I wasn't a very demonstrative, emotional person, at the time, but I jumped and yelled when Villanova won this game. All had heard and seen on TV, for months, was Georgetown this, and Ewing that and was tired of hearing about it. This was and is the best college basketball game I have ever seen on TV, or live.
Well, I said it to various NBA-related RU-vid channels. If not for that improbable 1999 Knicks Playoff run, should they let it slide instead, reports were swirling Phil Jackson is waiting in the wings to be NYK coach the next season. Patrick Ewing should have won at least a couple of "Larrys". Ewing definitely deserves an NBA ring more than the arrogant Shaq and Kobe.
@brandonmaddox4862 yep. There was a series where the Knicks had the Bulls down 2 to 0 but lost the series. There are A LOT of players who have rings who aren't better than Patrick. He was on the original DREAM TEAM. One of the greatest college basketball players ever. It's all good
Man o man! You really had to be there in the 80’s to understand and appreciate how great college basketball was and the superstars it produced! The Big East today is a shell of what it once was! The Gods in no particular order.. Mullin, Pearl, Ewing, Berry, D-Train, Coleman, Sherman “The General” Douglas, Pinckney, Jerome Lane, Sleepy, Charles Smith, Thompson, Boehiem, Lou, Rollie, Life goes on and things change.. but, those will forever be special times. Feels good going down memory lane with this documentary! 🙂😢💯
UConn over Duke was the greatest upset in championship game history. That was the Langdon, Brand, Avery, Maggette, Battier Duke team that went undefeated in the ACC and would have gone down as the clear best team ever if they had won.
I am a Big 10 fan, but the Big East of the 80's had no equal. Those Big Monday games on ESPN were flat out wars. They made what college basketball is today.
@@Zenigundam I disagree because, like so many, your totally discrediting how good that UConn team was, combined with the experience they had (several upperclassmen) and that for one-third of that season they were the other #1 ranked team (several weeks)! Plus Duke took full advantage of what was an overall down year for the ACC historically to that point (only two even decent teams besides Duke)! Duke's immaturity of being in a pressure situation came to the forefront in the final (close game down the stretch against a team that was way better than anyone we'd played and it showed) ! I'm a die-hard Duke fan and have been for the last 39 years (since '81-'82)! UConn totally outplayed (especially Rip Hamilton) us and deserved to win and they've never gotten the more than just due they should be given! That was nowhere near as big an upset as people make it out to be! In fact, I thought the 9-pt spread was completely absurd! NC State '83 over Phi Slama Jama is head and shoulders above as the biggest upset in FF history! They had to win their conference tournament at that time just to get in the field because leagues weren't allowed more than two bids besides the conf tournament champion! UConn proved, without a doubt, they were Duke's equal! And in March Madness, it only takes one game!
@@Zenigundam Nobody cares about UConn, the Big East is about the Hoyas, the Orange men, Vilanova, St John, Boston College, UConn is not really what people think about when the Big East comes to mind.
I remember that game. I was in the Air Force stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City Louisiana. Everyone in the dorm thought Georgetown was going to win. I didn't have a dog in the fight but I just watched the game. Like they said Villanova played the game of their lives. There was this one person who lived downstairs and he was from Philly. He was running outside with his Villanova pennant. I remeber that to this day.
St. John's had Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Bill Wennington, and Walter Berry. G-Town had Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, David Wingate, and Michael Jackson. Those two teams were loaded with talent.
@@bnegs521 I saw a special on ESPN that said that Mr. Thompson did recruit white players as well as black ones. Unfortunately, coaches from other basketball teams (programs) would say to that white recruit, "If you go to Georgetown, you'll be the only white player on the team. You'll never start or play". In his 27 years coaching Georgetown, Mr. Thompson only started 3 white players.
Arguably his best contribution is he himself confronted "a godfather" and directly told him "hands off" to his players. Having said that, imagine Steve Fisher did that too. (To be fair to Mr. Fisher, he might not aware of Ed Martin's intrusions.)
