1971-72 Men's Basketball - Year In Review
Hugh Durham, Head Coach
Bill Bolton, Assistant Coach
Al Lawson, Assistant Coach
Morris McHone, Assistant Coach
Click here to see individual photos
1971-72 Men's Basketball - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Hugh Durham, Head Coach Bill Bolton, Assistant Coach Al Lawson, Assistant Coach Morris McHone, Assistant Coach Click here to see individual photos |
|
John Amick, 6-7, 195, F, Saint Petersburg - Number four scorer on freshman team with a 10-point average...excellent shot...needs to work on quickness and defense...big improvement last year was ball handling...will add depth to post positions.
Jim Calkin, 6-4, 190, G, Indianapolis, Ind. - An intelligent player...good shooter but needs work on ball handling...averaged five points amd three rebounds as a freshman...works hard at improving his game and needs more experience...will see action at wing.
Otis Cole, 6-2, 175, G, Kings Mountain, N.C. - Another top player from the freshman squad...is a strong contender against Petty and Samuel for the point position...will also be used at wing...could be the best all-around player on the team...on frosh squad, developed into the top player averaging 23 points and six rebounds a game...good defensive player...has a coachable attitude and is working hard for a strting berth...high school All-American at Kings Mountain...second from North Carolina to play for the Seminoles in two years, the other being Reggie Royals...hit 53 percent of field goals and 78 percent of free throws for 536 points...his 104 of 133 free throws is a frosh record.
Artie Fryer, 6-5, 200, F, Tampa - Averaged 17 points a game as a freshman...tucked in an average of 10 rebounds...strong, dependable player but still needs more aggressiveness...improved rebounding and shooting last year...will be seeing playing time at wing...hit 52 percent of field goals.
Lawrence McCray, 6-11, 210, C, Pensacola - Coach Hugh Durham thinks this big fellow will be one of the country's outstanding sophomore players...has been grromed for graduated Vernell Ellzy's low post spot...chosen to all-southeastern freshman squad...was hampered by a back injury at season's start, but finished strong averaging 19 points and 22 rebounds...the Seminoles will count heavily on his rebounding power to share the load with 6-10 Reggie Royals...in high school he led Washington High to the state title...was tabbed Mr. Basketball in Florida...working with weights last summer, he gained 10 pounds.
Bill Wright, 6-7, 200, C, Fort Myers - Improved his whole game last year as a freshman...strong and smart...knows how to position himself on the court...number five scorer on frosh squad with nine-point average...pulled in an average of seven rebonds...will add depth at post spot...needs to develop quickness and jumping.
1972 Roster - By Name
From the 1971-72 FSU Basketball Handbook, page 28.
L
T PY
R No Name Pos Hgt Wgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 15 John Amick F 6-7 195 So Saint Petersburg (Saint Petersburg)
* 12 Jim Calkin G 6-4 190 So Indianapolis, Ind. (Lakeside)
* 22 Otis Cole G 6-2 175 So Kings Mountain, N.C. (Kings Mountain)
* 30 Artie Fryer F 6-5 200 So Tampa (Middleton)
* 23 Rowland Garrett F 6-6 212 Sr ** Canton, Miss. (Rogers)
* 21 Larry Gay F 6-5 195 Jr * Winchester, Ky. (George Rogers Clark)
* 10 Ron Harris F 6-4 195 Sr ** Key West (Key West)
* 33 Ron King G 6-4 185 Jr * Louisville, Ky. (Central)
* 44 Lawrence McCray C 6-11 210 So Pensacola (Washington)
* 11 Otto Petty G 5-7 150 Jr * Louisville, Ky. (Central)
* 25 Reggie Royals C-F 6-10 200 Jr * Whiteville, N.C. (Whiteville)
* 3 Greg Samuel G 5-8 150 Sr * Hollywood (Broward CC)
* 32 Bill Wright C 6-7 200 So Fort Myers (Fort Myers)
1972 Roster - By Number
From the 1971-72 FSU Basketball Handbook, page 28.
L
T PY
R No Name Pos Hgt Wgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 3 Greg Samuel G 5-8 150 Sr * Hollywood (Broward CC)
* 10 Ron Harris F 6-4 195 Sr ** Key West (Key West)
* 11 Otto Petty G 5-7 150 Jr * Louisville, Ky. (Central)
* 12 Jim Calkin G 6-4 190 So Indianapolis, Ind. (Lakeside)
* 15 John Amick F 6-7 195 So Saint Petersburg (Saint Petersburg)
* 21 Larry Gay F 6-5 195 Jr * Winchester, Ky. (George Rogers Clark)
* 22 Otis Cole G 6-2 175 So Kings Mountain, N.C. (Kings Mountain)
* 23 Rowland Garrett F 6-6 212 Sr ** Canton, Miss. (Rogers)
* 25 Reggie Royals C-F 6-10 200 Jr * Whiteville, N.C. (Whiteville)
* 30 Artie Fryer F 6-5 200 So Tampa (Middleton)
* 32 Bill Wright C 6-7 200 So Fort Myers (Fort Myers)
* 33 Ron King G 6-4 185 Jr * Louisville, Ky. (Central)
* 44 Lawrence McCray C 6-11 210 So Pensacola (Washington)
Lettermen from the 2001-02 FSU Basketball Media Guide, page 242.
1971-72 Freshman Statistics
Name GP FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT PTS AVG REB AVG PF DQ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rich Semo 16 155 343 .452 57 75 .760 367 22.9 177 11.1 62 7
David Brownyard 16 92 190 .484 50 76 .658 234 14.6 76 4.8 44 2
Ansley Abraham 16 75 164 .457 50 76 .658 200 12.5 135 8.4 52 2
Dennis Burke 12 62 162 .383 29 44 .659 153 12.8 35 2.9 33 1
Jim Clegg 16 60 143 .420 18 31 .581 138 8.6 124 7.8 48 2
Ken Austin 16 29 98 .296 33 49 .673 91 5.7 49 3.1 38 2
Kim Seymour 15 33 95 .347 12 23 .522 78 5.2 50 3.3 14 0
Others 5 18 6 15 16 10 9
Team 65
----------------------------------------------------------
FSU 15 511 1213 .421 255 389 .656 1277 79.8 721 45.1 300 16
Opponents 15 606 1247 .486 285 428 .666 1497 93.6 828 51.8 308 14
1971-72 All-Americans
Name Organization
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron King Helms Foundation - 1st Team
The Sporting News - 3rd Team
All-Americans - 1
1971-72 Noles in the Pros
Name No Pos Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Cowens 18 C Boston Celtics
Noles in the Pros - 1
1972 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
AP |
UPI |
AP |
UPI |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oglethorpe | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Kentucky | |||||||||||||
| Stetson Civitan Classic, Jacksonville |
|||||||||||||
| Jacksonville Civitan Classic |
|||||||||||||
| Valdosta State Coll | |||||||||||||
| Hawaii Forfeit |
|||||||||||||
| Hawaii | |||||||||||||
| Washington Far West Classic, Portland, Ore. |
|||||||||||||
| Oregon State Far West Classic, Portland, Ore. |
|||||||||||||
| Washington State Far West Classic, Portland, Ore. |
|||||||||||||
| Denver Senior Bowl, Mobile, Ala. |
|||||||||||||
| Saint Louis Senior Bowl, Mobile, Ala. |
|||||||||||||
| East Tennessee State | |||||||||||||
| Mercer | |||||||||||||
| Houston | |||||||||||||
| South Alabama | |||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | |||||||||||||
| Jacksonville | |||||||||||||
| Florida Southern Col | |||||||||||||
| Pan American College | |||||||||||||
| Houston | |||||||||||||
| South Alabama | |||||||||||||
| Tulane | |||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | |||||||||||||
| Jacksonville | |||||||||||||
| Stetson Winter Park |
|||||||||||||
| Biscayne | |||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Kentucky NCAA, Knoxville, Tenn. |
|||||||||||||
| Minnesota NCAA, Sweet 16, Dayton, Ohio |
|||||||||||||
| Kentucky NCAA, Elite 8, Dayton, Ohio |
|||||||||||||
| North Carolina NCAA, Final 4, Los Angeles, Calif. |
|||||||||||||
| UCLA NCAA Championship |
|||||||||||||
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 27- 6 11- 1 5- 5 11- 0 Against Top 25 4- 1 0- 0 1- 1 3- 0 Final AP - 10 Final UPI - 10
1971-72 - 30 Point Club
