Record: 27-0, 12-0 (1st place)
ACC Tournament: Won
NCAA Tournament: Not eligible
Final AP Ranking: 2
All-ACC Players: David Thompson (ACC POY), Tom Burleson (1st)
All-Americans: David Thompson (1st), Tom Burleson (2nd)
Only two ACC teams have played an entire season with nary a loss: 1957 North Carolina and 1973 NC State. Of course, 1973 NC State did not play in the NCAA Tournament, so their accomplishment is not the same as the ’57 Tar Heels. But it’s still special.
Did anyone see it coming? Well, it was certainly known that David Thompson was a special player and that NC State’s freshman team had been beating up on everyone. Despite a so-so year in 1972, the Wolfpack was ranked 8th in the preseason poll coming into 1973, thanks to the exploits of their 1972 freshman team. But Thompson turned out to be the rare super-hyped player who turned out to be even better than the hype.
It was kind of a weird schedule. They didn’t play anybody good outside the league. Within the ACC, Maryland and North Carolina were both ranked in the Top 10. NC State beat each three times. Another six games were against Duke, Virginia, and Clemson, all solid Top 40-type teams. The remaining 15 games were against teams who were completely overmatched, and the Pack ran up some embarrassing margins in those games, beating ECU by 35, UNC-Charlotte by 36, South Florida by 37, Georgia Southern by 44, Lehigh by 62, Appalachian State by 67, and Atlantic Christian by a nice round 70.
The ACC Tournament had an unusual dynamic with NC State on probation and ineligible for the NCAA Tournament. As a result, Maryland’s semifinal win over Wake Forest secured the automatic bid for the Terrapins. Lefty Driesell claimed not to care much about winning the final, and he did rest Len Elmore. The rest of the Terps battled NC State to the final buzzer, pulling out a 76-74 win, and holding Thompson to a near career-low 10 points.
Throwing some numbers at you. Their scoring average of 92.9 – without three-pointers – is highest in ACC history. Their average of 39 made field goals per contest – without a shot clock – is highest in ACC history and may be an unbreakable record; no team has reached 35 buckets per game since 1986 UNC. It’s too bad that assists was not an official stat at this time. Somebody was piling up a lot of them on those 39 made baskets per game. They were efficient, too, making 52% of their FG attempts. On defense, they held opponents to 43.7% from the field, had a rebound margin of +7.5, and averaged 9 more FG attempts than their opponents. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to see that when you attempt a lot more shots than your opponent AND you make a much higher percentage, you’re going to win a lot of games.
Were they as good as the 1974 team? No, I don’t think they were. The ’74 team’s stats weren’t quite as gaudy, but they played a tougher schedule, with nonconference games against UCLA, Memphis, Purdue, and of course the NCAA Tournament. Here’s a telling stat: the ’73 team’s average margin of victory against ACC opponents was 9.4; the ’74 team was 12.4, and against a tougher league. Mo Rivers and Phil Spence were a little better than the guys they replaced from the ’73 team. The ’73 team got a little bit lucky to go undefeated. They had more close games than their average margin of victory would indicate. But then, luck tends to find you when you have David Thompson.