NO. 1 vs. NO. 2 SINCE 1980

Today’s game between top-ranked Nevada Las Vegas and second-ranked Arkansas will be the 10th meeting between college basketball’s No. 1 and 2 teams since 1980. Here’s a look at the previous nine meetings, in which the No. 1 team won seven.

DEC. 26, 1981, AT EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 82, No. 2 KENTUCKY 69

Three players who would take their games to a higher level in the NBA--James Worthy (26 points), Sam Perkins (21 points and 17 rebounds) and Michael Jordan (21 points)--helped the Tar Heels (6-0) maintain their lofty position. Watching North Carolina dominate Kentucky (6-1) on the boards (37-25 in rebounds) from what would sadly become an accustomed spot on the sidelines was Sam Bowie, the Wildcats’ 7-2 center, who was out with a stress fracture in his shinbone. “Coach (Joe B. Hall) told us before the game if we didn’t block off, they’d get two or three shots each time,” Bowie said. “And that’s what they did. We didn’t do our homework.”

JAN. 9, 1982, AT CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 65, No. 2 VIRGINIA 60

The well-schooled Tar Heels (11-0) ran their four-corners offense to perfection, making 10 of 10 free throws in the final 2:32 to hold off their second No. 2 challenger of the season. North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said that the victory over the Cavaliers (12-1) “has to help us in the future.” Ralph Sampson, Virginia’s 7-4 center, had 30 points, but wasn’t so sure. “Everybody thinks Worthy and Perkins are so great,” he said. “They’re two good ballplayers, okay? They’re not all-world. I’m not all-world.” Sampson would prove to be correct on one of the counts. Smith would also prove to be correct--North Carolina went on to win the NCAA championship that season.

APRIL 2, 1983, AT ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

No. 1 HOUSTON 94, No. 2 LOUISVILLE 81

This Final Four matchup--Louisville’s Doctors of Dunk against Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma--brought the Space Age to college basketball and provided a highlight film for the ages. The Cougars (31-2) won the game, the dunking contest with 13--and perhaps with their heads in the clouds--the national championship. They flew past the Cardinals (32-4) with 11 dunks the final 14 minutes after trailing, 57-49. Louisville’s Scooter McCray, asked if he had ever seen such a display of dunking, replied, “Not in a real game.” Houston, indeed, was unreal. But in the championship game, it was North Carolina State that was out of this world, beating Houston, 54-52, on--of all things--Lorenzo Charles’ dunk as time ran out.

DEC. 15, 1984, AT LANDOVER, MD.

No. 1 GEORGETOWN 77, No. 2 DePAUL 57

Defending national champion Georgetown (7-0 and 18 consecutive victories over two seasons) was so dominant that opponents were hinting the Hoyas should be playing in the NBA East rather than the Big East. In their previous game, they had beaten No. 20 UNLV by 36 points. DePaul (6-1) managed to put up more of a fight, at least until the final 13:07, when the Blue Demons went without a basket. This was mainly due to 7-0 center Patrick Ewing, who had six blocked shots to go with 15 points and 15 rebounds. DePaul Coach Joey Meyer was asked if the defending national champions were better than they were the previous season. “We beat them by three points last year,” he said. “They beat us by 20 this year. What do you think?”

FEB. 27, 1985, AT NEW YORK

No. 2 GEORGETOWN 85, No. 1 ST. JOHN’S 69

The Redmen had replaced the Hoyas as the nation’s No. 1 team with a 66-65 victory Jan. 16 at Landover, Md., which had ended Georgetown’s winning streak at 29. St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca was perhaps as outlandish as the lucky sweater (dark brown with blue and red chevrons) he had worn for the last 13 of his team’s 19-game winning streak when he remarked beforehand: “This is the biggest game of all-time and not a championship game.” Georgetown Coach John Thompson put aside his game face, coming onto the court grinning and dressed for success--in $9 T-shirt that matched Carnesecca’s lucky sweater. “With all the talk about the sweater, I thought I had better get one, too,” said Thompson, not usually known for his humor. “If the sweater can carry us to victory, I wanted one.” Carnesecca called Thompson’s T-shirt “a cheap imitation.” Ewing--held to eight points in the first meeting between the teams--was the real thing this time as he carried Georgetown (26-2) past St. John’s (24-2) with 20 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots.

