Villanova’s Perfect Game: The 1985 NCAA Championship

0:00On April 1st, 1985, the Villanova University Wildcats did something so unlikely that has gone down as one of the greatest upsets of all time where they put together what's known as the perfect game to beat the mighty Georgetown Hoyas to win their very first championship and really put March Madness on alert where they showed grit, strategy and a huge amount of luck that took them from an underdog story to a legendary performance. And the fact that this has not been made into a movie is insane. One of the greatest stories in March Madness History. Today, we're going to dive into Villanova winning their first championship as possibly the biggest underdogs and one of the greatest stories in March Madness History. Today on Daily Sports History.

1:01Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide. As you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge as we dive into the 1985 NCAA championship. And today's trivia question to listen out for is how many eight seeds have made the NCAA championship game. Listen throughout the episode to get the answer and if you miss it, I will give you the answer at the very end. So before we get to the actual championship game, we got to see how these teams got there. See Villanova was led by coach Raleigh Messimioni, who had been there for 12 seasons. And they were a member of the Big East Conference, which also featured Georgetown, who was the number one team that year. St. John, who was number three in Syracuse, who was number 15. And they finished fourth in their conference that year. Although they against those ranked competition, they did come close in January 1985, losing to Georgetown by just two points. And they were a senior lead team led by Ed Pinkney, DeWayne McLean, and Howard Presley.

2:10And this was an important year for the NCAA as we covered previously on the history of March Madness and the history of the NCAA. 1985 was the first year of March Madness, the 64 team bracket that we know today. And Villanova earned an out-large bid for winning 25 games that year for coming from such a strong conference. And ended up in the southeastern region and coach Raleigh Messimioni really emphasized strategy and preparation. And they would set the tone, and this would set the tone for the improbable run. Villanova entered the tournament with little expectations. And the position of eight seed meant they would have a relatively tough path to the finals. In the first round, they'd face off against Daytona. In Daytona, so facing off against their home crowd, and despite the hostile environment, the wildcats were able to eag out a victory 51 to 49, led by Ed Pinkney's 20 points to set the tone for the resilient run. And the second round was one of their biggest tests when they face off against the number one Michigan, a team with stacked talent who had four players that would make it to the NBA the next year.

3:21But the wildcats stuck to their defense and stifled Michigan's offense, holding them to 55 points and led by Dwayne McLean and Harold Presley, they were able to win 59 to 55. Making it to the sweet 16 where they would face off against Maryland, who was the number five seed that year. And again, they used their gritty defense to have a low scoring battle where they held them to 43 points, winning 46 to 43, making it to the elite eight. Facing off against legendary team North Carolina coached by the legend Dean Smith. And again, they used their defense to really set the stage. And this was their first real blowout win, winning by 12 points 56 to 44, making their way to their first final four where they would face off against Memphis state, which is better known as Memphis now. And this game was tightly contested in the first half. But when what when Memphis states star Keith Lee, out of the game with 10 minutes remaining, they really took control in one 52 to 45, making their way to the championship, facing off against a heated rivalry they had in the big east.

4:38And the number one team in the nation, the Georgetown Hoyas, who were led by legendary coach John Thompson. And they ended with a record of 35 and three led by future Hall of Fame Center Patrick Ewing, one of the greatest NCAA players of all time and had just come off of winning the national championship the year before. If there is ever a Goliath to face off against a David, it was the Georgetown Hoyas facing off against Villanova. And Georgetown had only lost to number two St. John's, number nine Syracuse that season. And they made their way through the tournament, beating Lee High, Temple, Leola, Georgia Tech and St. John's where they could face off against a conference rival in Villanova. Now the game was played in Lexington and Kentucky at Rupp Arena in front of 23,000 fans. It was the third meeting that season between the two teams. And Georgetown had won both. One game in January was very close. And though Georgetown was a dominating force. And favored by nine points as Villanova was a number eight seed in the lowest seed to reach the championship game. And in the first half Villanova again focused on patience and perseverance.

5:48They slowed the pace down again as much as they could as most of their wins that season had come from low scoring games, especially all throughout the tournament. And so they played a matchup zone defense to counter Georgetown's physicality. They could not match their height. They could not match the strength. But as long as they were in the way, they could disrupt their shots. And they focused on being patient for their shots, shooting effectively from the start, making their very first four field goals. And despite turnovers, they stayed competitive. Even though Patrick Ewing showcased his dominate with three dunks in succession. However, Villanova countered with long range jumpers, not taking points in the paint, but taking pivotal twos. And late in the first half Villanova executed a stalled offense for nearly two minutes as there was no shot clock in the NCAA at this time. As the following year partly maybe due to this game, they would institute a shot clock. But they ran an offense to the movie Hooshers where they got the lead and tried to hold onto the ball as long as they could.

6:55And they held onto the ball for almost two minutes where they hit a key basket as time expired, giving them a lead at halftime 29 to 28. Then in the second half Villanova shot an astonishing 78% from the field, going 22 for 28. A fee unmatched in NCAA history where early they scored by drawing fouls from Ewing who picked up 3,000 succession, limiting his defensive presence as he would interrupt shots in the middle, which gave Villanova the space they needed to continue their scoring. And with just two minutes left in the game, Villanova took the control of the ball in Georgetown, attempted to force turnovers but failed. And even though Villanova missed some free throws, Georgetown failed to capitalize. And then in the final seconds, the ball was inbounded to Duane McLean who held the possession as time expired when they held the lead 66 to 64.

7:57Eddie Pickney scored 16 points and had 6 rebounds, being named the most outstanding player, effectively neutralizing Georgetown great Patrick Ewing, holding him to 14 points and getting him into foul trouble that limited him throughout the game. Now this game is known as the perfect game. Now it wasn't perfect, there were shots missed, but Villanova had a record 78% to feel whole percentage that has still not been broken in any championship game. The reason this is the perfect game is if they did not shoot that well, they would have lost. They won by two points shooting almost 80% and it was the only way they could win. And they did this by shooting actual shots. With Patrick Ewing in the middle, they did not want to charge the lane. So their strategy was to take smart jump shots throughout the game and making these smart shots helps get them the win for their first NCAA championship. Now this game marked the end of an era as this was the last game played without a shot clock. The next year they would implement a 45 second shot clock, maybe due to the slowness of this game, even though it was a great underdog story.

9:07The game itself, a little boring, watching a team just hold the ball for over two minutes, but it was a historic moment. And Villanova remains the greatest upset in NCAA championship history as the Wildcats are the first and still only 8 seed to win the championship. Although there have been three other schools to make it to the championship game as an 8 seed in Butler, Kentucky and North Carolina, although they did not win. Now this win really changed NCAA, really changed Villanova as it led them to slowly become a school that was known for basketball. Now they didn't win another championship until 2016 and they won again in 2018 under coach Jay Wright. But without this win in 1985, they wouldn't have the history to build on that support that over time continues to build. Now Villanova is now one of the elite basketball programs in the country and it all started with this 1985 run where they used teamwork in defense and patience to win the whole thing.

10:11I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please follow us on our social medias. We post pictures and videos of our episodes and we're on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Macedon, Blue Sky, YouTube, wherever you like to socialize, you can follow us there. Links will be in the description and come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question? How many eight seats have made the NCAA championship? And the answer is four Villanova who is the only one to win as well as Butler, Kentucky and North Carolina.

11:11You