Exactly one month from today, March 13th, will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest victories ever by any sports team from the Palmetto State. March 13th, 1971, the USC basketball team defeated North Carolina in Greensboro 52-51 on a layup by Tom Owens at the buzzer to win the school’s only ACC Basketball Tournament Championship.
It was a monumental achievement for Frank McGuire’s program which had suffered a stunning loss to NC State in the title game the previous season. In those days, winning the ACC title was coveted nearly as much as the national title, and only the conference champ advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday USC will honor that 50th anniversary virtually during the Ole Miss game at the Colonial Life Arena. The plan is to welcome the players back for an on campus celebration in 2022.
Friday night Dennis Powell, who was a guard on that USC team, joined us on SportsTalk and shared stories about that season and that championship game.