Name Date Opponent FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- None1971-72 - 15 Rebound Club
Name Date Opponent O-REB D-REB TOTAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reggie Royals 01/31/1972 Pan American College 20 Lawrence McCray 12/01/1971 Oglethorpe 17 Reggie Royals 12/04/1971 Eastern Kentucky 16 Lawrence McCray 12/11/1971 Valdosta State Coll 16 Lawrence McCray 02/28/1972 Biscayne 151971-72 - 10 Assist Club
Name Date Opponent Assists ------------------------------------------------------------------ Otto Petty 02/07/1972 South Alabama 16 Greg Samuel 01/04/1972 Saint Louis 10 Otto Petty 01/31/1972 Pan American College 10 Otto Petty 02/04/1972 Houston 10
Name GP GS Min FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT PTS AVG REB AVG PF DQ AST ============================================================================================== Ron King 32 32 239 558 .428 95 126 .754 573 17.9 192 6.0 58 0 69 Reggie Royals 32 32 196 415 .472 109 159 .686 501 15.7 351 11.0 101 3 85 Rowland Garrett 32 32 169 352 .480 80 109 .734 418 13.1 253 7.9 76 1 57 Lawrence McCray 32 32 166 300 .553 52 89 .584 384 12.0 263 8.2 106 6 32 Ron Harris 32 0 104 232 .448 50 74 .676 258 8.1 161 5.0 56 2 52 Otto Petty 31 4 66 149 .443 72 101 .713 204 6.6 63 2.0 68 3 173 Greg Samuel 30 28 71 152 .467 55 74 .743 197 6.6 50 1.7 30 0 120 Otis Cole 32 0 68 150 .453 35 47 .745 171 5.3 59 1.8 42 1 41 Larry Gay 22 0 28 52 .538 10 16 .625 66 3.0 42 1.9 22 0 3 John Amick 11 0 3 10 .300 3 3 1.00 9 0.8 5 0.5 5 0 1 Jim Calkin 3 0 0 0 .000 0 1 .000 0 0.0 1 0.3 0 0 1 Artie Fryer 2 0 0 1 .000 0 1 .000 0 0.0 1 0.5 0 0 0 Bill Wright 2 0 0 1 .000 0 0 .000 0 0.0 2 1.0 0 0 0 Team 165 ============================================================================================== FSU 32 1110 2372 .468 561 800 .701 2781 86.9 1608 50.3 564 16 634 Opp 32 904 2153 .420 478 722 .662 2286 71.4 1386 43.3 597 15 470
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 6 2 3 8 1 2 4 0
23 Rowland Garrett f 7 13 2 2 16 11 2 3 4
25 Reggie Royals f 8 15 6 7 22 14 3 1 1
33 Ron King g 12 27 3 4 27 5 3 1 2
44 Lawrence McCray c 5 12 2 3 12 17 1 0 3
10 Ron Harris 2 5 1 3 5 8 0 5 1
11 Otto Petty 2 3 4 4 8 1 3 6 2
12 Jim Calkin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 John Amick 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
21 Larry Gay 2 8 0 0 4 2 3 0 0
22 Otis Cole 4 5 2 3 10 1 3 0 1
30 Artie Fryer 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
32 Bill Wright 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 45 94 22 29 112 68 21 20 15 0 0
Opp 0 26 76 17 28 69 49 20 9 24
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oglethorpe | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 2 4 0 0 4 1 1 7
23 Rowland Garrett f 6 18 4 4 16 12 1 4
25 Reggie Royals f 7 13 0 3 14 16 4 3
33 Ron King g 10 24 1 2 21 7 2 3
44 Lawrence McCray c 2 8 3 6 7 10 4 0
10 Ron Harris 5 11 5 6 15 9 2 2
11 Otto Petty 2 5 5 6 9 3 3 9
21 Larry Gay 1 3 0 0 2 1 1 1
22 Otis Cole 3 4 2 2 8 0 2 3
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 38 90 20 29 96 65 20 32 0 0 0
Opp 0 33 85 17 26 83 57 26 25
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Kentucky | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 4 5 0 0 8 3 2 3
23 Rowland Garrett f 3 8 4 5 10 2 2 1
25 Reggie Royals f 10 17 2 3 22 8 3 3
33 Ron King g 2 14 0 0 4 2 4 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 6 7 2 2 14 6 2 1
10 Ron Harris 3 10 1 1 7 4 3 0
11 Otto Petty 1 2 0 0 2 3 1 5
15 John Amick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 Larry Gay 4 10 2 2 10 8 1 0
22 Otis Cole 6 11 1 1 13 4 3 1
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 39 84 12 14 90 46 21 18 0 0 0
Opp 0 20 50 14 25 54 42 15 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Stetson |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 0 2 4 4 4 2 2 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 4 8 0 0 8 2 4 1
25 Reggie Royals f 7 13 3 6 17 8 4 1
33 Ron King g 13 22 2 2 28 7 0 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 4 8 2 3 10 11 2 2
10 Ron Harris 5 10 2 6 12 4 3 0
11 Otto Petty 0 0 4 6 4 1 3 2
21 Larry Gay 1 2 0 0 2 0 2 0
22 Otis Cole 2 5 1 2 5 2 1 2
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 36 70 18 29 90 42 21 17 0 0 0
Opp 0 34 79 15 26 83 59 22 17
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Jacksonville |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 7 3 5 9 3 1 3 1
23 Rowland Garrett f 5 10 0 1 10 12 1 1 1
25 Reggie Royals f 7 16 2 7 16 11 1 7 1
33 Ron King g 10 21 4 4 24 6 3 4 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 8 16 3 5 19 16 1 3 1
10 Ron Harris 8 14 4 5 20 10 2 8 1
11 Otto Petty 5 6 1 2 11 2 1 3 2
12 Jim Calkin 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
15 John Amick 1 5 3 3 5 2 1 0 0
21 Larry Gay 3 4 2 2 8 2 3 0 2
22 Otis Cole 5 9 2 2 12 4 0 4 1
30 Artie Fryer 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
32 Bill Wright 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 55 110 24 38 134 75 14 34 14 0 0
Opp 0 30 71 5 15 65 45 26 20 38
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valdosta State Coll | |||
| Florida State |
Florida State's high-ranked basketball team lost its first game, a forfeiture-shortened 30-10 decision to University of Hawaii here late Saturday night.
As official called a forfeit when Coach Hugh Durham, who had gone on the court to protest a foul call, refused to leave the scene. The official had ordered him not only off the floor, but also off the bench -- which would have left his team playing the remainder of the game without him.
The clock showed 11:43 remaining in the first half when the game was terminated, boosting Hawaii's record to 5-0 and leaving Florida State 5-1.
During the argument Durham placed his hands on the chest of the official.
"I didn't have any reason to leave," Durham was quoted, "and the official didn't have any reason to ask me to leave."
A technical foul had just been called on Otto Petty. Disturbed by the uninspired play of his team in the early action, Durham apparently intended that an additional technical be called on himself -- hopefully to snap his team out of its slow-starting spell.
The official said Durham swore at him.
Durham denied he swore at the official. He did not deny, however, that he swore -- but he declared it was not at the official.
The official, David Muhukoma, said Petty made an "un-called for remark" when he called a foul on him. Whereupon the official called a technical on Petty.
Durham rushed out at that point. The official told him to sit down or he'd call a technical on him, too.
"Go ahead and call the blankety-blank," Durham reportedly said. Then the official asked Durham to leave. Durham said he was staying. But Durham said he did return to the bench at that point.
After John Pencbacher of Hawaii followed with four successful foul shots, boosting the score to 30-10, the official called the game.
Durham denied he took his team off the floor.
The coach made an apology to the crowd of 7,495, to the Hawaii team and his own team. On Wednesday night the two are scheduled to meet again.
"I hold no ill feelings against Hawaii," said Durham. "We plan to go ahead and play them on Wednesday as scheduled."
Durham has questioned earlier calls of officials. The Seminoles were whistled down on numerous violations. "Most of those turnovers," said Durham, "were on the three and five-second rules."
Holding a 9-7 lead with about three minutes gone in the first half, Hawaii erupted for 13 straight points. The Seminoles were credited with nine turnovers by the time the Rainbows built their lead to 22-7.
