On a mostly clear, roughly 58-degree day in Charlotte, North Carolina, 31 years ago on Friday, the Arkansas Razorbacks clinched their first and only National Championship 76-72 over the Duke Blue Devils.
College basketball looked way different then than it does now. Name, image and likeness wasn’t even a thought, and the transfer portal was still over 25 years away from opening.
Legendary Razorback head coach Nolan Richardson patrolled the sidelines, with his patented “40 minutes of hell” winning him games left and right, as the Hogs finished the season with 31 wins and just three losses in the 1993-1994 season.
Corliss Williamson led the Razorbacks in scoring that season with 20.4 points per game and Scotty Thurman — who hit the famed three to win the title — averaged 15.9 points.
Since it’s the 31st anniversary of the win, let's take a look back at the best ending to an Arkansas season in the school's history…
Leading up to the game
Make no mistake about it, Arkansas wasn't a cinderella in the Big Dance that year. At 25-3, the Razorbacks were a 1-seed in the Midwest Region. The Hogs blew through their opponents in the tournament that year, with an average margin of victory of +11.1 through all six games.
Arkansas beat North Carolina A&T in the first round, Georgetown in the Round of 32, Tulsa in the Sweet 16, Michigan in the Elite Eight and Arizona in the Final Four.
Heading into the National Championship against Duke, no team got closer than eight points — Michigan came the closest with a 76-68 loss to Arkansas in the Elite Eight.
Duke was a 2-seed in the tournament, and beat Texas Southern, Michigan State, Marquette, Purdue and Florida to earn its way to the title game. It was the Blue Devils' fourth title game in five years.
Former President Bill Clinton, a native of Hope, Arkansas, was in attendance for the game as well.
In February, HawgBeat ran a story of former Razorback players and coaches about Richardson's legacy, and Thurman told Jackson Collier that Arkansas didn't get the chance to have a shootaround before the matchup with Duke.
“That day, people don’t really know, we didn’t get the opportunity to have an actual shootaround and game prep besides what we would do at the hotel," Thurman said. "We went out and played that game with that in mind. Nobody felt that we should be there. Nobody thought we were good enough to be there, nobody thought we were the best team in the country, but in our minds, we begged to differ."
How the game played out
Everyone remembers the Thurman shot. A three-pointer from the ...
