The NCAA men's basketball tournament came to Pittsburgh for the first time in 1997. Duquesne sponsored it, and they sold out their three-session strips that cost $105. (There were 27,000 applications for the 13,000 available strips.)
The matchups that were announced on the Selection Sunday show were (6)Louisville-(11)UMass, (3)New Mexico-(14)Old Dominion, (7)Wisconsin-(10)Texas and (2)South Carolina-(15)Coppin State. While Pittsburgh had games Friday and Sunday, the times weren't announced until Monday so that CBS could optimize their coverage.
South Carolina won the SEC's regular season championship with a 24-7 record. (Kentucky won the conference tournament.) Coach Eddie Fogler's team featured three strong guards -- B.J. McKie, Larry Davis and Melvin Watson. Coppin State, a school in Baltimore, was the champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at 21-8. Coach Ron (Fang) Mitchell's team featured a banger at center named Terquin Mott.
Phil Axelrod assessed the matchups in the March 10 Post-Gazette. "For sex appeal, the East subregional of the NCAA tournament in town this weekend at the Civic Arena comes up empty." He added that, "The most intriguing matchup in this subregional and the one that could produce the only upset is No. 6 Louisville (23-8) vs. No. 11 Massachusetts (19-13)."
When the times were set, Friday afternoon's doubleheader would be Wisconsin-Texas at 12:15, with South Carolina-Coppin State tipping off 30 minutes after. New Mexico and Old Dominion would start the evening session at 7:40.
During the week, the PG previewed the teams that would be coming to Pittsburgh. On Mar. 11, Lori Shontz described how South Carolina came back from a 5-5 start to find their shooting touch and win 19 of their next 21 games. Guards Watson, McKie and Davis were the Gamecocks' first-ever All-SEC first team selections. McKie led the team in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Davis averaged 16.4 and Watson 11. Davis and Watson each averaged 5.1 assists.
Marino Parascenzo wrote about Coppin State, whose highlight might have been their game against Duquesne on Dec. 10. The Eagles nearly filled their 3,500-seat gym for their only non-conference home game, and then annihilated the Dukes, 91-57. Things didn't always go so smoothly for Coppin State; they played six overtime games. "Heck, in the (MEAC) tournament," Mitchell said, "we had two overtime games. We were down 19 to Maryland-Eastern Shore with 16 minutes to play and won in overtime. Then we had to go OT to beat North Carolina A&T in the final."
Mitchell knew what his team was getting into. "Any team that beats Kentucky twice, and beats Kentucky at Rupp," he said of South Carolina, "has to be a great team. I'm living in the real world. I know how perfect a game we have to play. I need 40 minutes, not 39. Got to be 40."
Guard Antoine Brockington led the Eagles with 16.5 points per game. He was happy to be in Pittsburgh, the setting for his favorite movie, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. "This team reminds me of their team. A bunch of misfits who have come together and play as a team." Mott, the center, averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds. Reggie Welch, a 6-6 senior forward, added 14.9 points and 5.9 boards.
Ralph Willard's Panthers hosted New Orleans in the first round of the NIT on March 12. (Those tickets were $13.) In front of a sold-out Field House, they won, 82-63, led by Vonteego Cummings' 25 points. Their next game would be at Arkansas, where the Razorbacks would end Pitt's season.
In Thursday's practice, Mott sprained an ankle and would be a gameday decision.
The first game on Friday, March 14, was an upset. Seventh-seeded Wisconsin couldn't keep up with tenth-seeded Texas' tempo, and the Longhorns won, 71-58. It took 2:09 for the Badgers to score their first field goal, and another five minutes for their second. "It was important to jump on them and rattle them," Texas coach Tom Penders said. "In the Big Ten, nobody plays traps and presses, so there were no tapes available, just a couple of scraps and pieces. And they were trying to stay in there and work on their tempo, and we wouldn't let 'em."
The Longhorns led by as many as 14 in the first half before taking a 33-24 lead into halftime. Sam Okey's dunk brought Wisconsin to within seven to start the second half, but Texas kept control. "We were on the verge of recovering six, eight times, but couldn't get the play that would get back into the game," Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett said.
