The 10 best games in college basketball history

Instant classic: Gonzaga-UCLA rises to the top

Well, until the other night, the Duke-Kentucky regional final in 1992 – aka the Christian Laettner game – was considered by most hoop aficionados to be the greatest college basketball game ever.

Hold on a minute. Generally I’m opposed to instant hyperbole which makes the latest ever the greatest ever in this on-demand world.

But in this case, I’m making an exception.  giving Gonzaga’s win over UCLA on Jalen Suggs buzzer beater the nod – greatest ever. They’ll be showing highlights of this game for decades to come.

1. 2021 — Gonzaga 93, UCLA 90 (OT) – Jalen Suggs banked in a 33-foot three-pointer at the buzzer as Gonzaga advanced to the NCAA Finals and kept alive its dream of an undefeated season, first since Indiana in 1976. UCLA trailed by five with less than a minute remaining in overtime before Jamie Jaquez Jr. hit a three-pointer. The Bruins Johnny Juzang tied the score with less than a minute left. Then, with no timeouts left and less than five seconds on the clock Suggs took the inbounds, dribbled past halfcourt and let loose with the winning shot.

2. 1992 — Duke 104, Kentucky 103 (OT) — Playing in a regional final and a chance to go to the Final Four, the Blue Devils and Wildcats scored on the final five possessions of the game, trading the lead each time. Kentucky took a 103-102 lead with 2.9 seconds left on Sean Woods’ crazy, 10-foot bankshot. Then Grant Hill threw the ball three quarters of the way down court to Christian Laettner, above, who turned and hit the winning shot at the buzzer. Laettner finished with 10-for-10 from the field and 10-for-10 at the foul line.

3. 1974 — NC State 103,  Maryland 100 (OT) — The top-ranked Wolfpack overcame a 13-point first-half deficit and endured in overtime to win the ACC Tournament. Rules at the time allowed only one of the teams to advance to the NCAAs, so the fourth-ranked Terrapins were left on the outside looking in. The game featured five players who received All-American honors in their careers—David Thompson and Tom Burleson of NC State and Tom McMillen, John Lucas and Len Elmore of Maryland—and 11 players drafted by the NBA.

4. 1957 — North Carolina 54, Kansas 53 (3OT) – The unbeaten Tar Heels outlasted Wilt Chamberlain and the Jayhawks in the longest game in NCAA championship game history. Two free throws by Joe Quigg with six seconds left made the difference. UNC also played three overtimes in the semifinals, beating Michigan State.

5.  1974 — Notre Dame 71, UCLA 70 — Notre Dame put together one of the most  improbable runs ever, scoring the final 12 points of the game to beat UCLA and end the Bruins’ 88-game winning streak. Dwight Clay’s jumper from the right corner with 29 seconds left gave the Irish the lead, and they survived several UCLA attempts in the final seconds before celebrating, left.

5. 1983 — NC State 54, Houston 52 – The Wolfpack, sixth-seeded with 10 losses during the season, won when it mattered most as Lorenzo Charles putback dunk at the final buzzer upset Houston’s heavily favored Phi Slama Jama. Few will ever forget the sight of NC State coach Jim Valvano racing around the court looking for somebody to hug after the final buzzer.

6. 2016 — Villanova 77, Kentucky 74 – Kris Jenkins hit the winning shot, a three-pointer as time expired, to give Villanova the national championship in one of he craziest finishes in NCAA tournament history. Seconds earlier, Marcus Paige of the Tar Heels made a double-clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 74 with 4.7 seconds remaining.

7. 2009 — Syracuse 127, UConn 117 (6OT) — In the Big East tournament semifinals, the Orange outlasted the Huskies in six overtimes in the longest college basketball game ever played at Madison Square Garden. The contest took nearly four hours to complete and ended at 1:22 am. Syracuse returned later that night to win the Big East Championship against Pittsburgh.

8. 1985 — Villanova 66, Georgetown 64 – In a shocker, the Wildcats shot a tournament record .786 percent. They attempted 10 field goals in the second half and made nine. Georgetown was defending champion and the top seed but fell short against eighth-seeded Villanova after beating another Big East foe, St. John’s, in the semifinals.

9. 1982 — North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62 — This was Michael Jordan’s coming  out party,  and the freshman hit the game-winning shot, a 16-foot jumper, below, with 15 seconds left, to give Tar Heel coach Dean Smith his first national championship. “I was all kinds of nervous,” Jordan said, “but I didn’t have time to think about doubts. I had a feeling it was going to go in.”

10. 1969 — Houston 71, UCLA 69 — It was hyped as the “Game of the Century.” A midseason battle between two unbeaten teams. And it was played in front of 52,693 at the Astrodome, the largest crowd ever to watch a college basketball game at that time. Second-ranked Houston, led by Elvin Hayes, outplayed Lew Alcindor and No. 1 UCLA, ending the Bruins’ 47-game winning streak. Hayes outscored Alcindor, 39-15.

Honorable mention

11. 1981 – Arkansas 74, Louisville 73 – Two strides behind half court, Arkansas guard U.S. Reed made a miraculous shot at the buzzer as the Razorbacks stunned defending champion Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

12. 1998 – Valpariso 70, Ole Miss 69 – Trailing by two and with time about to expire, Bryce Drew hit a leaning three pointer well behind the arc to 13th-seeded Valpo a 70-69 win. Cinderella beat Florida State to gain the Sweet 16, where Valparaiso fell to Rhode Island.

13. 1964 — Michigan 80, Princeton 78 — Princeton’s Bill Bradley scored 41 points to give the Tigers a 12-point lead with less than five minutes to play, when he fouled out in this Holiday Festival game at Madison Square Garden. The top-ranked Wolverines rallied behind Cazzie Russell, who made the winning shot in the waning seconds. Both Bradley and Russell would later play in MSG for the Knicks.

14. 1994 — Kentucky 99, LSU 95 — In the “Mardi Gras Miracle,” the Wildcats engineered one of the great comebacks in NCAA history. Trailing by 31 points at halftime, Kentucky outscored LSU 62-27 in the second half for the win.

14. 1999 — USC 85, Oregon 84 – USC’s Adam Spanwich scored six points in the last 2.8 seconds, including a steal and half-court heave that beat the buzzer and completed an incredible comeback

15. 1944 — Utah 42, Dartmouth 40 (OT) — Utah originally turned down an invite to the NCAA tournament but was given a second chance after Arkansas pulled out of the tourney when two players were injured in an automobile accident.  The Utes were the youngest NCAA champion in history, averaging 18-and-a-half years of age.

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