People forget that 85 Villanova title team was composed of battle tested seniors that as underclassmen got close to the FF but ran up against Worthy/Perkins/Jordan UNC AND Phi Slama Jama in back to back Elite 8's
@Kevin Prima The Big East college basketball conference was tough aggressive basketball in the 80s with the Georgetown Syracuse rivalry that put the conference on the map with St John's,Villanova and uconn better than the Atlantic Coast Conference once
@@dennissmith9294 the new big East basketball conference doesn't have a villain like the old one did plus lovable louie and rollie Massimo on the sidelines also georgetown with it's hoya paranoia coach big John Thompson and rough tough hoyas
Really cool how Georgetown isn't presented as a generic "superpowered villain" team here, and there were so many layers of circumstances that just went together to make them such a dominant and fearsome team. And at the same time we're still thrilled for the underdog.
I miss these days..the 80's and 90s NCAA superstars stayed 3-4 years. Fans got to see so many big matchups..nowadays, even high profile schools are lucky to keep even a decent player past a year. The NCAA and NBA have suffered for it
@@kennethbrady You could also see players get robbed by playing for free while EVERYONE else made butt loads of money. Now - they're finally gonna get rid of the one and done rule. So...goodbye exploitation. Fuck you if you have a problem with that.
Couldn't agree more. Because guys stayed 3 and 4 years, you saw rivalries develop and players mature. Guys in the same class in the same conference see each other at least twice as a freshmen, twice as a sophomore, twice as a junior and twice as a senior. And the rivalries made the players and the teams better. And then when they did come into the NBA, they were fully developed and it made the NBA that much better. Michael stayed 3 years. Barkley stayed 3 years. Clyde and Hakeem stayed 3 years. Ewing stayed 4 years. Mullin stayed 4 years. I remember when Shaq and Mourning were both rookies. They were fully developed and played like seasoned vets and their early match-ups were very well played. You don't get that now. Rivalries don't mean much because the players change every year. You can't build a hatred for one another after just one year. And when they come to NBA, they're not fully developed. They can't shoot, can't defend.
@@ThomasFromTNNo one is being robbed, that is ridiculous to suggest. Pros play for money. Amateurs don't. Pretty simple. Sounds like your suggesting that these simple definitions don't apply. I'm sure that a degree from Nova or Georgetown was well earned and something to be proud of.
My friends and I were sitting at the bar at Kelly's that night( actually started that day). Was such an amazing time, still remember it as if it was yesterday. After the win, cruising up and down Lancaster Ave with people jumping in my car, just celebrating. So much joy! The Cats weren't afraid of them that night. Was so good when they won last year again. My wife and I went downtown to the parade, brought back so many memories!!
Man, the early 1980's were full of legendary sports upsets. The Miracle on Ice, NC State over Phi Slamma Jamma, WA Little League beating Taiwan, and Villanova over Georgetown.
He was such a Bad Ass. Arguably him and Benny Anders could have played in the pros. If Graham was on that team they could have been undefeated or 1 loss
AVC IV they missed graham in games like this. Nova collapsed on Ewing, something they could not have done if graham had played. You had to account for him on the inside. They could have also put Graham on Pinckney when Ewing was out, a much tougher matchup than Dalton. Finally although Ewing intimidated some, teams were scared Shitless of Graham. There was something about him that just took teams hearts.
@@Biggdoom344 This was one of my favorite quotes from Chuck D talking about Michael Graham “He was a bald head in the middle of everybody wearing the Jheri curls, the Afros, the shags,” Public Enemy frontman Chuck D once told me. “That was a f-in’ statement.”
GRAHAM WAS THE TRUE ENFORCER AND INTIMIDATOR FOR THE HOYAS!! PAT EWING WAS A FORCE! HOWEVER, MIKE GRAHAM PUT THE FEAR OF GOD IN PLAYERS! ANYTHING AROUND THE RIM WAS A FEROCIOUS DUNK OR A GUARANTEED REBOUND!!
@@roybuford7538 everybody, that were in their 20's, and black, were wearing them. Teams, like The Georgetown Hoyas, and The Miami Hurricanes (They were both in The Big East), were pretty popular. When the late '80's were rolling in The UNLV Runnin' Rebels were making noise, but that's another story.
This was my favorite era of College Basketball.Me and my brother would watch the Big East games on TV.Growing up in Big 10 land, (Michigan) and watching Bobby Knight,s Indiana teams battle Michigan St, the Big East games were always exciting.Only Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, remains from that era.
It was for me too, this era imo proved then, that college ball was way better than the pro level. Also being from NJ, I was truly spoiled being able to watch Big East basketball. Great times.
