College Basketball: How the West Won

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The season was over, and now the real battle began for the N.C.A.A. Championship. The teams came from all over: Michigan's No. 1-ranked Wolverines, biggest of the Big Ten, with Cazzie Russell and a squad that averaged 206 Ibs. per man; U.C.L.A.'s No. 2-ranked Bruins, scoring 84 points a game with their superslick offense. There was Wichita, tops in the Missouri Valley Conference; No. 4 Providence, which lost only one game all season; and Princeton, with Bill Bradley, everybody's All-America, scorer of 2,326 points in a three-year career.

In short order, U.C.L.A. rolled over San Francisco to prove that it was the best in the West. Michigan paid its way to the N.C.A.A. finals in Portland, Ore., with an 87-85 victory over Vanderbilt. And out of the East roared the Tigers, embarrassing Providence 109-69. Fans began to wonder: Could Princeton go all the way?

No, not even with Bradley. In the semifinals, he pumped in four quick baskets to give Princeton an early lead. Then Michigan started driving against him on offense, provoking him into fouls. Switching from a tight man-to-man defense to a loose zone, Princeton fell apart. With 5 minutes left, Bradley fouled out—and Michigan ran away with the game, 93-76.

That left it up to Michigan and U.C.L.A., which romped over Wichita 108-89 in the other semifinal. It was a natural: height v. speed, strength v. finesse. Controlling the boards, feeding the ball to Cazzie Russell, the Wolverines jumped into a seven-point lead. U.C.L.A.'s answer was a full-court press, and the sound from then on was the pitter-patter of quick feet. Six times Michigan lost the ball just trying to get it in bounds. At halftime, the Scoreboard read U.C.L.A. 47, Michigan 34. Then the smallest Bruin of them all took charge.

Only 6 ft. 1 in., tousle-haired Gail Goodrich looks more like a pixie than a player. He shoots like Bat Masterson. By the time he sat down, three Michigan players had fouled out guarding him, and he had dropped in 42 points. The final score was 91-80, making U.C.L.A. the fifth team in history to win the national championship two years in a row.

Most of the teams that played in New York's National Invitation Tournament last week were there because they were not quite up to the N.C.A.A. playoffs. Not the two who met in the finals. Villanova, No. 8 in the nation, had whipped both Princeton and Providence; St. John's had beaten Michigan. St. John's also had incentive: Coach Joe Lapchick was retiring after 20 years, and a victory would give him a record four N.I.T. titles. The Redmen led from the start to win, 55-51.