1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

Season summary

This team ushered in a new era of college hoops when it played and lost to Houston in a regular-season game at Houston Astrodome that was seen by a national television audience. The Bruins avenged the only loss in the Final Four, thrashing the Cougars behind Lew Alcindor's 19 points and 18 rebounds. "Big Lew" was even more dominant in the title game, with 34 points and 16 boards in a win over North Carolina. UCLA limited Houston's Elvin Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game but was held to only 10. Bruins coach John Wooden credited his assistant, Jerry Norman, for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes.

Players

• Jerry Norman}}

Lew Alcindor would suffer the first major injury of his athletic career. He suffered a scratched left cornea on January 12, 1968, in a game against the California Golden Bears. He got struck by Ted Henderson of Cal in a rebound battle. He would miss the next two games against Stanford and Portland. This happened right before the game against the University of Houston.

Schedule

|- !colspan=9 style=|Regular Season

|- !colspan=12 style="background:#;"| NCAA Tournament :Source:

Rankings

Main article: 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

Notes

• The team opened the season as the No. 1 team in both the AP and UPI polls.
• Second consecutive national championship; fourth in five years.
• UCLA became the first school to have a top winner in both basketball and football in the same year with quarterback Gary Beban winning the Heisman Trophy and Lew Alcindor winning the U.S. Basketball Writers Association player of the year award in 1968.
• Three days after he was benched by Coach Wooden during the "Game of the Century" on January 20, Edgar Lacey, a high school All-American at Jefferson High School and Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year in 1963, quit the team.
• On its 50th anniversary in 2018, the team was honored at halftime of the UCLA–Stanford game at Pauley Pavilion on January 27.

Awards and honors

• Lew Alcindor, NCAA basketball tournament MOP (1968)
• Lew Alcindor, USBWA College Player of the Year
• Lew Alcindor, Helms Foundation Player of the Year award
• Lew Alcindor, First Team All-American; Lucius Allen, Second Team

Team players drafted into the NBA

:Source:

References

References

1. Official Collegiate Basketball Guide
2. Esper, Dwain. (March 25, 1968). "Bruins Hope Norman Stays". The Independent.
3. Gasaway, John. (June 7, 2010). "John Wooden's Century". Basketball Prospectus.
4. Jeff Prugh – Bruins win again without Alcindor. Big Lew Sidelined By Eye Injury Suffered in Game against Bears. Los Angeles Times, January 14, 1968
5. (27 January 1968). "LEW PUTS ON SHOW FOR FOLKS AT 'HOMECOMING': Alcindor Demolishes Holy Cross' Man-to-Man Defense With 33 Points as Bruins Romp, 90-67, at the Garden UCLA WINS, 90-67". Los Angeles Times.
6. "BRUINS HOLD OFF EAGLE SPURT, POST 84-77 WIN". Los Angeles Times.
7. "Season by Season Records". UCLA Athletics.
8. [http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_17801284 Funeral in Downey today for UCLA player Edgar Lacey] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-09 , ''Long Beach Press Telegram'', April 8, 2011)
9. "USBWA > Awards > Oscar Robertson Trophy".
10. "1968 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com".