MARCH 9, 1985, AT NEW YORK

No. 1 GEORGETOWN 92, No. 2 ST. JOHN’S 80

The third meeting of the season between these teams--this time for the Big East tournament championship--again started on a cheery note. Carnesecca came out before the game with perhaps a dozen white towels knotted together, slung over one shoulder in imitation of Thompson. The scene grew ugly once the game started. Punches were thrown, two players (Williams and Ron Rowan of St. John’s) were ejected, five technical fouls were called (two on each coach) and various objects were thrown on the Madison Square Garden floor. Carnesecca downplayed the physical nature of the game. ‘Wouldn’t you want those boys defending our country,” he said. Georgetown (30-2) again pounded St. John’s (27-3), though Ewing played just 19 minutes because of foul trouble. “The only team that can beat Georgetown is maybe Georgetown,” said awestruck St. John’s assistant Brian Mahoney. That proved true for St. John’s, which would lose once more to Georgetown in the NCAA Final Four, but not for Villanova, which tamed the Beast of the East in the NCAA championship game with 78.6% shooting.

FEB. 4, 1986, AT ATLANTA

No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 78, No. 2 GEORGIA TECH 77 (overtime)

North Carolina (23-1), trailing by 13 points with 12 minutes to play, switched into overdrive--and overtime--with a three-guard alignment. Steve Hale, Jeff Lebo and Kenny Smith did most of the scoring during a 24-11 run, and harassed Georgia Tech’s Mark Price (no baskets in the final 10 minutes, six-for-21 shooting for the game). Both teams had chances to win at the end of regulation, but Price missed a 15-footer for the Yellow Jackets (17-3), while Smith and Lebo missed shots for the Tar Heels. Price, an 83% free-throw shooter, also missed the second part of a one-and-one which would have tied the score with 29 seconds remaining in overtime. Joe Wolf, a 73% free-throw shooter, made both ends of his one-and-one for the decisive points. “It wasn’t necessarily No. 1 vs. No. 2,” said North Carolina’s Brad Daugherty, who had 22 points. “It was just two good teams.” They both were good enough to advance to NCAA tournament’s round of 16, where both were eliminated.

FEB. 13, 1990, AT LAWRENCE, KAN.

No. 2 MISSOURI 77, No. 1 KANSAS 71

This marked the second time in less than a month that Missouri (23-2) had beaten Kansas (24-2) when it was ranked No. 1. “It wasn’t different this time,” said Missouri guard Anthony Peeler, who had 22 points. “The big difference for us was right now. . . Big Eight title and beyond.” What was beyond for Missouri was a late-season tailspin that included first-round exits in the Big Eight and NCAA tournaments.

MARCH 10, 1990, AT KANSAS CITY

No. 1 OKLAHOMA 95, No. 2 KANSAS 77

This was an unusual setting for a matchup between the nation’s No. 1 and 2 teams--the Big Eight tournament semifinals. The Sooners (25-4) shot 63% for the game while frustrating the Jayhawks (29-4) with a zone which resulted in 31% shooting in the second half. Kansas had scored a tournament-record 118 points in its previous game. Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs took the opportunity afterwards to poke fun at those he felt had underestimated his team. Tubbs said in a news conference: “I want to congratulate somebody. I read somewhere that 25 of y’all were asked to pick the winner and 24 of y’all picked Kansas. ‘Fess up, is that true? At least one of you is smarter’n hell. Who wants to take credit?” Whatever poll Tubbs was referring to was a mystery to those present. Oklahoma would beat upstart Colorado, the tournament’s eighth-seeded team, in the championship game, but had a short run in the NCAA tournament, exiting in the second round.