Yesterday the Seminoles defeated the Hawaii Marines 128-95 in an exhibition that will not count in the standings. Rowland Garrett led Florida State with 26 points.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
=====================================================
FSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
**Error**
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 19 2 3 0 0 4 3 0 0 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 33 3 11 2 2 8 8 1 2 1
25 Reggie Royals f 39 6 10 3 4 15 8 3 0 1
33 Ron King g 19 6 22 6 6 18 5 2 1 2
44 Lawrence McCray c 31 5 9 0 0 10 8 3 4 0
10 Ron Harris 20 5 7 3 5 13 5 2 0 1
11 Otto Petty 24 1 5 0 1 2 2 4 4 0
21 Larry Gay 4 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 1
22 Otis Cole 11 2 4 1 2 5 1 2 0 2
Team 7
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 30 71 16 22 76 47 18 11 12 0 0
Opp 200 31 71 19 24 81 45 13 10 13
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Hawaii |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 4 3 3 9 1 0 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 3 3 1 1 7 6 2 1
25 Reggie Royals f 8 15 4 6 20 6 3 3
33 Ron King g 10 19 0 0 20 4 3 6
44 Lawrence McCray c 5 10 0 0 10 6 1 1
10 Ron Harris 3 6 2 2 8 2 3 1
11 Otto Petty 1 1 2 2 4 2 0 3
21 Larry Gay 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 0
22 Otis Cole 2 5 1 1 5 6 3 3
Team 2
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 36 65 13 15 85 35 15 22 0 0 0
Opp 0 34 72 9 17 77 42 12 16
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Washington |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 4 6 3 4 11 2 2 7
23 Rowland Garrett f 2 4 1 1 5 2 3 0
25 Reggie Royals f 1 6 2 4 4 4 4 3
33 Ron King g 9 18 3 3 21 8 1 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 8 12 2 3 18 6 4 2
10 Ron Harris 3 6 4 4 10 4 0 0
11 Otto Petty 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
15 John Amick 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 Larry Gay 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
22 Otis Cole 2 5 0 0 4 2 1 0
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 29 59 15 20 73 34 16 16 0 0 0
Opp 0 28 56 16 22 72 33 15 20
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Oregon State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 7 1 3 7 1 2 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 7 11 2 4 16 5 2 1
25 Reggie Royals f 6 11 4 4 16 8 2 0
33 Ron King g 6 17 5 6 17 3 1 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 3 4 0 1 6 4 4 0
10 Ron Harris 4 8 1 2 9 3 0 5
11 Otto Petty 2 3 3 4 7 4 1 4
15 John Amick 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
21 Larry Gay 2 2 1 1 5 3 0 0
22 Otis Cole 1 4 0 1 2 3 3 2
Team 7
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 34 67 17 26 85 41 16 17 0 0 0
Opp 0 25 60 11 16 61 41 18 17
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Washington State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 2 6 1 1 5 2 0 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 7 16 2 3 16 5 4 1
25 Reggie Royals f 8 16 2 3 18 6 3 4
33 Ron King g 9 13 6 8 24 5 2 2
44 Lawrence McCray c 6 10 1 1 13 3 5 0
10 Ron Harris 0 2 0 1 0 5 3 0
11 Otto Petty 1 4 0 2 2 0 0 3
15 John Amick 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 Larry Gay 2 2 0 0 4 0 1 0
22 Otis Cole 2 3 2 2 6 2 2 1
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 37 73 14 21 88 33 20 15 0 0 0
Opp 0 27 64 16 25 70 49 18 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Denver |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 2 5 2 2 6 0 0 10
23 Rowland Garrett f 3 6 4 4 10 7 2 2
25 Reggie Royals f 6 13 3 8 15 8 3 2
33 Ron King g 11 21 1 1 23 7 2 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 2 6 0 0 4 3 4 2
10 Ron Harris 1 4 0 0 2 2 3 0
11 Otto Petty 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 4
22 Otis Cole 1 2 0 0 2 1 3 1
Team 8
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 26 57 11 16 63 36 18 22 0 0 0
Opp 0 22 59 18 22 62 39 11 12
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Saint Louis |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 7 3 3 9 5 0 6
23 Rowland Garrett f 7 13 4 6 18 12 5 1
25 Reggie Royals f 6 14 6 9 18 11 2 7
33 Ron King g 13 22 3 3 29 7 2 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 7 10 2 7 16 10 4 3
10 Ron Harris 2 4 0 0 4 2 2 3
11 Otto Petty 1 1 3 6 5 2 1 5
15 John Amick 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
22 Otis Cole 3 10 1 2 7 5 2 3
Team 7
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 42 81 22 36 106 62 19 29 0 0 0
Opp 0 25 73 13 25 63 51 26 11
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Tennessee State | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 4 8 7 9 15 4 2 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 6 16 0 0 12 10 4 2
25 Reggie Royals f 9 19 5 8 23 14 2 2
33 Ron King g 10 20 2 3 22 8 3 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 4 9 3 3 11 9 3 0
10 Ron Harris 1 4 2 3 4 6 0 1
11 Otto Petty 1 4 2 4 4 1 0 4
21 Larry Gay 1 2 1 2 3 1 0 0
22 Otis Cole 1 4 0 0 2 1 4 0
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 37 86 22 32 96 59 18 15 0 0 0
Opp 0 31 70 16 25 78 48 22 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 11 6 8 12 6 1 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 6 10 4 7 16 7 3 7
25 Reggie Royals f 8 15 4 5 20 14 2 3
33 Ron King g 4 17 0 3 8 5 3 6
44 Lawrence McCray c 9 13 2 2 20 6 3 0
10 Ron Harris 2 4 2 4 6 4 4 1
11 Otto Petty 1 1 2 2 4 0 3 2
21 Larry Gay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Otis Cole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 33 71 20 31 86 48 19 24 0 0 0
Opp 0 33 84 13 25 79 64 26 18
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 8 2 2 8 3 1 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 10 14 4 5 24 11 1 1
25 Reggie Royals f 5 12 5 7 15 9 3 4
33 Ron King g 7 17 2 5 16 12 1 2
44 Lawrence McCray c 4 8 3 4 11 9 2 0
10 Ron Harris 5 11 0 0 10 7 1 3
11 Otto Petty 0 3 0 0 0 3 2 8
15 John Amick 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
21 Larry Gay 2 3 2 3 6 4 2 0
22 Otis Cole 6 8 1 1 13 4 3 2
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 43 85 19 27 105 62 16 26 0 0 0
Opp 0 26 63 20 24 72 24 20 19
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Alabama | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 1 3 0 0 2 1 1 2 3
23 Rowland Garrett f 5 9 3 3 13 8 4 2 3
25 Reggie Royals f 7 13 1 3 15 7 3 2 4
33 Ron King f 2 12 3 4 7 3 2 0 0
44 Lawrence McCray c 6 9 2 2 14 7 3 0 1
10 Ron Harris 5 7 1 2 11 5 2 2 1
11 Otto Petty 0 3 4 4 4 0 3 6 1
21 Larry Gay 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
22 Otis Cole 2 6 1 2 5 6 0 1 0
Team 3
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 28 62 15 20 71 40 19 15 13 0 0
Opp 0 28 54 13 22 69 28 17 12 13
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Georgia Tech |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 4 6 3 4 11 1 1 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 6 12 1 1 13 6 4 4
25 Reggie Royals f 7 16 3 3 17 13 3 5
33 Ron King g 7 21 1 2 15 6 2 3
44 Lawrence McCray c 5 13 0 1 10 8 5 0
10 Ron Harris 2 6 0 2 4 2 0 4
11 Otto Petty 2 3 1 1 5 2 5 6
22 Otis Cole 3 8 1 2 7 2 1 3
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 36 85 10 16 82 46 21 30 0 0 0
Opp 0 33 65 18 28 84 51 14 19
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
11 Otto Petty g 7 9 4 6 18 6 3 9
23 Rowland Garrett f 4 12 2 5 10 11 3 3
25 Reggie Royals f 7 17 0 0 14 13 3 1
33 Ron King g 7 21 7 9 21 6 2 3
44 Lawrence McCray c 4 7 3 6 11 8 5 0
10 Ron Harris 4 11 0 0 8 4 3 3
21 Larry Gay 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
22 Otis Cole 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 34 78 16 26 84 56 20 20 0 0 0
Opp 0 24 55 15 30 63 44 19 11
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Southern Col | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
11 Otto Petty g 9 15 6 9 24 5 3 10
23 Rowland Garrett f 13 22 3 4 29 14 2 5
25 Reggie Royals f 8 18 5 6 21 20 3 6
33 Ron King f 2 14 2 2 6 10 4 0
44 Lawrence McCray c 7 11 1 2 15 4 5 2
10 Ron Harris 5 12 0 1 10 6 2 3
21 Larry Gay 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
22 Otis Cole 2 4 0 0 4 1 0 3
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 46 96 17 24 109 66 19 29 0 0 0
Opp 0 34 81 15 23 83 46 20 21
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan American College | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
11 Otto Petty g 40 6 15 3 3 15 3 4 10 7
23 Rowland Garrett f 38 2 11 4 6 8 10 0 0 1
25 Reggie Royals f 38 5 12 4 5 14 13 4 2 3
