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.
Oklahoma 86, Bulldogs 84 OT (March 21, 1985)
It was an instant classic in this Sweet 16 match-up during the 1985 NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs came up just short, falling 86-84 in overtime at Reunion Arena in Dallas.
In a rematch of a regular season game earlier in the season — also won by the Sooners — it pitted two of the top power forwards in the country in Tech’s Malone and Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale.
The Mailman scored 10 points in the opening half for Tech, but OU shot 54 percent from the field (compared to Tech’s 38 percent) to grab a 32-28 halftime lead.
However, this game was just getting started.
The second half and overtime turned into a shootout as the Bulldogs overcame an eight-point deficit with four minutes to play to send the game into overtime tied at 74-74. An Alan Davis jumper with 2:27 to play in regulated knotted the game at 72-72 and after an OU bucket by Tisdale on the next possession, Willie Bland hit a driving layup with 19 seconds remaining to tie the game at 74-74 … forcing overtime.
In the extra period, OU took a quick four-point advantage but back-to-back buckets by Malone cut the deficit to 84-82 with 47 seconds to play. After a turnover by the Sooners, Robert Godbolt hit two free throws with 18 seconds remaining to knot the score at 84.
Following a timeout, OU got the ball to Tisdale whose turnaround baseline jumper bounced around the rim and fell thru with three seconds left, proving to be the difference.
Malone finished the game with 20 points and 16 rebounds, playing all 45 minutes of the game.
Tech’s season ended with a 29-3 record and a Top 25 ranking.
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