-2, D.Cathey 0-1, D.Housley
1-1)
George Washington (33-1, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Bruce Woods C 22 1-5 2-2 5 8 1 1 4
Brian Armbruster C 36 3-6 0-3 2 9 3 2 7
Jack Dawkins PF 36 8-17 5-6 5 15 2 2 21
Dwight Davis SG 32 3-14 2-4 0 5 1 4 9
Richie Hulett PG 25 3-7 1-2 1 1 3 4 8
John Sandy SF 31 5-10 2-2 0 5 1 2 14
Hector Patterson PG 10 1-2 2-2 0 0 1 1 4
Porter Ali SF 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Glenn Grayson PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Robert Mulvey SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 10 (B.Woods 2, B.Armbruster 1, J.Dawkins 1,
D.Davis 1, H.Patterson 2, P.Ali 2, G.Grayson 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (J.Dawkins 3)
Steals: 8 (B.Armbruster 2, J.Dawkins 5, H.Patterson 1)
3P FGs: 5-16 (B.Armbruster 1-3, J.Dawkins 0-2, D.Davis
1-4, R.Hulett 1-3, J.Sandy 2-4)
Player of Game: PF Jack Dawkins (GW)
Final Four Matchups
1) BYU (30-5) vs 1) Princeton (28-6)
1) Rice (31-3) vs 5) George Washington (33-1)