33 Ron King f 33 8 20 1 3 17 8 2 3 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 34 11 18 2 2 24 11 4 3 1
3 Greg Samuel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Ron Harris 10 1 4 2 2 4 2 0 2 2
22 Otis Cole 7 2 5 0 0 4 0 1 1 0
Team 4
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 35 85 16 21 86 51 15 21 18 0 0
Opp 200 41 76 12 18 94 45 15 27 24
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Houston |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
23 Rowland Garrett f 3 7 5 5 11 6 2 1 1
25 Reggie Royals f 7 15 1 1 15 11 3 4 2
33 Ron King g 11 17 1 2 23 6 0 5 0
44 Lawrence McCray c 9 19 4 6 22 6 4 0 1
10 Ron Harris 6 9 3 4 15 4 1 3 0
11 Otto Petty 5 9 0 0 10 4 2 16 2
15 John Amick 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
21 Larry Gay 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0
22 Otis Cole 1 6 4 4 6 2 0 1 0
Team 5
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 43 84 18 22 104 46 16 31 6 0 0
Opp 0 32 70 17 20 81 41 16 21 14
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| South Alabama |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 2 5 3 3 7 1 2 5
23 Rowland Garrett f 9 11 4 5 22 12 1 1
25 Reggie Royals f 3 15 2 5 8 12 4 2
33 Ron King g 8 23 8 11 24 12 3 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 7 16 1 2 15 12 5 0
10 Ron Harris 3 7 2 2 8 12 5 0
11 Otto Petty 1 5 0 1 2 3 1 7
15 John Amick 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0
21 Larry Gay 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1
22 Otis Cole 2 5 2 5 6 2 3 1
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 36 90 22 35 94 67 24 18 0 0 0
Opp 0 30 69 24 33 84 38 22 18
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulane | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
11 Otto Petty g 1 6 3 4 5 0 1 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 6 10 9 11 21 14 1 2
25 Reggie Royals f 1 8 4 4 6 14 2 4
33 Ron King g 6 16 2 2 14 10 1 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 7 8 1 1 15 6 3 1
3 Greg Samuel 7 12 2 4 16 3 3 5
10 Ron Harris 2 7 6 7 10 12 3 1
12 Jim Calkin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 John Amick 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 Larry Gay 3 4 1 2 7 6 1 1
22 Otis Cole 5 10 4 4 14 3 0 1
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 38 82 32 39 108 74 15 23 0 0 0
Opp 0 20 65 10 17 50 29 24 8
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Tech | |||
| Florida State |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 4 5 1 1 9 3 3 4
23 Rowland Garrett f 7 11 5 6 19 8 3 3
25 Reggie Royals f 5 12 1 2 11 9 2 1
33 Ron King g 4 13 8 9 16 2 2 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 3 7 0 0 6 6 4 1
10 Ron Harris 2 5 2 2 6 2 1 1
11 Otto Petty 1 1 1 2 3 4 1 1
22 Otis Cole 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 26 55 18 22 70 40 17 12 0 0 0
Opp 0 22 70 17 20 61 44 18 13
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Jacksonville |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 5 3 6 9 0 1
23 Rowland Garrett f 1 4 0 0 2 0 1
25 Reggie Royals f 8 10 4 4 20 10 4
33 Ron King g 3 7 0 1 6 3 0
44 Lawrence McCray c 3 3 4 5 10 1 3
10 Ron Harris 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
21 Larry Gay 1 1 0 0 2 1 0
22 Otis Cole 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Team 1
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 19 32 11 16 49 17 9 0 0 0 0
Opp 0 18 34 11 12 47 18 13
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Stetson |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 3 7 0 0 6 0 1
23 Rowland Garrett f 9 17 3 3 21 10 4
25 Reggie Royals f 9 17 4 5 22 14 2
33 Ron King g 4 8 0 0 8 5 3
44 Lawrence McCray c 8 13 1 2 17 15 2
10 Ron Harris 1 4 0 0 2 7 2
11 Otto Petty 3 5 0 1 6 0 4
21 Larry Gay 1 1 0 0 2 0 0
22 Otis Cole 4 7 2 2 10 0 1
Team 2
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 42 79 10 13 94 53 19 0 0 0 0
Opp 0 24 65 18 23 66 33 12
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Biscayne |
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 9 0 1 2 2 2 1 0 0
23 Rowland Garrett f 33 4 11 1 3 9 4 3 0
25 Reggie Royals f 40 4 10 7 7 15 8 4 1
33 Ron King g 38 10 22 2 4 22 7 0 0
44 Lawrence McCray c 17 1 2 0 1 2 5 5 0
10 Ron Harris 26 3 8 0 0 6 3 1 1
11 Otto Petty 30 3 7 2 3 8 2 5 3
22 Otis Cole 7 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 25 63 14 20 64 37 19 5 0 0 0
Opp 200 33 64 22 27 88 43 16 9
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Cincinnati |
From the Tallahassee Democrat, March 12, 1972, page 1D - by Bill McGrotha
KNOXVILLE, TN, March 11, 1972 - For the bigger portion of a long day it seemed as though fate was dealing Florida State's basketball teams some cards from the bottom of the deck.
But, to their considerable credit, the Seminoles resisted the urge to blow their cool and got by scrappy Eastern Kentucky 83-81 here Saturday afternoon in a strange, tense game.
In the opening game of this first-round playoff action in the NCAA's Mideast Regionals, tough Marquette thrashed Ohio U. 73-49.
Victories earned both teams a spot in the second round of the Mideast Regionals next Thursday at Daytona, O., with Marquette meeting Kentucky's SEC co-champs at 7:05 p.m. and Florida State engaging Minnesota's Big Ten Winners at 9:05. The victor in this 4-team struggle at Daytona gets a spot in the national finals the following week in Los Angeles.
But few folks in the Stokely Athletic Center crowd of 4,500 would have wagered Florida State would be going anywhere - except back to Tallahassee after the first eight minutes against Eastern Kentucky.
The Seminoles trailed by 13 at 27:14.
Suddenly things turned and Florida State grabbed a 50-42 halftime lead. The Seminoles enjoyed their biggest lead, 11 points, at 59-48 in the early minutes of the closing half.
Then as some rather unusual officiating bore heavily upon the Seminoles, they were obliged to fight off a closing charge by the fired-up Colonels.
With 3:58 remaining, two quick field goals by Charlie Mitchell tied it for Eastern 77-77. Then another 2-pointer by Charlie Brunker put the Kentuckians on top 79-77 at 3:23. Mitchell missed a chance to stretch the lead as he misfired on two free throws.
At 2:22 the Seminoles' Ron King drew a foul. Eastern, exercising a familiar tactic, called timeout just as King got ready to shoot. Whereupon King missed the shot - but teammate Reggie Royals snared the rebound and rammed it home for a 79-79 tie. Less than a minute later Royals drew his fifth foul and left the game.
King got free for a layup and after getting fouled, converted the situation into a 3-point margin for an 82-79 Florida State lead at 1:37.
Eastern's tall guy, 6-10 Dan Argabright, tipped in a rebound to narrow it to 82-81 at 1:21.
With the ball in Florida State's hands, Coach Hugh Durham called a cautious timeout at 1:01. King again drew a foul, Eastern again called a timeout, and King again missed - this time as the clock showed 36 seconds.
At 20 seconds Rowland Garrett fouled Eastern's Daryl Dunagan, who proceeded to miss two clutch free throws.
Florida State worked the ball down court. King drove for a basket, drew another foul. Six seconds left. King made good on his first foul shot, missed the second.
But Eastern only had time for a desperation shot from midcourt by reserve Charlie Brunker. As the ball richocheted harmlessly off the board, the horn went off.
That left Florida State 24-5 and sent Eastern's champions of the Ohio Valley Conference home with a final 15-11 record.
Someone had charged that the three may have committed themselves to agents to negotiate pro contracts. The three went before Dr. Earl Ramer of the University of Tennessee, who currently is president of the NCAA, for separate interviews.
Each of the Seminoles, following verbal assurances they had not committed themselves to agents, signed affidavits to that effect. Later, the NCAA cleared them.
Similarly confronted was Bob Lackey, a star on the Marquette team. But, reportedly, Coach Al McGuire declined to send his player to the NCAA official for an interview and insisted that he come over to the hotel if he wanted to talk with the player.
Durham told a post-game press conference that he did not feel the morning happening affected the play of his team. He did say that the inerviews had cut into the Seminoles' scheduled morning workout.
The coach said Stapleton had learned of the NCAA situation late Friday night, but had refrained from telling him and the players to avoid upsetting them. He praised Stapleton for that move.