Back in the day when you really only saw a couple of conferences on tv. I saw guys walking around with Hoya Starter jackets and they had no idea where Georgetown was. Players stayed in school for 3 and 4 years so you knew who these guys were. Did you see how that woman grabbed her purse and her husband when she saw Ewing walking down the street. For the record I played Division One Basketball 3 years after the Villanova upset, and no one then and no one today thinks about Gary ‘s drug use. That team was a team of destiny and was not tarnished by Gary’s admission of drug use. Greatest upset ever to this day.
I remember this game like it happened yesterday..2things stood out.. Villanova shot incrediblely from the floor and Gtown couldn't clamp down on them defensively. The following yr the NCAA brought in the shot clock 😎
@@robocop581 Robert, it was 90% in the second half, 79% for the game! Georgetown forced that superb shooting pct, in a way, because they shot 55 percent from the field themselves!
Ben if u had closely noticed, it wasn't that Georgetown didn't play solid defense! Remember my man, they forced alot of Nova's shots and they were still going in! One of those nights where no level defensively cancels out crazy shots! That near perfect game was the only thing to beat Georgetown! Proof that the planets were aligned that night for 'Nova - it was April Fool's Day! The other thing was the fear factor - Nova wasn't intimidated going in! I remember reading a book where Dwayne McClain stated they were glad they got Georgetown because they matched up better than against St John's! In hindsight both Nova Georgetown games that year had gone near or to the wire (57-50 and 57-52)! Had we all been more insightful to that back then instead of anointing the Hoyas; those close scores should have been more of a sign! And the one always consistent fact when it comes to March Madness - it's all about matchups! So McClain's assessment ended up being spot on
After NC St., second best upset ever in NCAA finals. Both this team and NC St. had similar runs, basically changing their complexion by adding a knockdown outside shooter late in the season, going on a run, NC St. to just get into the tourney, and a huge upset at the end
The best thing to happen to Villanova that season was losing two close games to Georgetown during the season. Hoyas underestimated them & didn't prepare any harder than for a team they felt they had a handle on. Villanova had to obv feel confident by that point, knew the Hoyas game plan which didn't change, and had barely lost so they knew if they kept in it they had a chance. Classic trap game
BULLSHIT! you obviously don't realize nova's seniors split the previous 3 years against the hoyas. that year was the only sweep and both games were close. the hoyas knew nova could beat them. so, NO they didn't underestimate them....
I don’t think GTOWN underestimated them. Nova was the only team that really gave the Hoyas consistent trouble the Ewing years. But when you shoot 90% from the field the second half, and 78% for the game...and yet win by two. That tells you how good that Hoyas team was. Anybody else that’s a twenty point blowout.
Loving this one thanks for sharing very information blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
I was at that game with two fiends of mine from Maryland. Even though we wee ACC fans, we rooted for Villanova. The person who got us tickets was the strength and conditioning coach for Georgetown. It was unreal!!!!
I was doing a consulting job in Oakland, CA back then. I was based out of Philly. That night, the president of the company in Oakland, (whose last home was in Villanova, PA) invited me, and the janitor (who was from Washington, DC) to spend the evening in his den watching the game. Talk about 3 totally different types of people, all going nuts over a few beers. What a night!
Some people used to call this the biggest upset ever in the NCAA championship game, which I absolutely dispute. Villanova had battled Georgetown tough in 2 games in the Big East that season, and they knew how to play the Hoyas. On their march to the title game, they had taken down the #1 team in the nation, Michigan, as well as a very good North Carolina team. I wasn't shocked by the outcome at all. If anyone wants to speak about the biggest upset, it occurred 2 years earlier: NC State over Houston. State had no business even being in that game. It never should have happened.
I remember Big John Thompson saying the aura and intimidation was gone when they face in the Nat'l Title game in 1985 due to Nova knowing G-Town so well
people forget that georgetown's seniors and villanova's senior were 3-3 until that season head to head. georgetown swept nova but they were close games. nova knew they could beat georgetown and georgetown knew nova could beat them. this game isn't the great "upset" the media has made it out to be....
It was superb from Magic-Bird in 1979 up until the official one and done era! The only thing since that still makes it superb is the alternative that the one and done presented us - leveling out of the playing field between the Power 5's and the mid-majors!
I watched it as a kid, but watching it now, Reggie Williams injury was key in that second half.. That's why they play the game Chris Berman style i guess.
