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The 1971 Championship Team

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With John Vallely gone, the Bruins lost some excellent experience and shooting skills in the backcourt. The other four starters returned and led the way to a 25-1 regular season. They weren't nearly as dominant in 1971, and they played in several close games, eventually losing one to Notre Dame. As it turned out, they wouldn't lose again for over 3 years.

[1971 Championship Team]
TOP (l to r): Larry Hollyfield, Larry Farmer, John Ecker, Curtis Rowe, Steve Patterson, Sidney Wicks, Jon Chapman, Kenny Booker, Rich Betchley, Terry Schofield. MIDDLE: George Morgan (manager), Denny Crum, John Wooden, Gary Cunningham, Ducky Drake. BOTTOM: Andy Hill, Henry Bibby.

In their first game of the tournament, UCLA buried Brigham Young. For the next 3 games, contrary to the steamrolling behavior of the last few years of tournaments, the Bruins played a series of nail-biters. They came back from down 11 to beat Long Beach State by 2, then held on to beat Kansas by 8. In the finals, Wooden employed a stall to break an excellent Villanova zone. Eventually `Nova came out of their zone and UCLA came out on top. Steve Patterson scored a career high 29 points in the final game and made the All Tournament team, where he was joined by Sidney Wicks.

March 12: NCAA West Regional semi-final at Salt Lake City, Utah:

UCLA 91

Brigham Young 73

Leading Scorers:

Bibby 15
Wicks 14
Patterson 13
Rowe 13
Schofield 12
Farmer 11

Kelly 24
Cosic 18
Fryer 18
Miller 10

March 20: NCAA West Regional final at Salt Lake City, Utah:

UCLA 57

Cal State Long Beach 55

Leading Scorers:

Wicks 18
Rowe 12
Bibby 11

Ratleff 18
Trapp 15
Terry 11

March 25: NCAA Championship semi-final at Houston, Texas:

UCLA 68

Kansas 60

Leading Scorers:

Wicks 21
Bibby 18
Rowe 16

Robisch 17
Russell 12
Stallworth 12

March 27: NCAA Championship final at Houston, Texas:

UCLA 68

Villanova 62

Leading Scorers:

Patterson 29
Bibby 17
Rowe 8
Wicks 7

Porter 25
Siemiontkowski 19
Smith 9
Inglesby 7
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