Had the NCAA - intensely apprehensive over pro basketball's dealing with college players of late - concluded that any of the players had committed themselves to agents they would have been declared ineligible prior to the games.
Durham did comment on the timing. "Why wait this long?" he said at the press conference. "The NCAA has sometimes seemed to wait until the most inopportune times on some of its action.
"No, I don't think it affected us. If I wanted to use that as an excuse...," his words trailed off, then he added: "But I don't."
Asked to comment on the officiating, Durham declined. "It doesn't do any good," he said, "to complain about it."
But Guy Strong, the Eastern Kentucky coach, did not hesitate on the subject minutes later at the press conference.
"I was upset," he said, "with one official. I don't understand some of the calls. Normally, officials call stuff that happens on the floor but not so much underneath the basket. In this game it was the other way around."
At least seven Florida State field goals were rubbed out by officiating calls - primarily on traveling counts.
On the game itself, Durham commented: "I don't know whether Eastern Kentucky has so much to do with the way we played. We were just not as consistent as we were in Tallahassee when we beat them 96-83.
"I did think we showed tremendous poise after being down by 13. But then Eastern was in foul trouble when we had them down by 11, and they came back. The fact that our team also came back after that
says something favorable."
Florida State controlled the rebounding, 57 to 41, as Rowland Garrett led with 10 recoveries. Eastern's Dunagan had a game-high 15.
Defensive work by Petty and Greg Samuel shackled Eastern's high-scoring George Bryant, who got just 11 points, going 4-for-15 from the field - the same figures he had earlier in Tallahassee. But Mitchell socked in 23 for Eastern.
It was ironical that Eastern missed a possible chance to win this one at the free-throw line near the end, missing four. The Colonels have led their conference in foul shooting two straight seasons. They were 19-for-29 in this one, while Florida State had a slightly worse percentage in netting 23 of 36. From the field the two were about even. Florida State hitting 30 of 66, Eastern 31 of 70.
In the early going Florida State couldn't find the way to the basket. With the team down 21-11, Durham replaced three starters and sent in Petty, Harris and Cole in their spots.
Eastern's Burton drew a third foul early, with 11:27 left in the half. Argabright got his third foul with 9:45 to go. Along about then the Seminoles were moving.
McCray got the bulk of the Seminoles' early points, kept them within striking distance. The Seminoles trailed 34-28. Then McCray hit two free throws, Harris a layup and Cole another easy one to tie it 34-34 with 5:48 left in the half.
Cole and reserve Larry Gay were two of the keys in a charge that left the Seminoles on top 50-42 at intermission. Gay, for the game, was 3-for-3 from the field.
Petty was hot at the start of the last half, bagging nine of the Seminoles' first 11 points.
But Petty got socked with a technical foul for protesting on one call against him, and the Colonels capitalized on that, moving to within four points at 63-59.
In the first two minutes of the last half McCray had drawn his third and fourth foul within four playing seconds of one another and had retired to the bench. Durham ushered him back in with 6:50 left and the Seminoles leading by a bare 71-69.
The Seminoles maintained a lead of two to four points until Mitchell hit his two baskets that tied it 77-77 and set things up for the tight finish.
The team arrives back in Tallahassee Sunday, arriving at the airport at 12:17 p.m.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3
23 Rowland Garrett f 3 11 0 2 6 10 4 1
25 Reggie Royals f 4 6 4 6 12 8 5 1
33 Ron King g 3 13 4 7 10 2 2 2
44 Lawrence McCray c 4 5 3 4 11 4 4 2
10 Ron Harris 5 11 3 4 13 8 1 0
11 Otto Petty 5 8 5 6 15 2 3 3
21 Larry Gay 3 3 0 1 6 3 0 0
22 Otis Cole 3 9 4 6 10 7 0 1
Team 12
=====================================================
FSU 5 0 30 66 23 36 83 57 19 13 0 0 0
Opp 0 31 70 19 29 81 41 27 19
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Eastern Kentucky |
From the Tallahassee Democrat, March 17, 1972, page 20 - by Bill McGrotha
DAYTON, OH, March 16, 1972 - And suddenly Florida State's basketball team is one game away from a trip to Los Angeles.
One of the eight survivors now in an original field of 32 following last night's well planned and well executed 70-54 trimming of Minnesota, the Seminoles play Kentucky here Saturday afternoon at 4:10 for the championship of the Mideast Region.
If they whip the Wildcats they'll be one of four battling for the NCAA championship in California.
Never mind the fact the Seminoles may have been the most lonesome, least followed team of the original 32. Never mind that they were the only one among the four in action here last night who had no cheerleaders prancing and pulling for them. Never mind that not one fan - as nearly as can be ascertained - followed the team from Tallahassee to Knoxville last week for the first round, or to Dayton for last night's action.
Among the 13,468 who packed the Dayton Arena they found some fans, and some vocal ones. All of those followers were not ones simply pulling against Minnesota either. There was a sudden awareness in their ranks of the merit of Florida State's players.
It was one of the more satisfying victories in the six seasons as head coach of Hugh Durham, who coveted this chance to take on Kentucky in the big one.
A native of Louisville himself, Durham has three Kentuckians among his troops - Ron King, Otto Petty, Larry Gay.
What pleased Durham most about the thumping of Minnesota's Big Ten champions was the Seminoles' ability to beat the Gophers at their own defensive game. Minnesota had led the nation in defense, but it didn't lead Dayton last night.
"I thought the difference," said Durham, "was our defense. Going in I had a lot of respect for Coach Bill Musselman and his defense, but we also work hard on that part of the game and our players take a lot of pride defensively.
"Tonight our defense was better than Minnesota's."
Durham said he felt his team could win playing either a fast or slow tempo. The latter is Minnesota's style.
"We beat Oregon St., St. Louis and Georgia Tech," Durham recalled, "in slow games."
Florida State's superior depth was telling against Minnesota, which employed only six players. As he has all season, Durham shuffled his players in and out masterfully.
At the latter point, with a bit over eight minutes gone in the excruciatingly slow-moving game, Durham put in Ron Harris, his top defensive player, for Lawrence McCray.
The one teammates call "Sweet Daddy" was most instrumental in changing things around. He scored only 10 points all night, but all 10 came in the final 10 minutes of that opening half.
His layup brought the Seminoles to within 16-15 range. A bit later another Harris two-pointer got them to within 20-17.
King hit one from the side to spring the Seminoles into a 20-20 tie after Rowland Garrett sank a free throw. But soon Florida State trailed again, 25-22.
Whereupon Harris stole the ball and dribbled in for a layup.
And with 2:08 left in the half he popped a 20-footer for a 28-27 Florida State lead - the team's first. The Seminoles never trailed after that.
With 1:24 to go until intermission Harris once more stole the ball and drove for a layup, making it 32-27. Keith Young, the Minnesota guard, drew his fourth foul on that play.
It was 35-29 at the half as Reggie Royals tipped in a shot as the gun sounded.
Minnesota stuck to the Seminoles stubbornly in the early minutes of the closing half, pulling to within 39-37, 43-41, 44-43 and 46-44.
Along about then Garrett and Royals drew their third fouls - but Young got his fifth and left the game.
Garrett, the game's high scorer with 23 points, continued hot. He got 14 of his total in that closing half. His 36 minutes of action in this one was more than any Seminole.
The Seminoles initiated some deliberate play themselves, waiting for the open shot. After one such slowdown Garrett put one in from the corner to make the score 52-45. After another slowdown saw Otis Cole drop in another from the side for 54-46. Then Garrett was loose with a driving underhanded layup that made it 56-46 with 6:39 left.
Minnesota fought to within 59-50, but was never closer than that in the closing minutes. The Gophers certainly stronger physically than the Seminoles, as touted, suddenly appeared tired.
In addition to Garrett and Harris, the Seminoles had three others in double figures - Royals 11, King 11, Cole 10.
Garrett and Royals snared 11 rebounds apiece as the Seminoles finished within four of Minnesota's total 49 recoveries.
Minnesota, left with a 17-7 record after winning the Big Ten title, was spurred by tall, hefty Clyde Turner with 19 points. Jim Brewer pulled in 14 rebounds and Turner 12.
Bill Musselman, the losing coach, took his hat off to the Seminoles.
"I have to credit them with great overplay on defense," he said. "They also took their time to beat our press.
"That was one very well prepared team."
Musselman said his team "did not react." A notable reason was the harrasing tactics of the Seminoles. The Gophers hit on a poor one-third of their field-goal tries, while Florida State connected on 46.8 per cent. Free throws - 12 out of 15 tries - helped keep the Gophers close. Florida State sank 12 of 20.