WOW! How I remember watching this game in my "cubicle" at Marine Corps base in Okinawa Japan(Camp Hansen, 3rd combat engineer battalion,3rd med batt). Wanting Villanova to win because I always root for the underdog and happened to be from Camden, NJ. a town next to Philly.
I'm not sure most people thought Georgetown was a school of thugs. I never heard that analogy. Georgetown was a great team of players who had the ability to win and go pro. If a young man went to Georgetown, John Thompson would coach them up so that he had a realistic chance to advance to the pros.
Luke Enno - I agree in part. As a high school kid in the northeast during the 80s (and one who played HS basketball at the time).....nobody I knew thought of Georgetown as thugs. Just great players. Funny thing is though.....other than Ewing and Alonzo Mourning.....nobody during John Thompson’s career did anything worthwhile in the NBA. Wingate and Reggie Williams were names only diehard NBA fans knew. Bill Martin had a cup of coffee with Phoenix and Indiana. Funny how people think Thompson put a lot of players in the NBA when in reality he didn’t.
@@SS-th9wz Man there starting 5 of pro players is worthy. You get a back court of Iverson and Floyd Frontcourt of Ewing. Mourning and Mutombo With Williams and Wingate off the bench
People judge far too often when it comes to perception over reality! And Georgetown was the poster child for perception! It seemed in those days people rushed to perception! My thing is and always has been - don't judge something or someone if u don't know or haven't experienced the reality! It's a simple concept but the percentage always make the simple difficult because of what they believe! They'd rather form an immediate opinion! Georgetown got a bad rap due to ignorance and perception!
I lived in king of Prussia Pennsylvania had friends who graduated from Villanova that year I was 19 use to drink at a bar call the Radnor hotel on the main line which was were all Villanova students hung out got to be friendly with ed pickney and Dwayne McClain great memories great game this was college basketball at its best never to be seen again
Georgetown was The Best College Team , In the Land . Villanova Played a Perfect Game , Slowed the Game Down , Shot the Ball Great . I still think if there was A Shot clock at the Time Hoyas Would won their 2 straight NCAA Title ! Best of times
Familiarity breeds contempt and that game (April Fool's Day 1985) is the truest definition of that phrase! 'Nova was probably the worst possible matchup for that Georgetown team because of not only having played them twice already (both times close and Nova got the Hoyas to play their game and their pace despite both being losses), but also Nova could play freely since no one was giving them a snowballs chance in u know what! I've heard Dwayne McClain say several times since that night that they matched up better with Georgetown than anyone else they played at the time
Have to say, the founding of the Big East, and being on TV each week, made me a fan. In the '80s it was the best basketball you could watch. High level.
Thank you for sharing. :) Just few weeks before finally watching this (algorithm kept suggesting), I shared an FB post about "upset." That we are either in the favored or unfavorable position of "upset." Thankfully, I'm neutral here (I am barely 4 years old at this time) and yet inspiring knowing modern-day "David wins over Goliath" stories do and still happen.
Holy cow ! I can't be the only one noticing how much the game has changed in so little time. You don't see anyone palming the ball and the amount of steps allowed before traveling was called was still normal.
The game that brought the shot clock to college basketball the very next year. Because of money. Because of Vegas. I never watched another college basketball game at that level after that.
i wonder if you took these guys a month later and let them take every shot they took in the game, but with no defense whatsoever, if they could score as many points. I don't think they would. it was insane shooting. just nuts. It couldn't last for even one half, but it lasted ALL GAME LONG
John Thompson was a class act who demanded that his players be true scholar/athletes. Gtown had an excellent player graduation rate. (Even though Villanova had a 100% graduation rate) He did not abide stupid press questions but did not antagonize them. He was too classy to be brought down to their level.
Marginal coach especially with the 2 foul rule. You sat if you got your second in the first half, regardless of how you were playing. Remember Thompson was the reason that the college guys lost to the pros from Europe which changed how the Olympics got the pros from the NBA to play. Not a great coach. Great recruiter but marginal coach.
@@shinrips Yes indeed. Horrible coaching record. Pfft. Ridiculous. The international game had caught up, which was becoming clear after the 1987 loss to Brazil in the Pan-Am games. I suppose your also going to suggest that Denny Crum was also "marginal"? Did you see the '87 roster? Holy cow. Stacked. I didn't like the Olympic loss either, btw, but blaming Thompson as you described is inaccurate.