"It was a game we were able to control from start to finish with our defense," said Penders.
Longhorn guard Reggie Freeman led all scorers with 31 points. Okey led the Badgers with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Penders looked ahead to the next game. "I know what South Carolina does, but I don't know whether we can stop it. If the other team wins, I don't know what we'll do."
Coppin State didn't have a band. So they borrowed the one from their nearby conference rival Morgan State, putting them in Coppin State T-shirts. There were more Gamecock fans in the Arena than Eagle fans, but without a local interest, most of the Pittsburghers in the 17,509 cheered for the underdog.
The starting fives for the second game were: Coppin State -- Reggie Welch, Jerel Seamon, Terquin Mott, Antoine Brockington, Troy Lewis. South Carolina -- Larry Davis, William Gallman, Ryan Stack, B.J. McKie, Melvin Watson
South Carolina had a seven-point lead with 7:26 left in the first half, but the Eagles closed to 34-30 with 2:13 left in the half. Mott fouled a minute later, but Nate Wilbourne missed the front end of a one-and-one for the Gamecocks. Welch put back his own miss with 50 seconds left to cut the lead to two. After Carolina missed a shot, Coppin State missed a three, but got a couple of offensive rebounds, and Fred Warrick's pair of free throws with 5.5 seconds left made it 34-34 at the half.
"I still thought we would win it and win it close," Fogler said. "There's nothing wrong with winning by one."
Coppin State did better than keep it close. Although South Carolina went up by seven with 13:30 to go, guard Danny Singletary came off the bench and scored 10 of the Eagles' 14 points in a five-minute stretch of the second half. He hit a jumper to tie the game at 49, to the fans' delight. Another Singletary jumper from 18 feet gave the Eagles the lead for good at 55-54 with 6:12 to play. And Singletary's two free throws with 4:01 left gave Coppin State a 61-56 lead, even though Mott had left the game after picking up his fourth foul three minutes earlier. The Eagles took the game's first double-digit lead with 1:45 left, and were able to pull away for a 78-65 win. Larry Davis finally scored his only basket for the Gamecocks with one minute left.
As time wound down, play-by-play man Mike Gorman summed things up. "South Carolina came out flat. They're going to leave flatter."
The upset brought the record of No. 15 seeds to 3-49. Singletary was the game's leading scorer with 22 points, and Brockington added 20. Welch pulled 15 down rebounds and Mott grabbed 11. McKie's 16 points led the Gamecocks. Coppin State won the rebounding battle, 39-29, and outscored South Carolina on points off turnovers, 22-4.
"We knew at halftime we were in it," Welch said. "But we also knew in the second half a lot of teams lose their composure. We were concentrating on keeping our composure. We were taking it five minutes at a time."
Fogler was gracious. "Congratulations to Coppin State. Without a doubt, they were easily the better team here today."
"I don't think anyone takes Coppin State College lightly," said Mitchell.
Some order was restored in the evening session. New Mexico held off Old Dominion, 59-55, and Louisville beat Massachusetts, 65-57. So Sunday's matchups were tenth seed Texas against fifteenth seed Coppin State, and third seed New Mexico took on sixth seed Louisville.
Saturday's Post-Gazette front page headline was "No stoppin' Coppin" while the NCAA tournament section went with "COPPIN ROBBERS." There were items about how the Coppin State party had to scramble for hotel rooms, since they hadn't planned on being in town for a second game. (The band didn't have any accommodations, so they bused back and forth from Baltimore for both games.)
Sunday's games came down to the wire. In the first game, New Mexico missed a last-second shot, and Louisville won, 64-63. Texas stole Coppin State's inbounds pass with four seconds left at the end of the nightcap to win, 82-81.
Louisville went on to beat Texas in the Sweet Sixteen, 78-63, before losing to North Carolina in the regional final at the Carrier Dome. Arizona won the championship.
As the tournament returns to Pittsburgh this week, we can hope that fans who attend those games experience something that they remember as fondly as those who were at the city's first NCAA session.
(All quotes are from the original newspaper coverage, except for Mike Gorman's, which is from this broadcast of the game, with Jon Sundvold doing color.)