Before Karl “The Mailman” Malone was delivering for the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the league was doing the same for Louisiana Tech.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 1984 and 1985, including a Sweet 16 appearance in the latter year.
As the Karl Malone Toyota Bracket Contest presented by Martin Presence comes to a close with the Final Four set for this upcoming weekend, the Lincoln Parish Journal takes a look back this week at some of the Mailman’s top March Madness performances.
LA Tech 66, Fresno State 66 (March 16, 1985)
In the second round of the 1985 NCAA Tournament, Malone and the Bulldogs coasted to a 79-67 win over Big 10 foe Ohio State at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
After easily defeating Pittsburgh in the opening round game, Tech trailed only one time (16-14 with 10:05 to play in first half) in the entire ball-game.
The Mailman and Co. built a 37-28 halftime lead behind a balanced offensive attack that saw five different Bulldogs scored 6 or 7 points in the opening 20 minutes of play as Tech dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Buckeyes 19-11 in the first half.
Malone dominated in the second half, scoring 20 of his game-high 27 points after intermission as he hit 8-of-12 field goals in the second half. The Mailman scored the first nine points of the second half for the Bulldogs as Tech pushed its lead out to as many as 19 points on several different occasions.
Ohio State tried to rally, closing to within 69-61 with 2:32 to play in the game, but Malone hit a pair of free throws and then sealed the win with a dunk off a pass from Adam Frank in the closing minute to secure the win.
In addition to his 27 points, Malone grabbed 14 rebounds and added three assists in the win.
Wayne Smith added 11 points and 11 assists while Willie Simmons scored 10 points and had three blocked shots.
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