The Power of One is among the most notable storylines of Final Four history, and rarely has it applied more than to Arizona in 1997.
Arizona's Miles Simon celebrates the Wildcats' 66-58 win over North Carolina March 29, 1997, at the NCAA Final Four tournament in Indianapolis.
Miles Simon scored 54 points in Arizona's victories over No. 1 seeds North Carolina and Kentucky. Here's some perspective. No player has scored as many as 54 points in the Final Four since Simon's breakout in 1997. That affirms Simon's place in the history of the game.
Before Simon scored 54, legends Jerry West of West Virginia (66 points), Bill Bradley of Princeton (87 points) and Hal Lear of Temple (80 points) had more prolific Final Fours. You figure if Arizona can get 54 points from Brayden Burries or Koa Peat, it should be favored to win the championship this week. But it's very unlikely. Here are other Final Four records that seem untouchable:
– Most field goal attempts in a game: 42, Lennie Rosenbluth, North Carolina, 1957 (but it required three overtimes)
– Most free throws made in a game: 18, Gail Goodrich, UCLA, 1965
– Best field goal percentage in a game: 95.5%, Bill Walton, UCLA, 1973 (21 of 22)
– Most rebounds in a game: 27 by Bill Russell of San Francisco in 1956
North Carolina's Ty Lawson runs off the court after a men's NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball game, April 4, 2009, in Detroit.
– Most steals in a game: 8 by Ty Lawson, North Carolina, 2009
– Biggest winning margin: 44 points, Villanova 95, Oklahoma 51, 2016
– Best triple-double: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati, 1959, 39 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists
– Most assists: 18, Mark Wade, UNLV, 1987
One more record that seems forever untouchable: North Carolina has won four Final Four games by one point. How's that for living on the edge? The scores:
– North Carolina 54, Kansas 53, 1957
– North Carolina 84, UNLV 83, 1977
– North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62, 1982
– North Carolina 77, Oregon 76, 2017