"Our outside shooting was off a mile," said Musselman, "and our guards went 4-for-24.
"Durham decided to use their zone at exactly the right time."
He said he would rate the Seminoles' chances against Kentucky as even.
Minnesota had its band and plenty of its fans on hand. But there came rousing boos from the crowd as the team took the floor for its pre-game warmups.
In the early going Minnesota was sweeping the boards, coming up with rebound after rebound. The Seminoles stayed cool, bided their time.
Pretty soon "Sweet Daddy" came in and they started to move.
"It didn't suprise me that Kentucky beat Marquette," said Durham. "I thought if Kentucky could break Marquette's press they had an excellent chance.
"If this is to be Coach Adolph Rupp's last year it would be nice for him to go to Los Angeles.
"But I can't pull for him."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 17 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 4 2
23 Rowland Garrett f 36 11 19 1 1 23 11 3 0 1
25 Reggie Royals f 32 4 9 3 6 11 11 4 2 1
33 Ron King g 27 5 11 1 3 11 5 1 2 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 24 1 2 0 1 2 8 1 0 0
10 Ron Harris 28 5 7 0 1 10 2 0 1 2
11 Otto Petty 23 0 8 2 3 2 1 1 6 2
22 Otis Cole 13 3 5 4 4 10 1 1 2 1
Team 3
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 29 62 12 20 70 42 12 17 10 0 0
Opp 200 22 66 12 15 56 46 16 8 12
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Minnesota |
From the Tallahassee Democrat, March 19, 1972, page 1-D - by Bill McGrotha
DAYTON, OH, March 18, 1972 - In front all the way, Florida State's quick-and-cool basketball team swept into the NCAA's finals with an emphatic 73-54 trimming of Kentucky here Saturday afternoon.
Minutes after it was over Coach Hugh Durham was hugging a trophy proclaiming the Seminoles champions of the Mideast Regional, and a determined Ron King had one that hailed him as the tournament's most valuable player.
Florida State, now 26-5, is one of four teams remaining in contention for the national title.
The Seminoles' next test comes in Los Angeles on Thursday at 10 p.m. (Tallahassee time) against North Carolina, winner of the East Regional yesterday after throttling Penn 73-59.
King, the 6-4 junior from Louisville, socked home 22 points Saturday. Credit Adolph Rupp, the Kentucky coach, with an assist on that production.
On Friday, in reply to a question at a press conference, Rupp had said he had not tried to recruit King for Kentucky. A native of Louisville, like Durham and teammate Otto Petty, King had in his senior year been acclaimed the state's outstanding player. The team he and Petty starred on won the state championship.
Apparently upset over Rupp's words when they were relayed to him Friday, King said after the game that Rupp had, in fact, wanted him to go to Kentucky.
"I don't know why he would say that," said King. "I had to show him soemthing one more time."
The Seminoles won this one with their balance and superb defense. "When you hold Kentucky to 54 points," said Durham, "you've done the job."
Mostly because of that balance, with no player dominating the team. King was the only Seminole to make the all-tournament team here. The other four were Kentucky's Jim Andrews, Marquette's Bob Lackey, Minnesota's Clyde Turner and Jim Brewer. The Gophers whipped Marquette 77-72 in a consolation game that preceded the showdown.
Durham was asked if he thought King had been his team's most valuable over the season.
"No, no," he replied immediately. "Ron Harris is our most valuable. He could be a starter easily, and maybe I did him wrong not starting him last season. He plays every spot for us except the point, and he's our best defensive player. When he comes in he gives us momentum. Off the floor he provides great leadership."
It was the smiling Harris that on Friday had softly uttered this perhaps profound statement. "If Kentucky beats us, we deserve to lose."
The Wildcats called a timeout, and in the next minute of playing time hit three baskets - Ronnie Lyons, Jim Parker and Andrews - to cut it to 7-6 as their fans went beserk.
But Kentucky never got on top.
The Seminoles led 15-12 when Harris came in after 7 1/2 minutes. But it was not a day for dramatics by Harris or Rowland Garrett, who had spurred the team in the opener against Minnesota.
Otto Petty replaced Samuel at the point after the first eight minutes.
The Seminoles moved to a 10-point, at 32-22, on Reggie Royals' two free throws with 2:51 left in the half. But Kentucky rallied a bit and it was 34-28 at intermission.
At this stage the Wildcats were out-shooting the Seminoles, 50 to 38.9 per cent, and had out-rebounded them, 18 to 17.
But the 6-10 Royals, who had just two rebounds in that first half, came alive and plucked 10 off the boards after intermission for a game-high 12. The Seminoles finished with a 44 to 35 lead in recoveries.
Kentucky came back as the 6-11 Andrews had a run of five straight points that cut the score to 43-39 with 14:40 to play.
Then Royals tipped in a rebound, McCray sank a layup, Royals drew a third foul that put Kentucky into a one-and-one situation on free throws with 7:25 to go. But the score was 54-41 then, and the Wildcats couldn't capitalize on things.
The Wildcats started fouling, generally picking on Petty, who went 9-for-9 at the free-throw line and finished with 13 points.
"If we were going to foul anyone," said Rupp, "I told my players to foul McCray. But our boys felt they'd do better with little old Petty."
Soon some of the fans among the 13,458 packed into Dayton Arena started singing a song to the tune of "Good Night Ladies." It went: "Good-bye, Adolph, we're glad to see you go."
Though the crowd was dominated by Kentucky fans, Florida State had generous support from the neutrals on hand. Seemingly altogether lost in the tension of this struggle for high stakes was the fact that Kentucky used only white players, Florida State only black ones.
Royals was the lone Seminole to play all the way, scored 12 points along with McCray. King, in for 33 of the 40 minutes, had eight rebounds in addition to his game-high 22 points.
Florida State's sticky defense forced Kentucky into a stunning 22 turnovers, and after putting in just 32 per cent of their last-half shots, the Wildcats finished with a shooting percentage of 41. The Seminoles, not up to their offensive best in this one, had 13 turnovers, sank 42 per cent of their field-goal tries.
The Seminoles fly back to Tallahassee early today, their arrival scheduled for 12:17 p.m.
The Seminoles play the Tar Heels in the NCAA finals at Los Angeles next Thursday night.
"I know," he said, "that Dean Smith, their coach, is one of the best in the country. They have an awful lot of quickness. We've played them five times in the five seasons preceding this one, and we lost them all."
Durham repeatedly praised his team's defensive play.
"We don't depend on one man. We stress team defensive play. We did an excellent job of keeping the ball away from their forwards. You let Kentucky forwards have the ball, they're gonna score on you.
"Kentucky surprised us some when they went to a man-to-man defense. But it was a pleasant surprise. We didn't mind playing against that."
Under some pressure and criticism in recent seasons because of the Seminoles' three years of NCAA probation, and also because of his heavy recruiting of blacks, Durham spoke of what the triumph over Kentucky meant.
"It means so much to our players," he said. "It means so much to the school, it means so much to the state, and also, of course, it means a whole lot to me.
"Yes, it was our most satisfying victory.
"We have an opportunity, now, that basketball players dream about from the time they're little boys - an opportunity very few teams have.
"You have the dream and then - bang - all of a sudden, you're there."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 8 1 2 1 1 3 1 0 2 0
23 Rowland Garrett f 21 2 4 1 1 5 3 2 2 2
25 Reggie Royals f 40 4 13 4 5 12 12 3 1 2
33 Ron King g 33 9 19 4 4 22 8 0 0 1
44 Lawrence McCray c 31 6 13 0 2 12 5 3 0 4
10 Ron Harris 28 3 7 0 0 6 5 3 2 3
11 Otto Petty 32 2 5 9 9 13 6 2 8 1
22 Otis Cole 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 2
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 27 64 19 22 73 42 13 15 13 0 0
Opp 200 22 54 10 13 54 33 16 16 22
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| Kentucky |
From the Tallahassee Democrat, March 24, 1972, page 21 - by Bill McGrotha
LOS ANGELES, CA, March 23, 1972 - Mamma, figure on a late supper Saturday. Those Seminoles came to play.
To the absolute amazement of everyone except themselves, and perhaps a kindred few, Florida State will be going against UCLA - that's the University of California at Los Angeles, if you don't know - at 5 p.m. on Saturday for the National Collegiate Basketball Championship. NBC will televise it all over the land.
North Carolina, rated No. 2 nationally and called "the best team to come out of the East in years" by Sports Illustrated, fell 79-75 here last night to those grits-loving Seminoles.
With six minutes gone in the last half, the proud Tar Heels were down by 23, befuddled by a dazzling combination of offense and defense sparked by Otto Petty, who at 5-7 was maybe the biggest man on the floor of the Los Angeles Sports Arena on this night.
