The 1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won a second consecutive NCAA national championship, the fourth in five years under head coach John Wooden, with a win over

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. UCLA's 47-game winning streak came to an end in January when they were beaten by Houston and All-American

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and a ...

in the Astrodome 71–69; the game was known as the Game of the Century. The Bruins avenged the loss in a rematch with Houston in the NCAA Final Four, by beating the Cougars 101–69 to become the only team to win consecutive NCAA championships twice.

Season Summary

This team ushered in a new era of college hoops when it played and lost to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

in a regular-season game at

Houston Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

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

, 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

Lew Alcindor would suffer the first major injury of his athletic career. He suffered a scratched left

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical ...

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 :

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 Gary Joseph Beban (born August 5, 1946) is an American former professional football player. Beban won the 1967 Heisman Trophy, narrowly beating out O.J. Simpson, and the Maxwell Award while playing quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. He played ...

winning the Heisman Trophy and

Lew Alcindor Lew or LEW may refer to: People * Lew (given name) * Lew (surname) Places * Lew, Oxfordshire, England * River Lew, in Devon, England Transport * LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany * Lew (locomotive), a British n ...

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 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, 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 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

) * Lew Alcindor, USBWA College Player of the Year * Lew Alcindor,

Helms Foundation Player of the Year The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men's college basketball award given to the most outstanding men′s player in the United States. It was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in ...

award * Lew Alcindor, First Team All-American; Lucius Allen, Second Team

Team players drafted into the NBA

References

External links

1967–68 UCLA Bruins
at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1967-68 Ucla Bruins Men's Basketball Team

Ucla Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Ucla The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

UCLA Bruins men's basketball team UCLA Bruins men's basketball team