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This Day in History: Isiah Thomas Leads Indiana Basketball to 1981 NCAA Title

On March 30, 1981, guard Isiah Thomas led the Hoosiers to their fourth NCAA title after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels in the championship.

In this story:

Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers
North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina Tar Heels

On this day in history, March 30, 1981, Indiana basketball defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 63-50 for the program's fourth out of five banners in the 43rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in Philadelphia.

Coached by Bob Knight, sophomore guard Isiah Thomas won the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after scoring a game-high 23 points plus five assists and two rebounds. 

Mar 30, 1981; Philadelphia, PA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Indiana Hoosiers guard (11) Isiah Thomas in action against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 1981 Final Four. Indiana defeated North Carolina 63-50.

Mar 30, 1981; Philadelphia, PA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Indiana Hoosiers guard (11) Isiah Thomas in action against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 1981 Final Four. Indiana defeated North Carolina 63-50.

Indiana's starters:

Landon Turner — forward

Ted Kitchel — forward

Isiah Thomas — guard

Randy Wittman — guard

Ray Tolbert — center

The three-seeded Hoosiers defeated Maryland, UAB, Saint Joseph's and LSU all by 15 plus points on its way to the title game.

The Hoosiers went 23-for-48 from the field for 48 percent while the Tar Heels followed close behind shooting 43 percent. Indiana out-rebounded North Carolina 31-29 as center Ray Tolbert crashed the boards with a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Hoosiers edged out the Tar Heels with 14-12 assists despite Thomas and forward Landon Turner being the only two Hoosiers to share the sugar that game. Fouls killed North Carolina as it committed 23 allowing the Hoosiers to go 17-for-22 from the charity stripe.

Three players from the game ended up as first round selections in the 1981 NBA Draft including Thomas, who was the second overall pick to the Detroit Pistons, UNC's Al Wood as the fourth overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks and Tolbert as the 18th overall pick to the New Jersey Nets, now the Brooklyn Nets.

Indiana would go on to earn one more national title over Syracuse in 1987 under Coach Knight as the Hoosiers haven't been able to hang a sixth banner in Assembly Hall since. 

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