To their total credit, the Tar Heels rallied mightily, fought within five points as the clock showed 5 1/2 minutes to go.
Pulling themselves together, the Seminoles fought off North Carolina's press, one of the country's fiercest, pushed their lead back up to nine. The fact that the Tar Heels got as close as three with five seconds to play was not really relevant.
"We were tight," said Hugh Durham, the happy winning coach, "but so was North Carolina, which had the reputation of being one of the strongest teams Coach Dean Smith has put together. They certainly were tough tonight.
"It was not a picturesque game because of all of the turnovers."
Mistakes came by the bushel, most precipitated by the efficient defense of both teams.
"We are as disappointed as we can be," said UNC's Smith. "This has been a great Carolina team, and we wanted to have a shot at the National Championship. We certainly congratulate Florida State.
"If we had to play them again, we might use a slower tempo. Petty just dribbled away from us with his great speed, and he made the good passes once he was in front court.
"I don't know if he will be successful against UCLA. Maybe UCLA is quicker than we are. I do not know because I haven't seen them."
Petty scored just 10 points, playing 27 of the 40 minutes. He fouled out with 4:19 to play and Greg Samuel, who had done a fine job at the point in the beginning, was a steady one at the end, too, in excruciating circumstances.
It was Petty's alert playmaking, his ability to discern and capitalize on situation after situation, his six assists and timely defensive work that appeared most instrumental in the Seminoles' big movement that covered the final 10 minutes of the first half and the opening six in the second.
In that first half the Seminoles slapped home a spectacular 60 per cent of their field-goal tries. But in the second it was a poor 28 per cent, for an overall average of 45.5 (versus North Carolina's overall 41.4). Incredibly, the Seminoles sank just three field goals in the final 14 minutes. For all of the last half they were 7-for-25 on field-goal attempts, versus 18-for-30 over the first 20 minutes.
Ron King led Florida State scoring with 22 points, followed closely by Reggie Royals with 18. While the Seminoles missed a chance to blow North Carolina out with their overall inefficiency at the foul line, King went 10-for-10 there.
Still the team netted only 29 of 43 chances at the foul line, while North Carolina went 17-for-25.
Royals pulled in 10 rebounds and Lawrence McCray nine, but North Carolina, led by big Robert McAdoo, controlled the boards, 52-to-41. Florida State had 27 turnovers, North Carolina 26.
McAdoo, before fouling out with 9:48 to play, snared 15 rebounds and scored 24 points. Dennis Wuycik racked 20 points for the Tar Heels, who will carry a 24-5 record into Saturday's 2 p.m. consolation game with Louisville.
"I thought," said Smith, "we were starting a comeback when McAdoo was in there. But we played well after he fouled out."
Both teams substituted early and often, but the Tar Heels more than the Seminoles.
Rowland Garrett's layup, with the clock showing 13:34 left in the half, put the Seminoles in front to stay at 16-15. But not one in the crowd of 13,756 that saw this first game - there were more than that for the second - would have bet on the Seminoles staying ahead at the time.
Petty replaced Samuel at the point after the first nine minutes, the score 18-17. His steal and layup stretched things to 35-25 with 5:38 to go until the half.
Carolina narrowed it to 39-32, then the Seminoles closed with a layup by Royals, a 2-pointer from the side by King, and a layup by Garrett to make it 45-32 at intermission.
Early in the last half the Seminoles went on a 10-point tear. Petty hit from the outside, Garrett got a layup, McCray a free throw and then a tip-in for two. Royals a free throw and King a layup. That made it 59-36 with precisely 14:03 to play.
Then the Tar Heels started slicing away, led by McAdoo and Wuycik. A tip-in by Bobby Jones narrowed it to an alarming 70-65 with 5:36 remaining.
Royals had drawn his fourth foul with 13:34 to play, and McCray his third with nearly 17 minutes left. Each was playing it expediently cautious. Florida State had gained the advantage of the one-and-one foul with 13:09 to go as UNC pressed desperately, and the fact was a key. In the last half the Seminoles got 20 points on 29 foul shots.
Durham shouted "timeout" after Jones cut the lead to five.
Petty started slowing it down, but fouled out with 4:19 to play and Samuel took over. Each side missed opportunities in the tense circumstances, and no points were scored for more than three minutes.
Then Samuel worked loose for a layup, and Ron Harris put in two free throws to make it 74-65 with 1:30 to play.
They swapped points. The Seminoles remained nine points ahead, 78-69 with 49 seconds left.
UNC whittled it down, as Smith called timeout after timeout, and his Tar Heels gambled with fouls. George Karl hit a short jumper, and Bill Chamberlain a 15-footer for 78-73 and 19 seconds left. Karl's short hook shot made it 78-75 with five seconds. Samuel sank a final free throw for the Seminoles.
"Coach Smith," said Durham, "did as good a job of using the clock tonight as I've ever seen."
But it wasn't enough. The supposed best team from the East in years walked with heads bowed to the dressing room.
Sparkplug Otto Petty scored only 10 points but losing Coach Dean Smith said Petty singlehandedly took away the Tar Heels' main weapon - the full court press.
"Mr. Petty acted like a road runner through our press and that press was what got us here. We'd double team him and he'd get through and make the play at the other end. We had to take the press off halfway through the first half.
"I think this game shows there's still room for a 5-7 guard in the game."
Winning Coach Hugh Durham admitted his team played poorly after it ran off to a 23-point lead in the second half.
"My heart was double beating over there when they made a run at us." North Carolina closed the gap to just five points late in the game.
"I guess we played loose enough - but pressure was not really on us, it was on them. We heard people say this was Dean's best team."
Durham said he wasn't thinking about Saturday's championship finals at all.
"I really don't care about anything. I'm just going to savor this victory for awhile."
Florida State must break a number of jinxes here Saturday if the Seminoles hope to upset UCLA for the NCAA basketball title.
To begin with, Florida State is attempting to become only the third at-large team in the last 18 years to win an NCAA crown. The other independents to break through without conference competition were Loyola of Chicago in 1963 and Texas-El Paso in 1966.
Secondly, UCLA has won the last five titles and seven of the last eight.
Third, UCLA is unbeaten at 29-0 this year, having beaten teams by an average of 32 points per game.
Fourth, the Bruins haven't lost a game in 44 straight and have won 31 NCAA tourney games in succession, too.
And last, UCLA's 6-foot-11 sophomore center Bill Walton hasn't played in a losing game since he was a sophomore in high school, five years ago.
Each propelled his team to semifinal victories Thursday night, Walton with his favored UCLA Bruins by a lopsided 96-77 over Louisville and Petty's Seminoles in a cliff-hanger.
Walton took only 13 shots, made 11 of them, wound up with 33 points and 21 rebounds and blocked six shots as the Bruins, seeking their sixth straight NCAA crown, demolished Louisville's Cardinals in the second half.
Florida State did its damage in the first half, leading by 23 points early in the final stanza, before edging North Carolina 79-75.
The free-wheeling Seminoles used quickness and a sizzling fast break plus Petty's dribbling skills to win. Later, winning Coach Hugh Durham said the same type of game is in store for the Bruins.
"We're not planning to slow the ball down," said Durham, admitting he's heard rumors that teams can't run and shoot with the Bruins and win.
"If you run against them, you might catch Walton away from the basket but if you slow it down, he'll be there and gobble everything up."
Petty destroyed the North Carolina full-court press with some astonishing dribbling and Durham said:
"Petty was the difference. If we can get the ball to him in the middle of the floor, he can get away from anybody. And even when he's double-teamed, he's tough to stop."
UCLA Coach John Wooden admitted Petty was the key to Florida State's triumph.
"We expect Petty will give us trouble on our press but we'll give him a lot of trouble, also," said Wooden.
Florida State's offense ran into a cold spell midway through the second half against the Tar Heels and North Carolina chewed away until the score was 70-65 with 5:45 to play. But a layup by Greg Samuel, the Seminoles' 5-9 starting guard, helped pull Florida State into the final game.
Walton, double-teamed most of the night, started UCLA's famed fast break with quick outlet passes and losing Coach Denny Crum, an assistant a year ago at UCLA, praised the All-American center.
"Walton creates so many problems for you. He's smart and doesn't make any mistakes."
Petty scored 10 points and had six assiss in leading the Seminoles but the junior won't start against the Bruins Saturday. Samuel begins each game because he's better on defense. Durham said he brings on Petty to light a fire under his kids.