He built the Hoyas from the ground up and won championships what the fuck are you talking about it!!!! Yeah the college guys lost to the pros ! They’re pros!!!!!
Loved that team. I had them all the way-D train, Gary Maclain, Easy Ed Pickney,Harold Jensen could shoot the lights out, Harold Pressley (came later) and even the year before w/ John Pinone, I loved how they played. When Ewing went up against Pickney it was reminiscent of Elvin Hayes against Lew Alcindor. Hoya paranoia was in full swing. Ewing played the intimidation game right off the bat goal tending the first 3 shots? I think it was the first 3. The way Gary Maclain controlled the game. Lucky no shot clock.
George Brett! Grew up watching him play for Royals. ONLY player is history win a batting Title in 3 different decades. (1976/1980/1990.) Hit +3000 hits. I went to his last game at Kauffman Stadium Sep1993. I was 16yrs old
Villanova shot 78.6 percent (22-for-28) from the field for this game, and 81 percent from the line (22-of-27). They also took just 10 shots from the field in the second half and made nine. It wasn't a "perfect game" for Villanova by any means, however. That type of shooting usually buries an opponent, but the Wildcats also turned the ball over 17 times. That's what kept the game close from start to finish.
I remember the game commentator saying wait for and the coach would take his jacket off and throw it on the floor he would be so frustrated it was priceless lol
Louisville in 1980 and 1986; Indiana in 1981 and 1987; North Carolina in 1982 and 1993; NC State in 1983; Georgetown in 1984; Villanova in 1985; Kansas in 1988; Michigan in 1989; UNLV in 1990; Duke in 1991 and 1992; Arkansas in 1994; UCLA in 1995; Kentucky in 1996 and 1998; Arizona in 1997 and Connecticut in 1999 what a time to be a NCAA basketball fan
The shot clock was put into the very next year! With a shot clock in this Title game.. Georgetown wins easily... Still it took Villanova to play a Perfect game to upset a POWERHOUSE Georgetown Hoyas Team.. That's how Powerful this Team was.. Still Stunning the Hoyas lost this Game... even in 2020.. I'm from the D.C. area...
At 46:00 minutes in, you will see what I think is the the play of the game and changed the entire momentum. Georgetown up one, and had the ball with three and half minutes left. Theoretically, with no shot clock, Georgetown could have held it as long as they wanted here and forced a foul while in the four corners. Martin then throws it off Broadnax shin and Villanova has life. They talk about Fred Brown’s bad pass in 82. But Bill Martin’s bad pass in 85, possibly cost them another title.
Grew up in West Bmore also lived on NY and trust me from DC to Boston from 82 to 85-86 three Championship games 1 title, Georgetown wasn't just a b ball power house it was a culture signature shoes, T shirts and Pat Ewing was responsible for wearing t shirts under tank tops… RIP Big John Thompson my Moms loved him…
Was a big fan of Big East and college ball from 1980 onwards. It was the defense, and the post play conference. Rough league! There is so much hype in our current age (2020), but you can't imagine how heavily favored Gtown was. They steamrolled teams. They crushed St. Johns!!! Villanova was nothing, an 8 seed. Watching game and just moaned and yelled and eyes got bigger and bigger with every Villanova J. They could not miss!!! Wildly exciting and one of the best college games in history.
That's extremely sad considering Villanova more than proved that their win over the Tar Holes was no fluke when they backed it up beating both Memphis (with Keith Lee) and seemingly invincible Georgetown at the FF! Probably a blessing that season u lost to Nova because Georgetown was a better team in '85 than the one Carolina had beaten three yrs before and I didn't see them beating Memphis even had they beaten Nova because Carolina wouldn't have matched up with them! '85 Carolina was one of Dean's better than already superb coaching jobs! That team was Kenny Smith, Brad Daugherty and a bunch of inconsistency! And not very good field goal pct as a team either! It caught up to them against Ga Tech in the ACC final and then again in the second half against Nova! Both teams had been lights out defensively in the tournament but Nova was better for one half more and that was the difference! I also think that Carolina team got their max considering their lack of quality depth
And I was also in junior high at that time! NCAA tournament pre one and done era was the best! Still good at times, but not the level it used to be! The must-see TV back in the day has declined some! One main bright spot is the mid-majors having made the tournament field more balanced over the years
