A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
The college basketball universe was centered on the University of Utah’s campus on March 26, 1979, as one of the most consequential Final Four game was played on the Special Events Center floor.
With significant hype and a national TV audience ready, Magic Johnson’s Michigan State squad prepared to tip off against upstate Indiana State’s team, led by college legend Larry Bird. The Sycamores were undefeated.
The buildup
Utah is a basketball hotbed, and in 1979, all four local college teams — Utah, BYU, Utah State and Weber State — advanced to the NCAA tournament, a feat not duplicated for two-plus decades.
And Salt Lake City was host to the 1979 Final Four — March 24 and 26 at the Special Events Center, now known as the Huntsman Center.
Indiana State arrived undefeated, perfect through 33 games — the streak matching both players’ uniform number. Bird would keep that number in the pros but Johnson had to accept 32 with the Lakers because 33 was already assigned to another pretty good player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Indiana State had defeated DePaul in the March 24 semifinals 76-74, while Michigan State buried upstart Penn 101-67.
The Spartans (26-6) were curious about Bird, who averaged 28.6 points per game and hit 53% of his shots. After Johnson and his buddies drubbed Penn 101-67 in their semifinal, they hung around to watch Bird work on DePaul. Playing with a broken thumb, he merely scored 35 points, missing just three of 19 shots, grabbed 16 rebounds and had nine assists in a 76-74 victory.
After leading early, Indiana State fell behind, trailing by 16 points as Michigan State kept up the defensive pressure.
The Sycamores cut the lead to six points at 52-46 with 10 minutes to play, but Johnson spearheaded another Michigan State spurt that opened it to 11 and Indiana State never challenged again, losing 75-64.
Johnson scored 24 points.
Bird was stalked by the zone all night and limited to just 7-for-21 shooting from the field and 19 points.
The game remains the highest-rated championship game in NCAA history.
In the third-place game, DePaul edged Penn 96-93.
The championship even made the front page of the Deseret News, a rarity in those days, as well as extensive coverage in the sports section.
Earlier this month, Utah officials announced that the Huntsman Center could possibly be moved or demolished in the future. If so, at least we’ll have memories of the greatest NCAA Final Four game ever, here in Salt Lake City.
Here are some selected stories from Deseret News archives about the game, the star players and the Special Events Center:
“The game that saved basketball”
“25th Anniversary: 1979 Final Four”
“Magic vs. Bird marks its 20th anniversary1979 NCAA title game has highest TV rating”
“‘79 event put Final 4 on map”
“Thanks for the memories: Huntsman Center recollections flow as end of an era draws nearer”
Moving: University of Utah’s history-rich Jon M. Huntsman Center likely to be relocated