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 13 2 4 1 4 5 1 0 0 3
23 Rowland Garrett f 33 4 8 3 7 11 5 4 1 6
25 Reggie Royals f 32 6 8 6 7 18 10 5 4 3
33 Ron King g 37 6 17 10 10 22 5 1 2 4
44 Lawrence McCray c 26 3 6 3 6 9 9 3 1 3
10 Ron Harris 27 1 6 2 2 4 4 2 2 2
11 Otto Petty 27 3 5 4 7 10 1 5 6 5
21 Larry Gay 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Otis Cole 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 25 55 29 43 79 41 20 16 27 0 0
Opp 200 29 70 17 25 75 52 27 20 26
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| North Carolina |
From the Tallahassee Democrat, March 26, 1972, page 1D - by Bill McGrotha
LOS ANGELES, CA, March 25, 1972 - Florida State's prideful and altogether determined bid for a National Basketball Championship fell a handful of points short here Saturday as a cool UCLA team annexed
its sixth consecutive title 81-76.
It was that close, and it wasn't.
Ahead early by seven, the Seminoles trailed 50-39 at halftime. After that they were never closer than the five at the end, but they fought to within seven with several minutes left and forced the Bruins into an expediant slowdown.
The hopes of the Seminoles, who finished 27-6, were considerably diminished when 6-11 Lawrece McCray drew his third foul in the first six minutes, and went to the bench for the remainder of the half. Florida State led then 21-14.
Up until that point McCray was handling UCLA's brilliant 6-11 sophomore Bill Walton, the nation's Player of the Year, as few opponents have. The big redhead had scored just one point. When McCray came back at the start of the second half he also checked him effectively for the opening minutes.
But Walton led the Bruins with 24 points and 20 rebounds as they moved this season's record to 30-0 and won their 45th straight.
Keying on Walton, with other defenders sagging to help out McCray, was some costly.
Henry Bibby slapped in 18 points, mostly from outside at clutch moments, and Keith Wilkes was loose for a number of open shots as he got 23 points.
Unable to get inside with any consistency at all, Florida State took many long-range shots, and made many. Ron King scored a game-high 27 points in spurring the Seminoles. Ron Harris contributed 16. Reggie Royals put in 15, plus grabbed 10 rebounds. UCLA controlled the boards, 50 to 42.
Royals fouled out with 1:38 remaining. McCray played under the burden of four fouls most of the last half.
"I thought," said Coach Hugh Durham, "when we had our people in there we played pretty well. But its hard to keep your top people in there against UCLA because they apply so much pressure."
Down by 16 points, at 67-51, at one last-half stage, the Seminoles rallied sharply, moved to within seven, at 71-64, on a McCray tip-in with 8:01 to play.
In rapid succession Wilkes hit two layups - the second after a steal - to make it 77-66 as the clock showed 6:18.
Wilkes' work there may well have been the game-breaker.
Harris and Greg Samuel put in baskets to again put the Seminoles within seven, at 77-70, with 4:37 to go.
UCLA had started its slow-down. After an exchange of baskets made it 79-72 at 4:05 the Seminoles had three opportunites to score in the next two minutes, but turned the ball over each time.
The Bruins were turning the ball over, too.
Wilkes broke the scoring drought on a layup that made it 81-72 with 26 seconds left. Harris put in two field goals in the time that remained to narrow the final margin.
Tommy Curtis, a sophomore out of Tallahassee whom Florida State, among many, tried to recruit, came in at the point position to direct the UCLA attack after the first few minutes. He scored eight points plus a game-high six assists in deftly manipulating the UCLA attack.
It was Curtis' field goal, with 8:45 remaining in the first half, that put UCLA in front to stay at 27-25.
Florida State hit from the field just a fraction better than UCLA, 46.3 per cent versus 46.2, but the Bruins managed to get off 11 more attempts than the Seminoles and made five more baskets. Neither team was hurt at the foul line by the other as the Seminoles sank 14 of 19 tries, UCLA just nine of 18.
The Seminoles had 19 turnovers, UCLA 14. Walton had four of UCLA's total in the first half, finished with five. Petty was credited with turning the ball over four times during his relatively brief play.
"Petty got a lot of attention in our earlier games," noted Durham, "and deserved it. But Samuel, all along, has played well and been one of our most important players. He had seven assists in this game, and he did a fine job for us."
At the start, UCLA jumped to a 4-0 lead but the Seminoles took the lead on King's corner shot at 7-6.
Two baskets by Samuel, another by King, soon made it 13-8 as murmurs swept through the stunned crowd of 15,063 in the Los Angeles Sports Areana.
Soon Royals dropped in four points. King two more for a 21-14 lead with 14:01 before halftime.
But as McCray went to the bench with his third foul, things changed. UCLA started to move. Bibby sank two baskets and Walton got three points to tie it, 21-all, three minutes later.
Otto Petty, the 5-7 pointman who earlier sparked the Seminoles and captured the imagination of the fans with his dazzling play, was not a factor in the final game.
Walton was acclaimed the most outstanding player in the tournament.
King, a 6-4 junior from Louisville, made the all-tourney team along with Walton, Wilkes, Louisville's Jim Price and North Carolina's Robert McAdoo.
Durham said his playes played with great heart and courage.
"Like I told them in the locker room, right now they've got a feeling in the pits of their stomach like they're going to explode but in a few days that feeling will go away and they'll realize they
played one heck of a game," he said.
And though the racehorse pace of the first half evolved into more cautious proceedings after intermission, Florida State's national runnerups along with UCLA's champions had got a message across.
"From a physical point of view," said John Wooden, the winning coach, "Florida State is an exceptional team. Very quick. I'm surprised they shot so well from outside.
"My experience has been that you get hurt by outside shooting, but you very seldom get beat by it."
What Wooden seemed to be saying was that this was an occasion when he could have been beat by it.
No one else in UCLA's 30-0 season, after all had come as close to beating the Bruins as the Seminoles. Oregon State lost by just six, but UCLA's average margin of victory was more than 30.
Bill Walton and Henry Bibby, key performers for the victors, mumbled to the press after the game about the team playing poorly.
"I didn't think we played as poorly as they thought," said Wooden, "but it wasn't one of our better games.
"From my experience, however, in championship games I've noticed that you're just going to have a lot of turn overs in these.
"I thought a key was the patience we showed early when we got behind."
Though well satisfied with his Seminoles performance under the game's developing circumstances, Florida State Coach Hugh Durham felt it was hardly one of his team's better games either.
"Any time you play poorly," he said, "there's a reason for it - and the reason in a good many cases is the other team."
But to watching fans with less critical eyes than coaches, that opening half left little to be desired.
"I thought," said Durham, "we played the game with a lot of heart and character. Our players never thought they would lose to UCLA going in.
"UCLA is a great basketball team, and you can't make mistakes against them and win."
There was some difference of opinion on whether the three fouls that the Seminoles' 6-11 Lawrence McCray drew in the first six minutes was a telling factor.
With McCray guarding him, the gifted Walton scored just one point and the Seminoles were ahead 21-14 after those first six minutes. When McCray went to the bench, for the final 14 minutes of that half, the dam burst.
"You can not," said Durham, "lose a 6-11 player and play against Walton and not have it hurt you."
Wooden saw it differently.
"I didn't think really," he said, "McCray hurt us that much. He helped a little on Walton. But our players had rather have (McCray) in there than out because they think he's not all that maneuverable."
But Walton knew something.
"It was really hard for me to get the ball," he said. "A lot of credit just has to go to the way Florida State played.
"A really good team - really good."
The Seminoles' Ron King, who scored 22 points against North Carolina in the semifinals and 27 against UCLA, seemed to sum up his teammates' view.
"We really wanted to beat them," he said, "and you can't be happy about losing. But we showed a lot of people we can play with UCLA.
"People said we didn't belong here. They had UCLA favored by 16 points, and some dude on television last night said they'd win by 20.
"I know one thing. We'll be back next year, and I hope it's against UCLA then.
"I'm not mad. We lost to Number One, and we're proud that we showed something."
NO NAME GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA PTS REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === === === === === == === == === ===
3 Greg Samuel g 31 3 10 0 0 6 1 1 7 2
23 Rowland Garrett f 37 1 9 1 1 3 5 1 0 2
25 Reggie Royals f 33 5 7 5 6 15 10 5 2 3
33 Ron King g 31 12 20 3 3 27 6 1 1 3
44 Lawrence McCray c 23 3 6 2 5 8 6 4 3 4
10 Ron Harris 26 7 13 2 3 16 6 1 1 1
11 Otto Petty 9 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 4
22 Otis Cole 10 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 0
Team 6
=====================================================
FSU 5 200 31 67 14 19 76 42 15 17 19 0 0
Opp 200 36 78 9 18 81 50 15 19 14
| 1 | 2 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | |||
| UCLA |