ESPN Men's Basketball

To me, performing under pressure is one of the greatest things in sports. So, Bill Walton's performance against Memphis State stands as one of the greatest feats in the history of the NCAA tournament. He scored 44 points on 21-of-22 shooting from the field and added 13 rebounds against a very, very talented Tigers team that included Ronnie Robinson, Larry Finch and Larry Kenon, who went on to an excellent ABA and NBA career. What I remember most about the night is that the game was tied at 39 before the Bruins pulled away for an easy 87-66 win. Interestingly, there was no dunking allowed in 1973, so Walton got most of his points on turnaround jump shots and lob passes from teammate Greg Lee that he gingerly laid over the rim.

I know former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino still hears the Wildcats faithful say, "You should have guarded the inbounder." After Sean Woods hit a runner off the glass to put the Wildcats up 103-102, Grant Hill pinpointed a pass to Laettner. Then Laettner hit the game-winning shot from about 15 feet, and Duke survived 104-103. The Blue Devils went on to win the national championship and became the first team since UCLA to win consecutive NCAA titles. This play might be the most recognized in NCAA history. What makes this performance so special is that Laettner played in a pressure-packed game and had a perfect shooting night, finishing with 30 points. The lead changed five times over the last 31.5 seconds, and I remember watching and thinking, "Kentucky's got them; all it needs to do is not foul and make a play on the ball if it's a bad pass." Well, the pass was perfect, and the rest is history.